Hi everyone,

Welcome back!  Come on in, have a seat.  How are you?  There's a chance we won't be able to meet up tomorrow, so BDH and Little Buddha wanted to make sure we said today, especially before the Super Bowl, but we'll get to that in a bit.  Anything big on the schedule today?  We've just got a few errands to run, and it looks like it might actually reach the 30's later, so that will be nice.  Other than that, it's mostly waiting for the big game on Sunday.  The guys say we need coffee.  I certainly won't argue, and it turns out they just made some.  Help yourself to a nice medium DD, and let's clear out some Saturday Clutter.

The United States and Russia are both pulling out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, so the world just became a more dangerous place while Russia's puppet remains in the White House. 

A Louisiana anti-choice law currently before the Supreme Court has been temporarily halted while the Court takes more time to decide whether or not to hear the case.  The Supreme Court has a 5-4 anti-choice majority, but allowing this law to go forward would directly contradict a Supreme Court ruling from 2016.  Therefore, the single biggest issue may become whether or not Chief Justice John Roberts is comfortable reversing that precedent so soon.  He knows that "his" court is seen as a partisan body that has questions about the legitimacy of several of his associates, and a sudden reversal would only amplify those arguments.  This delay is in effect until the 7th, so we'll see what happens after that.

The...hold on, we have breaking news:  Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow, so we're due for an early spring!  Yes, we know that there's no scientific basis for this annual ritual, and he's usually wrong anyway, but it's just nice to write, "early spring."  Now where were we...

The calls are growing for Virginia Governor Ralph Northam to resign after it was discovered that he appeared in a racist picture in his medical school yearbook in 1984.  Don't political candidates have professionals to vet themselves and their opponents?  How is this only showing up now?  Northam is so far resisting the calls for his resignation, but he'll have to do the right thing eventually.  The one thing he should do is ignore every Republican claiming to be offended.  As long as the GOP stands behind Donald Trump and the like, they have zero moral authority.

There's only one decision for Governor Northam to make.  (pic via abcnews.go.com)

Speaker Pelosi apparently has the ability to force Republicans to vote on any emergency declaration from Donald Trump. That means the GOP would have to decide if they claim any power in their own branch of government, or if their servitude to Trump is absolute.

Donald Trump is scheduled to have his annual physical next Friday. You know the Great Pumpkin will say he's in perfect health, but if Dr. Sean Conley says the same, like Dr. Ronny Jackson did last year, then the fix is in again.  It's possible we say that with some snark, but there's also a more serious issue involved here.  The public has a right to know if the White House occupant is in good physical health and is mentally competent, especially since all current visible evidence indicates otherwise.

We're always fascinated by articles about competitive eaters like Molly Schuyler, a woman who owns the records for, "pizza, hamburgers, hot chicken, fried mushrooms, bratwurst, and pumpkin pie, among other things."  Sometimes our question is, how do they do things like eating a 72-ounce steak in three minutes without dying on the spot?  Other times, we wonder how we might do in a few of these events.  The answer is probably "really badly," but we might be able to hold our own for a few minutes in, say, a wings competition.  Is there a food you think you could handle in mass quantities and limited time?

In case you hadn't heard, the New England Patriots will play the Los Angeles Rams in the Super Bowl tomorrow.  We've finally just recovered from the stress of the AFC Championship Game (and it's not just us), and now we have to prepare for this.  Better star the deep breathing exercises now.  Fortunately, the Patriots are playing as well as they can right now, everyone is healthy, and you know Tom Brady and company won't be nervous about being on the big stage yet again.  If anything, they're even more motivated to be at their best after last year's loss.  The Rams are a good team, but we're confident Bill Belichick will find a way to confuse quarterback Jared Goff a few times, and that may be enough of a difference to decide the game.  It says here that the Patriots win, but we're hoping not to have to go through a few rolls of Tums before the game is over.

We're so excited about tomorrow, we're going to do our best to ignore Patriots owner Robert Kraft once again praising Donald Trump in an interview yesterday.  It takes about 15 seconds of concentration to start feeling bad about being a football fan, and things like this shave off another 2-3 seconds.

For those who are interested, Gisele Bundchen is finally talking about why she split up with Leonardo DiCaprio.  It seems like that worked out well for her.

Of course, there's more excitement on Sunday besides the football game.  Puppy Bowl XV is coming! We've already got it on the DVR recording schedule, because that's the kind of show you can go back to throughout the year whenever you're in a bad mood.  Try not to smile while watching puppies chasing after each other until they get distracted.  It can't be done.

Kyrie Irving said at the beginning of the year that he was planning to re-sign with the Boston Celtics after the season ended, but now that seems to be in some doubt. We were under the impression this team would be undefeated and sweep the NBA Finals this year.  Perhaps that was a little unrealistic.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  Here's Sixpence None the Richer to close things out with, "There She Goes," for today's, "Song of the Day."

Thanks for stopping by, everyone.  It's a special treat to get to hang out with you on a Saturday for a bit.  Enjoy the rest of your day, be good, and we'll see you back here again for more fun soon.  Until next time, that's today's Clearing out the Clutter, and we are outta here.