Knock, knock? In a memo obtained by The Associated Press, federal immigration officers assert “sweeping power to forcibly enter people’s homes without a judge’s warrant.”
■ The American Civil Liberties Union’s Illinois legal director says that “just emphasizes the fundamental lawlessness under the second Trump administration.”
■ Federal agents Tuesday detained a 5-year-old boy arriving home from a Twin Cities-area preschool—allegedly then using him as “bait” to see who was inside.
■ The Illinois Human Rights Department’s investigating reports that federal agents who violently raided a South Shore building in September were directed there by the building’s landlord.
■ Mother Jones: ICE has become President Trump’s “very own paramilitary force.”
General strike! Heads Up News proprietor Dan Froomkin says Friday could bring “a seminal moment in this new civil rights movement. Minnesota unions, religious groups, and ordinary citizens are planning a massive statewide strike and economic boycott. … No work, no school, no shopping.”
■ In a bit that was recorded during rehearsal but didn’t make it to the air last weekend, Saturday Night Live castmember and St. Paul native Tommy Brennan mocked an immigration agent’s pratfall on the ice: “I’m not reveling in another person’s pain. If I wanted to do that, I would join ICE.”
■ The feds have arrested a woman who led a protest that disrupted services at a St. Paul church where an ICE official serves as pastor.
■ After the mayor of Michigan’s fourth largest city—a former Republican—accused ICE of “terrorizing” peaceful communities, he denied worrying that would make his town the president’s next target: “Fuck that. That is not courage.”
‘Calling Greg Bovino a b*tch raises thousands for Minnesota immigrant rights.’ Handbasket reporter Marisa Kabas turned her disparagement of “the pint-sized CBP chief with the Nazi haircut and matching wardrobe” into a big fundraiser.
■ The trial of a Chicago man accused of a “murder-for-hire” scheme against Bovino seemed headed to a jury soon.
■ Journalist Dan Sinker—you may remember him as the guy behind that fake @MayorEmanuel account on Twitter (2011 link)—sounds a note of despair and hope: “Minneapolis needs your help, your money, your supplies, absolutely right now. But so does the community you live in. … But honestly I’ve never felt more hopeful that … we can do the impossible, even when it seems insurmountable” …
■ … and former Labor Secretary Robert Reich has some ideas on how to pull that off.
■ Next on ICE’s hitlist: Maine …
■ … where law prof Joyce Vance says close to 1,000 people there joined an ACLU session to get trained in how to resist.
‘War on the Constitution.’ After House Speaker Mike Johnson yesterday endorsed impeachment articles against judges who don’t support Trump’s agenda, Salty Politics columnist Julie Roginsky declares the U.S. in “the terminal phase of democratic breakdown.”
■ The Illinois House—well, the Democratic majority, anyway—has advanced a pack of resolutions blasting the Trump administration for “illegal and corrupt actions.”
■ After a guy filed as a Republican for an Indiana seat in Congress specifying “Seig Heil” as his middle name, the Lake County, Indiana, Republican Party chair says he’ll pursue legal means “to remove this moron” from the ballot.
Greenland, Iceland—what’s the difference? Poynter’s Tom Jones: “Trump repeatedly referred to Iceland while talking about Greenland. Then the press secretary denied what the video plainly shows.”
■ Columnist Eric Zorn: “It was as pure an example of White House gaslighting as we’ve seen. … But the cost of this to Trump is that those of us not in his thrall no longer believe anything he says.”
■ Stephen Colbert: “As George Orwell wrote in 1984, ‘War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Karoline Leavitt is a dumbass.’”
■ Columnist Jeff Tiedrich: “TACO Donny’s baaaaack, baby … and quite predictably, folded like a pack of cards.”
■ Investigative journalist Ken Klippenstein on “Homeland Security’s domestic terror obsession: Forget Greenland; the American public are the real target.”
■ Popular Information: The Trump administration has admitted staffers affiliated with the “Department of Government Efficiency” shared Social Security data with election deniers.
■ Pod Save America cohost Dan Pfeiffer: “Trump’s Greenland problem is … the rare idea that is putrid politics and policy.”
■ Jimmy Kimmel on reports his show’s still in the sights of the Trump-compliant Federal Communications Commission: “I might need your help again.”
‘Potentially catastrophic ice storm.’ The AP breaks down by the numbers the historically cold weather about to grip the nation this weekend.
■ Some Chicago-area schools have already planned to close or go remote.
■ The Guardian: Half the world’s climate-menacing carbon dioxide emissions come from just 32 companies.
‘When you make something illegal, you create a black market, making the sale completely unregulated.’ Mayor Johnson says he’s considering vetoing an ordinance that would make Chicago the first big U.S. city to outlaw the sale of some hemp-derived products.
■ Chicago’s inspector general says the city’s paid tens of millions of dollars in overtime to workers who potentially didn’t deserve it.
An Oscars record. Sinners today netted the most nominations for any movie ever.
■ Here’s the full list of nominees.
Clone yourself. Chicago-based Orbit Media explains in six steps how to create an AI version of yourself—“always available to answer questions, offer guidance and make recommendations, even if you’re busy or offline.”
■ Meet founder Andy Crestodina’s clone of himself.
■ The Current: Five popular apps—ostensibly designed to make your life better—are ratting you out to an insurance company, which can use the data to raise your rates.
■ After spending weeks with Amazon’s Echo Show 11 smart display, ZDNET’s Maria Diaz was wowed by its AI powers but also developed trust issues.
Chicago Public Square wouldn’t be approaching its ninth anniversary later this month without you. Your contributions—even just $1, just once—help cover the cost of its production and distribution.
■ But you can support Square in other ways—for free—just by reading, or by sharing this with a friend.
■ Mike Braden made this edition better.
