‘Democracy lives’ / ‘Glitch McConnell’ / ‘Bezos … needs to pee’ / Colbert show’s last laugh

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‘Democracy lives.’ Tribune, New York Times and Washington Post alumnus Susan Berger hails the Supreme Court’s decision to block Donald Trump’s restrictions on ballots mailed in for November’s elections.
■ CNN calls it “a significant loss for the president.”
■ Trump’s condemning the justices he put on the court: “Not the people I interviewed.”

Not all that thrilled? In what Politico’s Shia Kapos calls “a notable break,” Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey seems less than enthusiastic about his endorsement by Trump.
■ Bailey issued a statement declaring, “That’s not what this race is about.”

Illegal bust? A suburban police department’s investigating the possibility its officers violated a state law forbidding local cops from assisting federal immigration enforcement—as ICE arrested two Venezuelan immigrants after a routine traffic stop (Tribune gift link).
■ Chicago and Illinois are suing the Trump administration over a rule set to take effect Friday, giving the feds more power over immigrants who get welfare benefits.
■ A Trump administration rule would leave thousands of acres in Shawnee National Forest vulnerable to drilling and logging.

■ The new bride ain’t denyin’ it.
■ CNN’s Brian Stelter: “There’s no looking away from this Trump scoop.”

‘Private gain and antidemocratic reaction.’ The Atlantic (gift link) says “Far-right ideologues have transformed American foreign policy.”
■ Popular Information: Senate legislation on the crypto industry would greenlight Trump corruption. (Cartoon: Jack Ohman.)
■ Stop the Presses columnist Mark Jacob: “Journalists need to resist the right’s attempts to set their agenda.”

‘Glitch McConnell is kinda sorta somewhat almost alive!’ Columnist Jeff Tiedrich is amazed that, for the first time in three months, Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell showed up on the Senate floor yesterday.
■ Also back to the Senate today: FBI Director Kash Patel, to face questions from, among others, Illinois’ Dick Durbin—who called Patel “the least qualified and most partisan FBI director in our nation’s history.”
■ Watch here.

‘There is no longer anything Grand about the deranged cult.’ Columnist Eric Zorn explains why he eschews “GOP” as a nickname for the Republican Party.
■ Your Chicago Public Square columnist in 2016: “Death to ‘GOP.’”

‘Jeffrey Preston Bezos … needs to pee all the time.’ Author, tech watchdog and enshittification coiner Cory Doctorow cites that inevitability of the Amazon founder’s age (62) “because of how hard it is to reconcile the very different circumstances of Bezos’s bladder with the bladders of the hundreds of thousands of Amazon delivery and warehouse workers who are not allowed to pee at all.”
■ After a Miami crash that killed five, Amazon is suspending use of cargo airline 21 Air.

DIY bus benches. Block Club: Without city permission, volunteers are installing seats at Chicago bus stops.
■ They’re open to collaborators.
■ Also from Block Club: Urban historian Shermann “Dilla” Thomas is in a legal fight with a Swedish ski apparel brand over his slogan “Everything Dope About America Comes From Chicago.”

‘I can’t think of any reason why anyone shouldn’t be allowed to make this deeply personal choice for themselves.’ Eric Zorn salutes radio star and newspaper veteran Judy Markey’s “deliberate and well-timed” decision to end her life on her terms.

Colbert show’s last laugh. His show canned by a sycophantic CBS, Stephen Colbert last night took the Emmy for Outstanding Variety Series.
■ In a post-Emmys interview, he declared free speech “alive and well.”
■ … whose online-only sit-down with Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico has become his most-watched post in two years.
■ … which went heavily to Apple-produced shows.

New life for old(er) things? Apple’s released its 2027 software updates.
■ Six Colors reviews the new features for iPhones and Macs.
■ TidBITS offers guidance for “who should upgrade immediately, and who should wait.”
■ ZDNET salutes Energizer for making the batteries used in AirTags and other small devices less lethal for kids who swallow them.

Publication’s price. This month’s Mailchimp bill for distributing Square will run 12% more than the previous high.
■ Your support keeps this service coming free for all.
■ Mike Braden made this edition better.

‘Greatest frickin’ city in the world’ / What climate change? / Mourning radio

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‘Greatest frickin’ city in the world.’ That’s what Mayor Johnson declared Chicago as he announced his bid for reelection (Tribune gift link).
■ He called out Donald Trump: “As the federal government has turned its power against immigrant communities … we used every tool available to us—executive action, the courts, and the power of local government—to protect our people.”
■ … but, as the Sun-Times and WBEZ note, “he has the progressive lane to himself.”
■ Here’s who’s running so far.

Chicago at its worst, best. At least seven people were shot—one killed—in a mass shooting yesterday afternoon in Humboldt Park.
■ Block Club photos capture a joyous Mexican Independence Day Parade in Little Village—still struggling after a year of immigration oppression.

‘Was this letter drafted by different monkeys at different typewriters?’ Pro-Israel Political Update proprietor Steve Sheffey says Michigan rabbis’ “nonnegotiable” demands directed at Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed “might seem reasonable at first glance but … fall apart upon further reflection.”
■ Sheffey’s signed a letter from Jewish Americans endorsing El-Sayed over Trump loyalist Mike Rogers.
■ So has former U.S. Sen. Al Franken (Washington Post gift link).
■ Under pressure from the Israeli American Council, singer Ed Sheeran’s U.S. tour has dropped rapper Macklemore after he called onstage for a free Palestine.

‘An unprecedented figure.’ Popular Information’s Judd Legum scrutinizes how the president’s spending the $400 million he’s accumulated under the auspices of his super political action group, MAGA Inc. …
■ … notably for reserving TV ad time in that Michigan race.
■ American Crisis columnist Margaret Sullivan says the news media are failing to convey the truth about the midterms: “That there’s a chance that Trump could face some accountability, at last, and that he’s … doing everything in his power to thwart it—including … scaring voters about going to the polls, and making it harder for them to vote.”
■ USA Today’s Rex Huppke calls the vote in November “the nation’s last, best chance to curtail Trump’s insanity.”
■ Columnist Jeff Tiedrich asks, “Why … were millions of dollars wasted on Donny’s pointless Emotional Support Trip to Ireland?”

Climate change? What climate change? Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency today was set to repeal rules limiting power plants’ Earth-warming greenhouse gas emissions.
■ The Natural Resources Defense Council’s president tells The New York Times (gift link), “This is another nail in the coffin for … protecting people.”
■ Nobel-winning economist Paul Krugman: “Everything we know about climate change suggests that what we’ve seen so far is just a foretaste of the disasters to come.”

■ Allow 404 Media to introduce you to the humans reading your ChatGPT chats.

Mourning radio. Axios Chicago’s Justin Kaufmann—himself a WGN Radio veteran—marks the death of Judy Markey, half of the station’s groundbreaking “Kathy & Judy” team.
■ She passed in Switzerland with medical assistance in dying (Tribune gift link) …
■ … a day before such help became legal in Illinois.

Sports news.
■ Poynter’s Tom Jones: “ESPN gave Ted Cruz 10 minutes on College GameDay. Critics say it crossed a line.”

Ready to bundle? If Chicago’s cooler temperatures lately have you thinking about a warmer wardrobe, Chicago Public Square hoodies are here for you.
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