Greenland or bust. President Trump says anything less than U.S. ownership of Greenland “is unacceptable.”
■ Columnist Robert Hubbell: It’s time for Congress to defund Trump—including his ability to invade sovereign nations and NATO allies.
■ The AP fact-checks Trump on Greenland.
■ Columnist Terry Moran—fired by ABC News after calling Trump a “world-class hater” (June link): “The world is learning how to live without America.”
■ Everyone Is Entitled to My Own Opinion proprietor Jeff Tiedrich on Trump’s profane gesture yesterday in Detroit: “Should anyone really be surprised by Dear Leader’s infantile behavior? … Donny’s been giving us the finger for years now.”
‘The agents’ mission increasingly looks as if it is to frighten opponents of the administration into submission.’ But historian Heather Cox Richardson says surges of federal agents into Democratic-led cities—including Chicago and Minneapolis—“appear to be sparking deeper and deeper opposition.”
■ Law professor Joyce Vance questions ICE agents’ wearing of masks: “The excuse … was that it was necessary to protect the agents. … But they’re the ones assaulting and killing people.”
■ The American Prospect’s Harold Meyerson (no relation): Congressional Democrats have the ability to curtail Trump’s thugs—at least partly.
■ Stephen Colbert: Trump’s “clearly invading Minnesota.”
■ Columnist Lyz Lenz—back from five days there, researching her next book—rips apart a Fox News contributor’s characterization of rapid response groups as “organized gangs of wine moms.”
‘Blatantly unconstitutional and immoral.’ That’s Mayor Johnson’s assessment of Trump’s vow to cut off federal funding to Chicago and other so-called “sanctuary cities” at the end of the month.
■ Block Club: It’s not the first time Trump’s played that card.
■ The Tribune: The family of a Chicago sandwich shop owner deported this month after his arrest in September by Border Patrol agents is grappling with how to preserve the restaurant—and his legacy.
■ The American Prospect: ICE has been altering contracts with private prison companies to remove “the scant protections in place for transgender people in immigration prison.”
‘The Reich Stuff.’ Pulitzer winner Gene Weingarten: Illinois-born Rage Against the Machine founder Tom Morello was right when he flagged Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for taking to a podium displaying official policy of The Third Reich.
‘Air pollution denial is now EPA policy.’ Heated: Dirty air may kill people, but Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency won’t count the bodies.
■ The Trib: Almost a year after a toxic spill in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, the EPA’s left the cleanup undone.
■ Ready to declutter? One5c has guides for responsibly disposing of old clothes, spent electronics, used-up batteries, mushy mattresses and more.
Stuff’s getting Real (ID). Ahead of the end-of-the-month federal deadline for imposing a $45 fee on airline passengers without REAL IDs, the Illinois secretary of state is adding Saturday hours at its downtown office.
■ Learn what you need—and make an appointment—here.
‘Misconduct hotspots.’ Chicago’s inspector general has published a “Chicago Police Department Complaint Register Network” dashboard—letting you see complaints against cops in relationship to others with whom they’ve been co-accused.
■ Search for cops by name here.
Whoops. 404 Media: Police departments using Flock automated license plate readers across the country have unwittingly leaked details of millions of surveillance targets and a bunch of active police investigations. (Email address required to read for free. It’s worth it; 404’s doing important work.)
■ Check here to see if your plate was listed.
■ More from 404: A Colorado cop used Flock to accuse a woman wrongfully—then refused to look at evidence that exonerated her.
‘Intensely concerning.’ That’s how a First Amendment scholar describes an FBI search early today of a Washington Post journalist’s home.
■ The Post reports: “The search came as part of an investigation into a government contractor accused of illegally retaining classified government materials.”
‘A ratings dud.’ Status (mostly behind a paywall): Tony Dokoupil’s CBS Evening News looks like a flop.
■ Poynter’s Tom Jones: His interview with Trump was “much ado about nothing.”
■ On Weiss’ team at the network: Jerry Seinfeld’s daughter, who has virtually no news experience.
‘Are You Dead?’ That’s the name—translated from Chinese—of an app climbing Apple’s App Store charts.
■ Internationally, it’s known as “Demumu.”
■ Platformer’s Casey Newton: “What I learned while cloning my own voice”—to create an audio version of his columns.
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