Hi everyone,

Welcome back!  How are you?  I'm just waiting for BDH and Little Buddha to come back with a weather report.  It's pretty dark outside right now.  I hope that's not the forecast for the day.  Oh, here they are.  The guys hear it's supposed to be cloudy for most of the day, but it will also warm up a bit.  They also say the birds are looking forward to checking out the garden some more.  That works.  Now, let's check out the headlines.  There's a fresh pot of coffee on the table, so grab yourself a nice medium DD, because it's time to clear out some Monday Clutter.

The United States is about to pass 100,000 coronavirus-related deaths, and if we're all being honest, the country probably passed that number weeks ago.  How did Donald Trump observe this horrific tragedy, as well as Memorial Day weekend?  He played golf and tweeted conspiracy theories about MSNBC host Joe Scarborough being involved in the death of  a former aide.  We won't bother to ask if Trump has any dignity or a shred of compassion for the families who have lost loved ones, because it's clear he's a damaged human being who can't think of anyone but himself.  This crisis would have been smaller with any competent individual in the White House instead of this failed casino operator.  Trump and his accomplices must face the repercussions of their actions in November if our nation is going to survive.

Cheating on his score while the country collapses.  (pic via newsday.com)

White House coronavirus expert Dr. Deborah Birx has to walk a fine line.  She's got to disperse scientifically-based public health information, while at the same time pretend that her boss isn't a petulant child who refuses to listen to doctors because he lives in a fantasy land where he has a clue.  Those rationalizations for his selfish behavior damage her credibility every time she speaks.  However, one can only imagine what quack would be brought in to replace her or Dr. Fauci if they call out the Great Pumpkin.

It's nearly impossible to read all of these stories about large public gatherings over the weekend and not assume we're going to start another spike in coronavirus cases in a few weeks. Friends, please be safe.  We want you all here healthy (and hopefully happy) for years to come.   Businesses may be starting to reopen, but we won't be changing our behavior anytime soon.  Even a simple trip to a local sub shop yesterday was stressful.  We were the only customers wearing a mask, and most of the people were bunched together in close space while waiting for their food.  No thanks. 

Despite seemingly every ad on the radio and TV ending with the tagline, "we're in this together," we are not all experiencing the same disaster.  As thousands die and millions lose their jobs, the wealthy in this country just keep getting richer and richer. 

Now 140 customers may have been exposed to the coronavirus at a Great Clips store in Missouri.  That does it, BDH and Little Buddha will start checking out "how to cut your own hair at home" videos on YouTube.

It's obviously anecdotal, but the British folks we follow on Twitter seem irate over the news that Prime Minister Boris Johnson's advisor Dominic Cummings broke the country's lockdown laws to travel and visit family members.  The anger seems partly fueled by the key role Cummings played in Brexit, but you can feel the loathing as Johnson defends him.

Republicans are suing California Governor Gavin Newsome to try to prevent him from mailing ballots to every registered voter in the state, claiming the move is a "recipe for disaster that would create more opportunities for fraud.” As always, there's no evidence voter fraud is an issue in this country.  Republicans know they represent a diminishing minority of the American people, and they'll lose if everyone is able to exercise their right to vote.  That's why they've been fighting to make voting harder to do for decades.  On top of that, Donald Trump is doing whatever he can to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the election in case he loses.  The GOP can't win on ideas, so they're forced to resort to anti-democratic tactics to try to stay in power.

In a major win for democracy, a federal judge struck down a Florida law that would have required released felons to pay all of their outstanding court fees and fines before they could register to vote.  The law was a modern day poll tax that Republicans pushed through to counter a constitutional amendment approved in 2018 that restored the right to vote to these individuals.  One assumes that Donald Trump and the GOP will push the United States Supreme Court to save them yet again.   If Chief Justice John Roberts and the rest of Trump's cronies on the bench can't pull a bag job in time, Florida becomes much more of a battleground in November.

Peyton Manning and Tiger Woods beat Tom Brady and Phil Mickelson in The Match: Champions for Charity yesterday.  Can't tell a lie, we know this will make us sound bitter, but our interest level in whether or not Tom Brady wins a competition has fallen considerably in recent weeks.  We're as surprised as anyone to see how quickly he's become "just another guy."  In any case, the important thing is that the event apparently raised $20 million for coronavirus-related charities, so cheers to all of the participants.

Happy belated birthday to Bob Dylan.  The music legend turned 79 years old on Sunday.

Former American Idol judge Randy Jackson is playing bass with Journey again.  Jackson, who played with the band in for a stretch in the 1980's, was part of the new lineup announced over the weekend that also includes new drummer Narada Michael Walden.  That's what happens when your former bass player and drummer apparently try to take over control of the band and lose the fight.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Rob McElhenney says the show will address the coronavirus pandemic next season.  No word on when that season will arrive, but we look forward to seeing the gang deal with such a serious topic in their usual exceptionally inappropriate manner.

The article has a clickbait title, but we actually remembered most of these Law & Order spinoffs, even if we only watched a handful of episodes.  However, we had no idea there was a video game.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  In honor of Memorial Day, here's John Fogerty teaming up with Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band for the Creedence Clearwater Revival classic, "Fortunate Son," for today's, "Song of the Day."

Thanks for stopping by, everyone.  It was great to see you, as always.  It's still looking pretty gloomy outside, but we hope you enjoy the rest of your day (in a responsible fashion, of course.)  Be good, stay safe, and we'll catch up with you again soon.  Until next time, that's today's Clearing out the Clutter, and we are outta here.