What killed Lindsey Graham? A preliminary report shared by the senator’s office says he died Saturday night after a tear in his aorta.
■ Axios: Graham joked before seeking medical attention: “I can’t die now.”
■ Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin honors Graham for their shared work on immigration reform …
■ … work that The Latin Times notes Graham’s support for Donald Trump helped undo.
■ Wonkette’s Evan Hurst: Democratic senators could have “read the room and … simply chosen to say less after the death of Lindsey Graham, rather than telling us about all the good times they’ve had with the fascists who are trying to destroy this country.”
‘I had hoped he would live long enough to be tried for treason.’ Setting aside his comic tendencies, satirist Andy Borowitz files “a fact-based Lindsey Graham obituary.”
■ Ex-Republican political strategist Rick Wilson: Graham “was the thing that got kept around because he … knew when to genuflect.”
■ The Atlantic’s Mark Leibovich (gift link) calls Graham “a first-class political shape-shifter.”
■ Columnist Heather Delaney Reese recalls “a version of Lindsey Graham who saw what Trump was … ‘a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot.’”
■ Pulitzer winner Gene Weingarten, declaring 24 hours enough of a moratorium on grave dancing: “Graham was … a consummate conscienceless opportunist, a prime architect of the revolting thing that the Republican Party has rolled over and become.”
■ Lawyer/columnist Robert Hubbell: “The lesson of his life should be top of mind for the sycophants and enablers hoping to cling to power by doing Trump’s bidding.”
Pass the popcorn. Politico: Graham’s death sets the stage for “a breakneck campaign for his Senate seat,” with Republicans thrust into a sudden August primary to fill a full six-year term …
■ … and it casts a shadow over confirmation hearings for Trump’s sycophantic attorney general nominee, Todd Blanche (April link).
■ Ex-Jezebel editor-in-chief Laura Bassett, acknowledging scandal-scarred Graham Platner’s withdrawal from Maine’s Democratic race for Senate: “Tough week to be a Graham.”
When ‘says’ ≠ ‘says.’ Headlines about MIA Sen. Mitch McConnell today were using the verb “says” to describe a text statement in which he (or someone writing under his name) explained his hospitalization—even though the public had yet to hear (audio) from McConnell for weeks.
■ Another McConnell statement praises Sen. Graham.
■ Columnist Jeff Tiedrich: “Graham showed Mitch McConnell how it’s done.”
■ The Onion: “GOP Allies Claim They Met With Mitch McConnell Inside Body Bag.”
‘A man is dead because he looked like the wrong person, and poorly trained personnel shot him dead.’ Unsurprised by the case of homebuilder Lorenzo Salgado Araujo—killed in error by an ICE officer in Houston—Chicago expat and Tribune alumnus Kevin Williams, a Black man now living in Portugal, writes, “It is fascinating how many people not of color will wonder how this could have happened, when people of color will know EXACTLY how it could have happened.”
■ Houston officials investigating the case complain the feds aren’t cooperating.
■ The American Prospect: “A year after Trump allocated billions for his immigration terror campaign, deportation agents are amassing historic amounts of military weapons.”
Again. The Archdiocese of Chicago has removed firebrand Father Michael Pfleger from St. Sabina Parish as it investigates a fifth accusation that he’s engaged in sexual assault.
■ He calls the charge “an absolute lie.”
Grand heat. Chicago was staring down its second major hot-weather streak of the season …
■ … although lower humidity may keep this one less oppressive than the last.
‘A manipulative scheme.’ Popular Information’s uncovered a massive giveaway to Trump donors—corporate poultry processors, at the expense of family farmers—buried in an obscure government document.
■ Noting the nationwide outbreak of parasitic, diarrhea-causing cyclospora, historian Heather Cox Richardson reminds us it’s been a year since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, overseen by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., announced it would no longer track infections caused by cyclospora and other common causes of foodborne illnesses.
■ Lauren Harper at the Freedom of the Press Foundation: The Department of Government Efficiency is officially out of business—but where are its records?
‘Federal agents arriving at journalists’ homes with subpoenas … should concern anyone who cares about a free press.’ Radio news veteran Rob Archer calls the administration’s investigation of New York Times reporters “a chilling step.”
■ Poynter’s Tom Jones runs down how reporting on Trump’s bribe gift jet from Qatar became a First Amendment story.
■ Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch (gift link): “Trump’s assassination paranoia threatens us all.”
■ The Onion: “Secret Service Urges Trump Not To Use Qatari-Gifted Jet Pack.”
AI: The new radio? Columnist Neil Steinberg, reflecting on concerns about artificial intelligence, sees a parallel to fears about radio broadcasting in its early days—“a terrifyingly lethal technology like electricity, joined to an invisible possible menace such as radio waves.”
■ Will Oremus at The Atlantic (another gift link): One of AI’s most prominent writing tics “is also the most mysterious.”
‘I appreciate all the hard work you do and am so happy to have this resource available.’ Kind words like that, from a Chicago Public Square reader, keep this service coming.
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A Square public service announcement in honor of an old friend
