The [Monday] Papers

Here we go . . .

"I will support the Republican Party's nominee," says Rauner, even if it's @realDonaldTrump

— Ted Cox (@tedcoxchicago) March 21, 2016

What if it's David Duke? I mean, what's the difference?

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So the key question for Rauner is: What would it take for you not to support the Republican nominee? Who would it have to be to make you say no?

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We now have a governor willing to endorse a candidate who thinks Mexican immigrants are rapists, Muslims should be banned from entering the country, accepts the support of white supremacists and encourages violence against dissenters (especially, it seems, those who are black). Go to it, media.

We're All Living In Trump's America Now
Newspaper Claims The Unabomber "Arguably Did Less Damage" Than Madigan.

Young Chicago Republican Not Scared Of Trump
"Democracy thrives when voters are given a diverse offering of candidates to choose from and are encouraged to engage in robust discussion about them," Jillian Rose Bernas writes in a Crain's Op-Ed. "In 2016, the Republican Party is delivering just that."

Donald Trump's campaign to abolish democracy is just good old-fashioned democracy!

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Bernas is the vice president of the Chicago Young Republicans and running for state representative of the 56th district ("which includes much of Schaumburg, as well as parts of Elk Grove Village, Hanover Park, Hoffman Estates, Palatine, Rolling Meadows and Roselle").

Trump Takes All
"Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump did better getting convention delegates from Illinois than he might have because the Republican State Central Committee voted last year that the top vote-getter in the state would get all 15 at-large delegates," Bernie Schoenburg reports for the Springfield State Journal-Register.

"The other option, said Fred Floreth of Springfield, the 13th Congressional District representative on the central committee, was to split up those at-large delegates proportionally."

You can click through to get the details on the delegate dispersal.

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"Floreth surmised that some who voted for the winner-take-all plan 'may now regret that decision.'"

Trump Chumps
"By 2005, Deutsche Bank had emerged as one of Trump's leading bankers," the Wall Street Journal reports.

That year, the German bank and others lent a Trump entity $640 million to build the 92-story Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago. Deutsche Bank officials badly wanted the deal because it came with a $12.5 million fee attached, said a person familiar with the matter.

Trump charmed the bankers, flying them on his private Boeing 727 jet, according to people who traveled with him.

But when the housing bubble burst, the relationship frayed.

In 2008, Trump failed to pay $334 million he owed on the Chicago loan because of lacklustre sales of the building's units. He then sued Deutsche Bank. His argument was that the economic crisis constituted a "force majeure" - an unforeseen event such as war or natural disaster - that should excuse the repayment until conditions improved.

His lawyers were inspired to invoke the clause after hearing former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan describe the crisis as a "once-in-a-century credit tsunami," according to a person who worked on the case for Trump.

Trump also attacked Deutsche Bank's lending practices and said that as a big bank, it was partially responsible for causing the financial crisis. He sought $3 billion in damages.

Deutsche Bank in turn sued Trump, saying it was owed $40 million that the businessman had personally guaranteed in case his company was unable to repay the loan.

Deutsche Bank argued that Trump had a cavalier history toward banks, quoting from his 2007 book, Think Big And Kick Ass In Business And Life.

"I figured it was the bank's problem, not mine," Trump wrote, according to the lawsuit. "What the hell did I care? I actually told one bank, 'I told you you shouldn't have loaned me that money. I told you that goddamn deal was no good.'"

And that worked? Be right back - gotta get down to the bank.

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"The court rejected Trump's arguments but the suit forced Deutsche Bank to the negotiating table. The two sides agreed to settle their suits out of court in 2009. The following year, they extended the original loan by five years. It was paid off in 2012 - with the help of a loan from the German firm's private bank."

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Trump Tower Chicago Is Still Allowed To Exist
Donald's welcome.

Ivanka's video.

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Eminent domain, anybody?

Throwback Trump
"As the feud between Rosie and the Donald cools, the Chicago Tribune reports [link dead] a new brouhaha involving the billionaire," mouseprint.org reported in 2007.

"This time, it seems that Mr. Trump is trying to renege on pre-construction discounts he offered to get friends and family to buy in early at the forthcoming Trump International Hotel and Tower project in Chicago. This is the project that 2004 Apprentice winner Bill Rancic was overseeing.

"At the time of these early sales, some insiders paid as little as $500 a square foot for their units. Now that units are selling as high as $1300 a square foot, Mr. Trump apparently feels he offered too great a discount to the early buyers. So, starting a few months ago, Trump's lawyer began notifying the buyers that their deals are null and void 'in accordance with our rights under the contract, including, without limitation, paragraph 12 (b).'"

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Illinois Team Secretly Makes Sweet 16
You wouldn't know it from the local media, but there was a team from Chicago that had a thrilling weekend at its top tier NCAA basketball tournament.

How Bourgeois Equality And Jewelry Changed The World
Battle Bots and Bagwomen too. In Local Book Notes.

The Real Heroes At The Cell
Hint: They're not in the locker room.

The Weekend In Chicago Rock
Featuring: The Mavericks, The Deep Fried Pickle Project With Mr. Mayor And The Highballers, The Ocean Blue, Mavis Staples, The Flat Five, Dave and Phil Alvin & The Guilty Ones, Stick Figure, Raging Fyah, Kung Fu, Manic Focus, Rick Springfield, and Super-Unknown.

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BeachBook

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This is journalism!

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TweetWood
A sampling.

you say that like it's a bad thing https://t.co/BpJRFgJCh0 pic.twitter.com/tUHBuJQVyj

— sam leo stecklow (@samstecky) March 21, 2016

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you say that like it's a bad thing https://t.co/aKv3gSjETO pic.twitter.com/bB8sL7o6sy

— sam leo stecklow (@samstecky) March 21, 2016

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Digital newspaper subs backwards: Cost should decrease the more times I visit until it gets to zero. I see so many ads you should pay me!

— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) March 20, 2016

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Everyone keeps talking about the gig economy, but what about the gag economy?

— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) March 20, 2016

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That point should be right away.

TV news' Trump problem is a general media principle writ large: at some point you have to be willing to lose access by doing your job.

— James Poniewozik (@poniewozik) March 18, 2016

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The Beachwood Tip Line: Bank it.

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