Good morning.
Wednesday in Whitewater will see thunderstorms with a high of ninety. Sunrise is 5:28 AM and sunset 8:32 PM, for 15h 04m 18s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 89% of its visible disk illuminated. Today is the {tooltip}two hundred forty-fifth day.{end-texte}Days since Trump’s election, with 11.9.16 as the first day.{end-tooltip}
On this day in 1995, a deadly heat wave strikes the Midwest: “From July 12-15, 1995, the Midwest was subjected to a deadly outbreak of hot and humid weather responsible for 141 deaths in Wisconsin. According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, this was the “greatest single event of weather-related deaths in Wisconsin history.” Most of the fatalities happened in the urban southeast counties of the state, and at one point several Milwaukee-area hospitals were unable to admit more patients.
Milwaukee Temperatures (from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel): July 12: Hi=91, Lo=65 July 13: Hi=103*, Lo=78 July 14: Hi=102, Lo=84 July 15: Hi=92, Lo=69 July 16: Hi=88, Lo=68 *Some communities reported highs as high as 108. Heat Index values were 120-130 degrees.”
Recommended for reading in full —
Bob Bauer ponders an Open Door to Moscow? New Facts in the Potential Criminal Case of Trump Campaign Coordination with Russia:
The Trump campaign in 2016 was signaling to Russia that it would be happy to have the Putin regime’s help. President Trump, as a candidate, famously called for Russia’s assistance. Later, when pressed, he repeatedly refused to clearly acknowledge its interference or condemn it.
Now it appears that Trump campaign was not simply hinting that it would welcome this help. The Wall Street Journal very recently, and now the New York Times, have reported active Trump campaign or campaign supporter contacts with Russian agents or intermediaries toward the goal of obtaining negative information about Hillary Clinton. And, for the first time, someone named Trump–Donald, Jr.–has publicly confirmed that the campaign communicated directly with a Russia foreign national connected with the Putin regime in the bid for material damaging to the former Secretary of State.
In previous pieces, I have discussed the ground of legal liability based on “substantial assistance” to, or “aiding and abetting,” a foreign national’s providing a “thing of value” to influence an election. To this date the evidence has been largely on the public record, in “plain sight,” and it included Mr. Trump’s own comments. The recently published reports do not replace this theory; they supplement it, or round it out, by corroborating that what the campaign was pursuing through private channels were the same goals–help from the Russians—that were strongly indicated by the candidate’s words and related public behavior.
James Hohmann observes that Trump dysfunction follows family from the campaign to the White House:
Perhaps the biggest conceit of Donald Sr.’s rationale for seeking the presidency was his competence as a manager. Many voters assumed that because he is rich and once hosted a successful reality-television show, Trump could effectively lead an organization. The more details that emerge about how his campaign really operated behind the scenes — and how paralyzed his White House is now — the clearer it becomes that the president is in way over his head….
Conor Friedersdorf explains Why Donald Trump’s Russia Denials Can No Longer Be Believed:
Perhaps Donald Trump knew that all this was going on, which would make his statement at the press conference last spring a particularly shameless lie, even by his standards. Only a fool would ever again trust a politician who they caught in a lie like that.
Then again, maybe Trump was oblivious to the meeting that took place in Trump Tower. But if it’s the latter, that means that Trump was so ignorant about what happened inside his own campaign that he didn’t even know about a meeting his own son scheduled for the purpose of colluding with the Russian government, even though both his campaign manager and his son-in-law were also in attendance. That would mean his closest advisers were actively keeping him in the dark.
Both possibilities, though, point to the same conclusion: The president cannot be believed. Either Trump’s denials about campaign collusion with Russia cannot be believed because he is a shameless liar; or Trump’s denials about campaign collusion with Russia cannot be believed because he was utterly clueless about at least one major effort to collude, and thus cannot credibly attest that there were not other efforts to which he wasn’t privy.
Tom Haudricourt asks and answers How are the Milwaukee Brewers in first place at the all-star break? Here’s why:
So how did this relatively inexperienced team exceed expectations to this extent over the first half? Here are 10 reasons for the Brewers’ surprise showing:
1. CORNERING THE MARKET
Seeking to balance what had been a predominantly right-handed lineup in 2016, the Brewers acquired two left-handed hitters with pop to man their infield corners. First baseman Eric Thames was signed to a three-year deal after tearing up the Korean Baseball Organization for three seasons and third baseman Travis Shaw was part of a package of players acquired from Boston in a trade for reliever Tyler Thornburg.
It is safe to say that both Thames and Shaw have exceeded expectations. Thames was the talk of the baseball world in April when he set a club record with 11 home runs and posted a 1.276 OPS. He has cooled off considerably since but still made it to the break with 23 home runs and a .936 OPS. Shaw was the steadiest offensive player on the club, blasting 19 home runs – three more than he had in 145 games with Boston last season – and driving in 65 runs to go with a .937 OPS.
“They have given us the balance we were seeking in our lineup,” manager Craig Counsell said. “I put Travis in the cleanup spot and he has been there every day. Consistency is the word to use when describing his play this season [list continues]….
At the Oregon Zoo, Samudra cools off: