Good morning.
Tuesday in Whitewater will see some snow with a high of thirty-nine. Sunrise is 6:20 AM and sunset 5:51 PM, for 11h 30m 47s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 76.5% of its visible disk illuminated. Today is the {tooltip}four hundred eighty-first day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}
The Whitewater Common Council meets tonight at 6:30 PM.
On this day in 1475, Michelangelo is born in the Republic of Florence. On this day in 1862, the 4th Wisconsin Cavalry heads south: “the 4th Wisconsin Cavalry (then an infantry unit) embarked to join the “Army of the Gulf.” It arrived below New Orleans on March 12, 1862, and landed in New Orleans on May 1. The 4th was at once assigned to active service and joined an expedition up the Mississippi River against Vicksburg in May. By June they occupied Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The troops there were employed in several successful expeditions during that winter, and remained in the area through most of the war. In June of 1862, its commander was punished for refusing to return escaping slaves to their masters (more information on this event is at Turning Points in Wisconsin History). In 1863 the unit was equipped as a Cavalry Regiment; it returned to Wisconsin in 1866.”
Recommended for reading in full —
➤ ABC News reports on a change of ownership:
Trump name chiseled off the Trump International Hotel in Panama after weeks of tensions over control of the property. https://t.co/KQuDrUckyr pic.twitter.com/Ph6xlHgwBr
— ABC News (@ABC) March 5, 2018
(Cathartic… See also Thugs, Leeches, Shouting and Shoving at Trump Hotel in Panama.)
➤ Ella Nilsen and Rachel Wolfe report Trump operative Sam Nunberg can’t stop talking:
There were some serious fireworks in Trump-Russia investigation world today, and they all happened on live television. [Vox / Andrew Prokop]
They came in the form of former Trump campaign aide Sam Nunberg, who went on several afternoon television shows on MSNBC and CNN and made eye-popping statements about the Trump campaign, after it was revealed a grand jury had subpoenaed him as part of the Russia investigation. [Washington Post / Josh Dawsey]
Among other things, Nunberg appeared to ask CNN’s Jake Tapper for legal advice, refused to turn over his emails, suggested special counsel Robert Mueller has “something” on Trump, and said he believed former Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page colluded with the Russians. [CNN / Eli Watkins]
Nunberg’s biggest grievance in being subpoenaed seemed to be being asked to dig through years’ worth of emails and turn them over to Mueller’s team or going in for questioning. [MSNBC / Katy Tur]
In case there was any doubt of how he felt, Nunberg made it clear. “Screw that,” he told CNN’s Gloria Borger. “Why do I have to go? Why? For what?” [CNN / Eli Watkins]
That brings us to the question: Who the hell is Sam Nunberg? [Haley Byrd via Twitter]
Nunberg is a conservative activist with roots in New York. He was a Trump acolyte before the real estate mogul formally launched his presidential campaign in summer 2015. [BuzzFeed / McKay Coppins]
Before Trump, Nunberg worked in political opposition research. He was also mentored by the original “dirty trickster” Roger Stone, and worked for Stone’s consulting firm, which counted Trump as a client back in 2015. [BuzzFeed / McKay Coppins]
Nunberg certainly has a history of his mouth getting him into trouble; he was fired by the Trump campaign just a few months after it launched, due to some racist Facebook posts. [CNN / Jeremy Diamond]
If Nunberg was trying to tell Mueller that there’s no there there, he failed spectacularly. It’s far more likely his performance today will pique the special counsel’s interest. [Atlantic / Adam Serwer]
(Trump’s crew is disordered, drunk, or delusional.)
➤ Mark Treinen and Alan Hovorka report UW-Stevens Point plans to cut 13 majors, add or expand 16 programs:
STEVENS POINT – The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point would eliminate more than a dozen majors including history, political science and geography under a proposal announced Monday.
The university also might lay off faculty as a result of program changes.
The proposal is part of a plan to address a projected deficit of $4.5 million over two years because of declining enrollment and lower tuition revenues.
UW-Stevens Point also would add or expand 16 programs “in areas with high-demand career paths” to increase overall enrollment on the campus, according to a news release.
…
The 13 programs that would be eliminated because of low enrollment are: American studies, art (but not graphic design), English (other than English for teacher certification), French, geography, geoscience, German, history (social science for teacher certification would continue), music literature, philosophy, political science, sociology (social work major would continue) and Spanish.
(One can expect similar liberal arts reductions elsewhere, as Stevens Point is not alone in having troubled finances.)
➤ reports Trump claims ‘there is no chaos’ in White House, but warns of future firings:
President Trump claimed Tuesday that “there is no chaos” in response to recent reports in The Washington Post and elsewhere of volatility in his White House. But he also warned of future staff firings because, the president said, he is “always seeking perfection.”
In a morning tweet, Trump wrote, “The new Fake News narrative is that there is CHAOS in the White House. Wrong! People will always come and go, and I want strong dialogue before making a final decision. I still have some people that I want to change (always seeking perfection). There is no Chaos, only great Energy!”
(Oh, brother.)
➤ This Special Training Keeps Astronauts From Vomiting Everywhere:
Sam, I am??
“I would not do it in a boat. I would not do it with a goat.” (apologies to Dr. S.)
Sam Nunberg got a buzz rolling yesterday and then drunk-called every cable channel but the History channel. He’ll be on that channel soon enough, in the inevitable Trump presidency documentary.
Sam did it with a whole herd of goats, right on the front lawn of the White House. It got so weird that CNN called Sam out, on-air and in real-time, for being fcked-up and stupid. A completely valid observation, on Erin Burnett’s part. She did a road-side sobriety test on Sam, and declared him reeking of alcohol. My Saints! How can this be??
What Sam was also reeking of was flop-sweat. I would hate to have his Fabreeze budget. He pretty much dropped a dime on Trump and the Ruskies. I doubt that any of this was news to Mueller, or anyone else paying attention, but it was illustrative to have it confirmed by an insider. Sam’s “episode” is an indication of what sort of pressure Mueller is putting on Trump & Company. Sam woke up this morning with his pants around his ankles, wondered what/who he did last night, took two Tylenol, and reconsidered defying the subpoena.
Trump has been doing his own crack-up as of late, too. Jared is in deep shit about various financial maneuverings. Putin is now accused of vetoing Mitt and installing Rex as SoS. Another Steele memo has surfaced. What has also surfaced is information that Trump stiffed his own lawyer, Cohen, for 130 large in the Stormy payout. Cohen, of all people, should have known better.
It is all turning to shit for Trump. It’s coming at him from all sides. What gets forgotten is that every piece of electronic communication, from everyone in the country, gets recorded and archived by the NSA. That isn’t conjecture, they’ve copped to it. Everyone includes the White House. Mueller is likely just confirming what he already knows full well, and providing some cover for the NSA.
We know it will end, but how, and how soon?
Dr. Seuss never, ever disappoints. Homages always welcome…
Yes, truly, it’s flop-sweat, in a way that’s so odd to see. Even Pacino in …And Justice for All was more composed. (In fact, the conveyed righteous anger, not pathetic desperation.) Really, it’s so odd to see a lawyer this way. The profession has its share of ethical failures and mediocrities, but few so publicly manic and self-destructive as Nunberg.
Any and all goats, within 100 miles of Nunberg, need to be reviewing the strategies in Escape Goat. (A fun game for normal humans, but a necessity for quadrupeds near Nunberg.)
Nunberg is under huge risk, as you note others surely are – Mueller may already have much of what he expects Nunberg to produce. It’s very common – and sound – to ask a party or witness for a documents some or all one which one already has, as a test of honesty.
Trump is both powerful and bigoted, and so he’s a danger to others. But it is true, time and again, that many in his orbit are third-raters, and there is an advantage in incompetent adversaries.
I have a copy of the Jane Mayer story about the second Steele memo, but I have not read it.
That’s on tap for tonight…