Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of sixty-nine.  Sunrise is 5:32 AM and sunset 8:10 PM, for 14h 37m 51s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing gibbous with 76.6% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Public Works Committee meets at 6:00 PM.

On this day in 1804, the Lewis and Clark (Corps of Discovery) Expedition departs for the west: 

President Thomas Jefferson commissioned the expedition shortly after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 to explore and to map the newly acquired territory, to find a practical route across the western half of the continent, and to establish an American presence in this territory before Britain and other European powers tried to claim it. The campaign’s secondary objectives were scientific and economic: to study the area’s plants, animal life, and geography, and to establish trade with local American Indian tribes.

Recommended for reading in full:

Patrick Marley and Molly Beck report Wisconsin Republican Party maxed out credit card, racked up $600 in monthly interest as it tried to save Scott Walker:

The state Republican Party fell so far behind financially in recent months that it missed payments to insurers and racked up nearly $600 a month in interest on a maxed-out credit card, according to a draft of an internal report.

The review, commissioned by U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson and other top Wisconsin Republicans in the wake of statewide losses in 2018, also showed the party was “recklessly reliant” on consultants, some of whom made more than $500,000 doing routine work for the party.

In a final version of the report released Monday, GOP leaders also concluded the party and statewide campaigns fell short with women by including very few in their 2018 campaigns.

Zach Beauchamp writes Hungary’s leader is waging war on democracy. Today [Monday], he’s at the White House:

[S]ince winning the country’s 2010 election, [Hungarian leader Viktor] Orban has subtly consolidated power and rendered elections almost impossibly unfair. He and allies of his political party, Fidesz, control nearly all of Hungary’s media; he manipulates the state’s economic powers to weaken potential rivals and empower his cronies. Widespread anti-immigrant sentiment, kicked off by the 2015 refugee crisis, has become a key propaganda tool Orban uses to legitimize his power grabs.

Orban has also been explicit that his goal is the defeat of liberal democracy. Trump hasn’t gone that far, but he has flashed some authoritarian instincts, and his party has shown it’s willing to go along. David Cornstein, a longtime Trump associate currently serving as US ambassador to Hungary, told the Atlantic that the president “would love to have the [political] situation that Viktor Orban has.”

It’s hard to imagine a military coup or outright abolition of elections in the United States. It’s much easier to imagine a gradual hollowing-out of democracy akin to what’s happened in Hungary, a rise of soft fascism cheered on by Fox News and Breitbart. (Steve Bannon has called Orban “the most significant guy on the scene right now.”)

‘Disgusting’: Video shows students forcing dog to drink beer from keg:

Good morning.

Monday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of sixty-three.  Sunrise is 5:33 AM and sunset 8:09 PM, for 14h 35m 44s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing gibbous with 66.1% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Planning Commission meets and 6:30 PM, and the Whitewater School Board in closed session at 6:30 PM, with an open session beginning at 7 PM.  Among the agenda items are numbers 2, 3, and 7:

2. ADJOURN INTO CLOSED SESSION

A. Adjourn into closed session, pursuant to the provisions of Sec. 19.85(1)(c), and (e), Wis. Stats., considering employment, promotion, compensation or performance evaluation data of any public employee over which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility; deliberating or negotiating the purchasing of public properties, the investing of public funds, or conducting other specified public business, whenever competitive or bargaining reasons require a closed session, specifically, teacher compensation, to discuss administrator and teacher contracts, evaluations, and performance of duties. (Action Item)

….

3. OPEN SESSION (7:00 pm)

A. Reconvene into open session per Section 19.85 (2) Wis. Stats., for potential action on any matters discussed in closed session. (Action Item)

….

7. ADJOURN INTO CLOSED SESSION (continuation of previous session, if necessary)

A. Adjourn into closed session, pursuant to Section 19.85(1) (c), Wis. Stats., to consider employment, promotion, compensation, or performance evaluation data of any public employee over which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility. Specifically, to discuss administrator contracts, evaluations, and performance of duties with the District’s legal counsel; when closed session ends, the meeting will end (Action Item)

On this day in 1864, the Battle of Resaca, Georgia begins: “From May 13-16, 1864, more than 150,000 soldiers clashed outside Georgia’s capital city, including 10 Wisconsin regiments.”

Recommended for reading in full:

Felicia Sonmez reports Kudlow acknowledges U.S. consumers, not China, pay for tariffs on imports:

Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will see brief afternoon showers with a high of fifty-five.  Sunrise is 5:34 AM and sunset 8:07 PM, for 14h 33m 35s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing gibbous with 55.2% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1949, in the Soviet’s Berlin Blockade ends:

By the spring of 1949, the [Allied responsive] airlift was clearly succeeding, and by April it was delivering more cargo than had previously been transported into the city by rail. On 12 May 1949, the USSR lifted the blockade of West Berlin, although for a time the U.S., U.K and France continued to supply the city by air anyway because they were worried that the Soviets were simply going to resume the blockade and were only trying to disrupt western supply lines. The Berlin Blockade served to highlight the competing ideological and economic visions for postwar Europe and was the first major multinational skirmish of the cold war.

Recommended for reading in full:

Katelyn Ferral reports ‘It was rape:’ Wisconsin Army National Guard officer Megan Plunkett says she was retaliated against, disciplined for reporting sexual assaults:

How Grizzly Bears Saved A Life:

Good morning.

Saturday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of fifty-six.  Sunrise is 5:35 AM and sunset 8:06 PM, for 14h 31m 24s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing crescent with 44.2% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1934, consequences of Dust Bowl conditions reach as far as the East Coast:  “As dawn broke on May 11, the Pittsburgh airport reported dust so thick that visibility was reduced to one mile. New York was soon to follow. The New York Times described ‘a half-light similar to the light cast by the sun in a partial eclipse.’ “

Recommended for reading in full:

Josh Dawsey, Juliet Eilperin, and Peter Jamison report Trump takes over Fourth of July celebration, changing its location and inserting himself into the program:

President Trump has effectively taken charge of the nation’s premier Fourth of July celebration in Washington, moving the gargantuan fireworks display from its usual spot on the Mall to be closer to the Potomac River and making tentative plans to address the nation from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, according to top administration officials.

 The president’s starring role has the potential to turn what has long been a nonpartisan celebration of the nation’s founding into another version of a Trump campaign rally. Officials said it is unclear how much the changes may cost, but the plans have already raised alarms among city officials and some lawmakers about the potential impact of such major alterations to a time-honored and well-organized summer tradition.

Fireworks on the Mall, which the National Park Service has orchestrated for more than half a century, draw hundreds of thousands of Americans annually and mark one of the highlights of the city’s tourist season.

….

[T]his past February, Trump announced on Twitter that Americans should “HOLD THE DATE!” on July 4 for a “Major fireworks display, entertainment and an address by your favorite President, me!”

Jennifer Rubin explains Harris challenges the thinking on the best way to challenge Trump:

[T]he notion that Democrats must have a white man to dislodge Trump is based on not much other than fear. Democrats need a competent candidate who can turn out the base, not scare off moderate independents and disenchanted Democrats, and stand up to Trump. Right now, voters are saying that person is former vice president Joe Biden, who both is extremely well-liked and fits the unproved-but-ingrained hunch that only a white man can beat the white incumbent president.

This week [on 5.1.19], Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) reminded voters that there is more than one way to slice and dice a dishonest, arrogant white Republican man. She filleted Attorney General William P. Barr, showing she can plan out and carry off a rhetorical knockout. Hey, maybe she can stand up to Trump on that debate stage. Maybe she is the one to rally the African American vote and keep those women who crossed over to vote Democratic in 2018 in the Democrats’ corner in 2020.

See also Sen. Kamala Harris Questions Atty. Gen. William Barr.

Biosimilars: complex copycat drugs:

Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of fifty-nine.  Sunrise is 5:36 AM and sunset 8:05 PM, for 14h 29m 11s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing crescent with 32.2% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1865, Confederate President Jefferson Davis is captured: “The 1st Wisconsin Cavalry was one of the first units sent to search for Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy, after the surrender of General Robert E. Lee. A Michigan unit, also sent to find Davis, accidentally attacked the cavalry before dawn. A few hours later, both units captured the Confederate president in Irwinville, Georgia.”

Recommended for reading in full:

Yascha Mounk writes How Authoritarians Manipulate Elections (“From Russia to Venezuela, the strongmen who have destroyed democratic institutions won high office at the ballot box”):

the new crop of authoritarian leaders is much more invested in retaining the appearance of a genuine democratic mandate. As a result, they have to engage in a more complicated political calculus: They have to give the opposition enough of a chance to compete in the elections to look credible to a significant segment of the population. But they must also capture political institutions such as electoral commissions to a sufficient extent to ensure that the people can’t actually boot them out of office.

As the recent developments in Turkey show, however, it may not be possible to sustain this equilibrium forever. Eventually, even governments that have effectively abolished the freedom of the press risk growing so unpopular that they have to resort to more blatant ways of rigging the vote.

But by the time he held his inspiring speech, Imamoglu knew all too well that, at least for the time being, Erdogan already had. After using his control over most of the country’s media to spread the insane conspiracy theory that a powerless opposition had somehow been able to falsify the outcome of the election, Erdogan went on to use his control over the country’s judiciary to cancel its result. Citing supposed irregularities, the electoral commission announced on Monday that Istanbul would hold new elections in June.

The announcement marks a fundamental turning point in Turkey’s political history: It is now impossible for any reasonable observer to keep denying reality. A country whose president has the power to annul elections when he doesn’t like their outcome has clearly become a dictatorship. From now on, anybody who still insists on calling Turkey a democracy, or treating its elections as a fair barometer of public opinion, is a liar or a fool.

Why Doesn’t Sugar Spoil?:

Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of sixty.  Sunrise is 5:37 AM and sunset 8:04 PM, for 14h 26m 57s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing crescent with 22.4% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1950, the first sporting event takes place at the Milwaukee Arena: “Rocky Graziano scored a fourth-round TKO over Vinnie Cidone in a middleweight fight that drew 12,813 fans.”

Recommended for reading in full:

Antonia Noori Farzan reports ‘Shoot them!’: Trump laughs off a supporter’s demand for violence against migrants:

A roar rose from the crowd of thousands of Trump supporters in Panama City Beach on Wednesday night, as President Trump noted yet again that Border Patrol agents can’t use weapons to deter migrants. “How do you stop these people?” he asked.

“Shoot them!” someone yelled from the crowd, according to reporters on the scene and attendees.

The audience cheered. Supporters seated behind Trump and clad in white baseball caps bearing the letters “USA” laughed and applauded.

“That’s only in the Panhandle you can get away with that statement,” Trump replied, smiling and shaking his head. “Only in the Panhandle.”

Though Trump didn’t explicitly endorse the suggestion to shoot migrants, his joking response raised concerns that he was tacitly encouraging extrajudicial killings and brutality against asylum seekers and undocumented immigrants. The president has long been accused of endorsing acts of violence through his incendiary rhetoric and allusions to the potential for violence at his rallies, a charge that members of his administration deny.

Russell Berman describes The Rarely Used Congressional Power That Could Force William Barr’s Hand (“It hasn’t been done in nearly a century, but House Democrats could arrest the attorney general after they find him in contempt):

Impeachment is Congress’s most famous, yet rarely exercised, power over wayward presidents and other federal officers. But as Trump-administration officials continue to defy House subpoenas related to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, Democrats in control of the chamber could turn to an even blunter weapon in their arsenal: arrest.

Courts have recognized that the House and Senate each have the authority to enforce their orders by imprisoning those who violate them—literally. They can direct their respective sergeant at arms to arrest officials they’ve found to be in contempt and bring them to the Capitol for trial and, potentially, jail. Congress hasn’t invoked what’s known as the “power of inherent contempt” in nearly a century, but the escalating clash between two co-equal branches of government has Democrats talking about moves previously deemed unthinkable.

“Its day in the sun is coming,” Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland told me by phone on Tuesday. Raskin, a second-term Democrat and former constitutional-law professor, sits on the House Judiciary Committee, which on Wednesday approved, on a vote of 24–16, a resolution finding Attorney General William Barr in contempt for his refusal to give Congress the full, unredacted Mueller report.

How One Man Built His Own Spacesuit: