‘Desperation and fury.’ The New York Times (gift link) recounts a private discussion among the nation’s top Democrats in which they weighed “an audacious and possibly far-fetched idea” for addressing a major redistricting setback.
■ Law professor Joyce Vance: The Supreme Court’s decision last week “continues to make clear all the reasons we needed … a Voting Rights Act.”
■ John Oliver last night on HBO explained the court’s “shadow docket,” which he says “has empowered some of Trump’s worst policies to the point it’s now become his go-to method to get his way.”
■ See Oliver’s piece free on YouTube here.
‘What if we didn’t comply in advance?’ Wonkette’s Doktor Zoom (a pseudonym for senior editor Marty Kelley) cheers ABC’s decision at last “to fight back against the administration” on charges The View violated federal equal time rules.
■ CNN’s Brian Stelter says ABC’s “extraordinary legal letter” accuses the FCC of threatening “to upend decades of settled law and practice and chill critical protected speech.”
■ Columnist Melissa Ryan celebrates journalism watchdog Media Matters for America’s “complete and total victory” over a Trump-compliant Federal Trade Commission’s investigation into its work.
Do your calls matter? Columnist and Air Force veteran Christopher Armitage reviews the math on citizen appeals to legislators: “Form letters, petitions and automated messages are filtered out by office triage before staff ever read them. One real phone call, in the caller’s own words, outweighs hundreds of templated messages.”
■ Dialing finger itchy? Here’s whom you can call … about whatever.
‘He seems to understand that he must drape himself in glory, now, because perhaps nobody will do so in the future.’ Back from a visit to Portugal, Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg compares Donald Trump to that nation’s long-ago kings.
■ The A.V. Club, noting uncanny parallels between Trump’s second presidency and the TV series The Boys: “Nobody can plan to debut an episode of a satirical TV show with a golden statue of your Trump analogue being unveiled one week, only to have the man himself roll out his own 22-foot-tall gilded image just a few days later.”
■ If you find yourself thinking “golden calf,” you’re not alone.
■ Popular Information: “For 11 months, Trump Mobile has been collecting $100 deposits for a [gold-plated] Trump phone. No phones have shipped to customers.”
■ The What Did Donald Trump Do Today? blog says Trump’s Sunday social media posts consisted of “ethnicized insults, conspiracy-laden election rhetoric, historical distortions and theatrical exaggerations designed to inflame his supporters.”
■ Columnist Jeff Tiedrich: The president concluded with “a complete fever-swamp hallucination.”
■ Democracy Docket columnist Marc Elias, whom Trump cited by name: “He called me a ‘disgusting individual’ and a ‘terrible lawyer’” even though Elias’ record “includes winning 64 out of 65 court cases in the aftermath of the 2020 election.”
‘That’s not classified, it’s a quote from you.’ Wonkette’s Evan Hurst really likes Sen. Mark Kelly’s retort to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s accusation that Kelly was “blabbing on TV” stuff from a “classified” briefing.
■ LateNighter recaps Saturday Night Live’s cold open: “A Supreme Court justice, the secretary of defense and the FBI director walk into a bar …”
Be good, Chicago. As the city bids to repeat as host of the Democratic National Convention, Politico’s Shia Kapos reports that national committee members are here for a three-day visit to see how we stack up against the other 2028 finalists—Denver, Atlanta, Boston and Philadelphia (March link).
■ Here’s Chicago’s video love letter to the committee.
Your tax dollars at work. Block Club: Chicago’s Environment Department, closed in 2012, is back as of this month—according to its commissioner, “fully equipped” to crack down on polluters.
■ WBEZ says the Chicago School Board’s blown almost $60,000 trying to figure out who leaked stuff to journalists.
Retro Chicago. Block Club reports the city’s pinball museum is moving downtown …
■ … and Navy Pier’s getting a roller rink.
Welcome home. Countries around the world have begun repatriating passengers from a cruise ship contaminated by the deadly hantavirus.
■ That includes 17 from the U.S.—at least one of whom has tested positive.
‘Why can’t AI just admit it doesn’t know?’ Tech reporter David Pogue: “In their quest for global domination, the last thing these AI giants want to do is publicize their own lousiness. They want to hide it.”
■ Google’s paying $50 million to settle Black employees’ complaints of systemic racial discrimination.
Wordle, the TV show. It’s in the works at NBC, to be hosted by Savannah Guthrie and produced by Jimmy Fallon.
■ This could be the most exciting new game show since Homonym!
■ You can apply to be a contestant—on Wordle, not Homonym!—here.
■ In respect to his timeslot competitor, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel says he’ll air a repeat opposite Stephen Colbert’s final Late Show May 21.
Congrats to all. Here are the Chicago Headline Club’s winners of this year’s Peter Lisagor Awards.
■ Chicago Public Square’s entry failed to make the cut.
Thanks. Mike Braden made this edition better.
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