Did you unplug over the long weekend? Catch up by scrolling back through the Chicago Public Square account on Bluesky.
‘24-Hour Economic Blackout.’ A nascent movement opposing the retreat from commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives has declared Feb. 28 a day to boycott companies that have been bending the knee to Donald Trump’s administration …
■ Dozens of protesters targeted Chicago’s Trump Tower yesterday.
■ Politico: Democrats have been trolling Trump by projecting digital phrases onto the tower.
■ Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton writes in the Tribune (gift link; you’re welcome): “While Trump and his allies continue to sow chaos for their own gain, here in Illinois … we won’t sit idle.”
■ Message Box columnist Dan Pfeiffer: “Democrats need to quickly recognize that the best way to slow down Trump is to drive his poll numbers down.”
■ Law prof Joyce Vance offers her take on “what we need to do right now.”
Military schools getting ‘whitewashed.’ Popular Information says Trump’s Defense Department is “imposing a comprehensive censorship regime across its network of 161 primary and secondary schools—eliminating content that acknowledges the contributions of women, minorities and LGBTQ people.”
■ Also: In the administration’s purge of activities associated with DEI, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has trashed workplace safety guidelines.
■ Chalkbeat: “Schools that take steps to enroll more students of color in selective programs or to hire a more racially diverse teaching force could face civil rights investigations.”
■ The AP surveys immigration anxiety in schools across the country.
Trump’s ‘scariest shit’ yet? Columnist Eric Zorn ponders the president’s social media post, “He who saves his Country does not violate any law.”
■ Stephen Colbert last night translated that post as Trump “pre-announcing that he’s gonna break any law he wants, to get whatever he wants” …
■ … before then pivoting from Trump’s fight with The Associated Press over Gulf of Mexico nomenclature to condemning the AP for refusing to embrace the Oxford comma.
Flight risks? As the Trump administration fires hundreds of Federal Aviation Administration workers, the AP tackles the question “How safe is it to fly?”
■ All 80 aboard a Minneapolis-to-Toronto Delta flight that flipped while landing yesterday survived—reportedly with just minor injuries.
■ Author and columnist James Fallows: “This latest aviation mishap is not the new administration’s fault. But it is inviting the next ones, which will be.”
■ The first mass layoffs in Southwest Airlines’ history will put about 1,750 people out of work.
‘I’m going to work tomorrow just to get fired.’ Reddit’s message board for federal employees is rife with heartbreak.
■ A coalition of Chicago medical professionals warns that Trump’s funding cuts “could have devastating impact on … life-saving research.”
■ Grappling with a staffing shortage under Trump, Yosemite National Park faces what one tour operator calls an “honestly terrifying” round of chaos.
Bad choices. ProPublica: “Trump vowed to clean up Washington, then his team hired a man who pushed a scam the IRS called the ‘worst of the worst.’”
■ Ex-Labor Secretary Robert Reich: Trump’s order that the Justice Department stop enforcing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act “is part of a broader pattern of … encouraging or at least tolerating corruption.”
Ad blocks. The Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post killed an advertisement from Common Cause and the Southern Poverty Law Center Action Fund calling for Elon Musk’s dismissal from the federal government.
■ Musk Watch: Meta’s removed a Facebook ad criticizing Musk.
■ Reuters: Food and Drug Administration staffers reviewing Musk’s brain-implant company Neuralink were fired over the weekend.
■ The American Civil Liberties Union has launched a petition and letter-writing campaign demanding Congress keep Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency “out of … our bank accounts, health records and Social Security numbers.”
■ The top official at Social Security’s quitting after a clash with Musk’s team.
■ Wired: “Musk claims to have found rampant fraud in the Social Security Administration. There’s a much simpler explanation.”
■ Believe it or not: A Trump administration personnel official says Musk has “no actual or formal authority to make government decisions.”
■ The Intercept: Senate Democrats can push Musk out of politics by blocking federal contracts for his Tesla and SpaceX companies.
■ Updating a story from Thursday’s Square: The Trump administration says it’s backed out of a Biden administration plan to buy $400 million’s worth of armored vehicles, possibly from Tesla.
■ Poynter media writer Tom Jones calls Musk’s threat to 60 Minutes “chilling.”
■ Stop the Presses columnist Mark Jacob: “Why won’t the media call fascists ‘fascists’? Vague descriptions help the people trying to overthrow our democracy.”
Texas’ measles outbreak ‘is just the beginning.’ Economist Paul Krugman blames Republican politics.
■ The Conversation: Why the neighborhood drug store is an endangered species.
A headline that once might have seemed good news. Front of today’s Tribune: “U.S., Russia open door for closer ties.”
■ Updating coverage: They’ve been talking about ending the war in Ukraine—but no one from Ukraine was there.
■ On Tyranny author Timothy Snyder commends skepticism as those talks unfold—paying close attention to how the parties toss around the word peace.
■ Satirist Andy Borowitz: “Putin Agrees to Negotiate with Musk over Ownership of Trump.”
Hang in there. By next week, Chicago could be 60 degrees warmer.
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