From the right: The New Nixon in City Hall

Mayor de Blasio recently reminisced about watching the Watergate hearings as a 12-year-old, then muttered about the “eerie parallel” between Presidents Richard Nixon and Donald Trump. But Seth Barron at City Journal suggests “the mirror of history” has turned around “to confront the mayor himself.” After all, he notes, corruption allegations involving the mayor “continue to unfold on virtually a daily basis, involving a wider and ever more colorful cast of characters, and adumbrating a vivid, if yet incomplete, picture of municipal politicking at its worst.” So de Blasio is pointing fingers at the White House while he himself “is enmeshed in politico-financial dealings that would make [Nixon pal] Bebe Rebozo blush.”

Top Dem: Time To Get Really Tough on Chicago Violence

Obama White House Chief of Staff William Daley — the son and brother of former Chicago mayors — says enough is enough when it comes to the Windy City’s never-ending gun violence. Why, he asks in the Chicago Tribune, “are we wringing our hands but taking so little meaningful action?” It’s time, he says, to end the “ceaseless rounds of candlelight vigils” and take substantive steps. Like requiring “mandatory prison time for illegally carrying a gun.” And giving “police wider leeway to stop and search suspects for illegal guns.” Because studies have shown that “targeted police stops ‘based on probable cause or (indications) of actual crime’ [are] associated with ‘significant crime reductions.’ ” Says Daley: Police “don’t need unreasonable constraints in trying to combat Chicago’s epidemic of violence.”

Conservative take: Barack and Michelle Cash In

The $65 million that Barack and Michelle Obama reportedly are getting to each write a book is “the same price as a Gulfstream G650, the holy grail of private jets,” notes Alice B. Lloyd at The Weekly Standard. By comparison, “back in 1996, Hillary Clinton received no advance for ‘It Takes a Village’ and donated the bestseller’s proceeds to charity.” Two decades later, Clinton’s advance for “Hard Choices” was “a pretty pathetic $8 million.” Husband Bill collected $15 million for “My Life,” the previous political-book record. But “an author’s popularity and influence” build up his or her “asking power” — and “resistance to editing.” So “the forthcoming Obama book doesn’t have to be any good to justify its price tag,” and the “law of huge advances” tells us “it probably won’t be.”

Media critic: The Press Is Still Free — and Still Sloppy

Yes, President Trump’s rhetorical attacks on the news media “are unproductive and unnecessary,” says Alexandra DeSanctis at National Review. But to suggest he’s waging “a brutal war on the First Amendment” or “is a practical danger to the freedom of the press” is to misunderstand the media’s “responsibility as a check on government power.” Because “there is a material difference between the uncouth and the unconstitutional” that journalists refuse to accept. Fact is, “members of the media can’t produce as much sloppy work as they did during the last election cycle and then get upset when they lose credibility in the eyes of the public.” Constitutional protection “doesn’t legitimize any absurdity journalists wish to utter, nor does it protect that absurdity from criticism — from the president or anyone else.”

Sports desk: Baseball and Politics Don’t Mix

An ESPN writer laments that baseball players aren’t especially active politically and suggests this is “an abdication of their responsibility as citizens.” But David Harsanyi at The Federalist says what really bothers the writer is that players aren’t active against President Trump. Frankly, he says, “baseball players already provide a wonderful example of American civility. They do this by not incessantly talking about politics. Baseball is a distraction. From politics.” And “most players realize they’ve become famous because they can throw and hit, not because they have a position on monetary policy.” So if players “want to whine about ObamaCare repeal,” they can. “But they should not be surprised if half the fans react negatively.”

— Compiled by Eric Fettmann