Tuesday Clutter: Trump, John McCain's Farewell, Jared Kushner, Pope Francis, Boston Red Sox, New England Patriots, Odell Beckham Jr., Alec Baldwin, Louis C.K., Go-Go's, and more
08/28/2018
Hi everyone,
Welcome back! Come on in, have a seat. We were just checking out the weather forecast. Looks like we've got a little heat wave coming for the next couple of days. Hmm, I better get my bike ride in earlier rather than later today. BDH and Little Buddha say they're happy to keep an eye on things here (and stay in front of the fans) while I'm gone. They also say that the coffee is ready. There's a fresh pot on the counter, so help yourself to a nice medium DD, and let's clear out some Tuesday Clutter.
Donald Trump wasted no time in embarrassing himself, the presidency, and the rest of the country, with his refusal to have the U.S. flag above the White House lowered in respect to John McCain. He eventually caved after a sustained outcry, but give the man credit, he never misses a single opportunity to be the worst human being he can be at any given moment. Even when he's not committing treason, or a variety of criminal acts, he almost seems to thrive on showing the world his lack of basic decency.
How do these fancy speakerphones work? (pic via newsweek.com)
In contrast to that pettiness, read John McCain's farewell statement. Whatever one might have thought about McCain's politics, Donald Trump couldn't reach that level of grace and elegance on his best day with a team of writers spoon-feeding him the words.
Trump can't be happy to hear that Paul Manafort was reportedly seeking a plea deal before his second trial begins in September.
We haven't heard much about Jared Kushner recently. Wonder what he's up to. Oh, here we go: Kushner Companies was fined $210,000 by the New York City Department of Buildings for filing a variety of false construction applications over a period of several years. Apparently the company under-reported their rent-regulated tenants as required by law. That sounds about right.
Seth Frotman, the top student loan official in the country, resigned his position from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) yesterday. Frotman said that the CFPB isn't fulfilling its mission to protect borrowers and has in fact become a puppet for financial companies.
The Vatican doesn't want you to know that Pope Francis recommended parents seek therapists for their gay children.
As the Boston Red Sox prepare for a quick two-game series against the Miami Marlins, Chad Finn would like Sox fans to take a deep breath about the team 's recent slump. We agree with Finn: This is a good team, and they should take care of business in September. Way too many people are acting like 2004, 2007 and 2013 never happened.
The Red Sox could be getting reinforcements, as Eduardo Rodriguez and Christian Vazquez may both return to the team as soon as Saturday. Rodriguez in particular would be a boost to Boston's starting rotation.
The start of the NFL season is almost here, and there's one story we already don't want to hear about anymore: The relationship between the New England Patriots and Alex Guerrero. We don't care if he's with the team, and we don't care what he does for Tom Brady or any other player. This is a "turn-the-channel" story when it comes up on the radio or TV.
New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. just agreed to a five-year contract extension for $95 million, with a remarkable $65 million guaranteed. The contract makes him the highest-paid wide receiver in NFL history. More power to him. A football player's career can end on any snap, so they should grab every last dollar they can.
Good news, Boston Celtics fans: Danny Ainge says Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward are healthy and ready to go for starting camp.
Alec Baldwin is joining Joaquin Phoenix's upcoming Joker movie as Thomas Wayne, the father of a certain kid with a bat obsession. That casting makes perfect sense to us. The movie is being described as, "darker than the studio’s other DC-based movies," because really, that's the problem with DC movies - they're usually way too bright and light-hearted.
According to John Goodman, Roseanne Barr's character will be killed-off in The Conners. Do you think that will be a permanent move? We know, Roseanne is persona non grata after her recent Twitter attacks, but Hollywood loves redemption stories. Goodman's Dan Conner once died himself, but that turned out to be a dream, so that's one way Roseanne could return down the road. We could also find out that there's a mysterious previously-unknown identical twin sister. That always works on soap operas. Of course, we're not even sure if this show is going to last more than one year, so we'll come back to this at some point down the road.
Louis C.K. made his first stand-up appearance since accusations of sexual misbehavior were made against him last year. We're expecting the argument over whether or not "he's suffered enough" to begin any time now.
Okay kids, that's going to do it for now. Here are the Go-Go's to close things out with, "Vacation," for today's, "Song of the Day."
Thanks for stopping by, everyone. It was great to see you, as always. BDH and Little Buddha say anyone who wants to stay and keep cool with them is more than welcome (as long as you don't block the fans.) Otherwise, enjoy the rest of your day, be good, and we'll meet up again for more fun soon. Until next time, that's today's Clearing out the Clutter, and we are outta here.
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