Hi everyone,

Welcome back!  What's new?  It's pretty much business as usual here at the moment.  Yesterday's plumber appointment was a bit of an adventure.  We were supposed to be their first stop of the day, and long story short, they got here at 5:00 in the evening and left at 7:30.  However, they fixed the immediate problem, and it cost less than a mortgage payment, so we'll call it a win.  They may have to come back for something else, but we'll deal with that later.  The birds are chirping away again, and BDH and Little Buddha want me to look for an online program that will teach them bird calls so they can join the conversation.  Like I said, business as usual.  Speaking of which, the guys made coffee, so grab yourself a nice medium DD, and let's clear out some Saturday Clutter.

Texas and Florida are going after their bars and backtracking on reopening as coronavirus cases continue to skyrocket in those states.  If only there was a way Governors Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis might have predicted that this would happen when they rushed their plans.

Vice President Mike Pence's coronavirus press briefing yesterday was at such odds with reality, one would hope his loved ones would take him to a mental health professional to get some help.  Of course, the diagnosis would be "Trumpasskissitis," and the only cure is to send Pence and the Great Pumpkin packing in November.  The United States is setting daily records for new coronavirus cases (over 45,000 yesterday alone), and our "leaders" are going out of their way not to help as they live in a fantasy world where everything is fine.    Of course, we knew we were screwed right from the beginning when Pence would put in charge of the federal pandemic response, given his atrocious history on public health.  This disaster could easily have been avoided if we didn't have incompetent and corrupt clowns in the White House.

Two men who are determined to destroy the country for their own benefit.  (pic via nbcdfw.com)

Donald Trump wants to pretend the coronavirus crisis is nothing to worry about, but he's pulling out all the stops to make sure he doesn't get sick.  Imagine how many lives Trump could save if he would just wear a mask.  He could come up with any rationalization he likes for the 180 on his position.  After all, no one thinks he's ever telling the truth anyway, but that simple gesture would save so many Americans.  Hell, it would probably also improve his poll numbers with Republicans who don't like Joe Biden but like science.  Trump has lived his entire life refusing to admit mistakes, and people are dying, and will continue to die this year, because of his pathological fear of showing "weakness."

The European Union will ban most visitors from the United States when travel resumes because of concerns over how poorly Donald Trump has managed the coronavirus pandemic.  Trump always claims other world leaders are laughing at us, and now it sounds more like they pity us.  The failed casino operator wrecks everything he touches, and our country is no exception.

A federal appeals court ruled yesterday that Donald Trump didn't have the authority to divert Pentagon funds to pay for his former great love, the border wall with Mexico.  (Remember when that was a thing?)  Cheers to an independent judiciary that remembers the executive is not an emperor, no matter how badly he wishes otherwise.  We know Trump's never read the U.S. Constitution, nor does he care a bit about the document, but it clearly states that Congress has the power to appropriate funding.  Trump, as always, is expected to ask the Supreme Court to rule in his favor, but with any luck, this will be a moot issue by the time the court might come back with a ruling.

Meanwhile, another judge ordered the administration to release children in family detention centers because of coronavirus-related concerns.  That's an important first step.  A perfect follow-up would be shutting down the centers for good and disbanding ICE.

It will be fitting if Donald Trump's lies about mail-in voting fraud end up hurting him and Republicans more than anyone else.

The House of Representatives passed a bill that would make Washington, D.C. the 51st state by a vote of 232-180 yesterday.  Republicans won't let the legislation move any further because they'd rather disenfranchise 700,000 people than risk losing control of the Senate.  If Democrats take control of the House, Senate, and White House in November, this should be one of the first bills they approve in 2021.

Cheers to the Minneapolis City Council for unanimously approving a proposal yesterday to abolish the city's police department and replace it with, "a department of community safety and violence prevention, which will have responsibility for public safety services prioritizing a holistic, public health-oriented approach."  The move comes in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.  The plan still needs to be approved by voters in November, but if it passes, we expect it to be a major focal point in the ongoing national campaign to defund the police.

There's a growing campaign to boycott advertising on Facebook because of their promotion of hate speech and disinformation.  It's apparently getting Mark Zuckerberg's attention, now that the protest has cost him $7 billion.  Zuckerberg announced yesterday that the social media giant would start labeling "problematic" ads that it believes still deserve public attention, similar to the approach Twitter has been taking recently.  It doesn't sound like that goes far enough for boycott organizers, and you know Donald Trump will start screaming about censorship of conservatives, so let's see how this plays out over the next few weeks. 

Also, we appreciate the efforts of the boycott, but we also wonder how many of these companies are cutting back their advertising anyway because of the pandemic and figured they might as well pick up some good publicity while they're at it?  In any case, this comment by Facebook’s VP of global marketing solutions, Carolyn Everson to advertisers is hysterical:

“(B)oycotting in general is not the way for us to make progress together...I also really hope by now you know that we do not make policy changes tied to revenue pressure,” she said in the memo. “We set our policies based on principles rather than business interests.”

Yeah, principles.  We're going to need a minute to stop laughing.

Microsoft announced they are closing all of their physical stores and concentrating solely on digital sales. 

The NBA announced yesterday that 16 out of a pool of 302 players tested positive for the coronavirus.  The league is supposed to resume playing on July 30, and we're taking bets on how long it lasts before they have to shut things down again.  We understand players will be in a "bubble" in Orlando, but you know it won't be foolproof, and if a handful of players make it into games while they're sick and asymptomatic, everyone on the court will be at risk again just like they were in March.  In a time where we can't handle people going to bars right now, there's almost no chance a competitive basketball game is a safe environment.

We finally have a date:  Season 2 of The Boys will premiere on Amazon Video with the first three episodes on September 4, and then they'll be released weekly until October 9.  The first season of the superhero satire was terrific, and judging by this clip from the new season, this should be another entertaining ride:

Good news, General Hospital fans:  The long-running ABC soap opera is reportedly planning on resuming production in mid-July.  Hopefully they'll be able to do it safely.  As we've mentioned here before, there's a long-standing family history with the show, and it would be nice to think of Grandma and Grandpa Clutter while we see what kind of trouble the residents of Port Charles are dealing with these days.

The Dixie Chicks are changing their name:  The group will now just be the Chicks after getting calls to drop the "Dixie" which has connections to slavery.  Conservatives will complain about "cancel culture" and so on, but seeing how they basically cancelled the band after they spoke out about George W. Bush during the Iraq War, we're not really paying any attention to what they have to say about this decision.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  Let's have the Chicks close things out with a track from their upcoming album.  Here's, "March March," for today's, "Song of the Day."

Thanks for stopping by, everyone.  It was a treat to see you, as always.  Be good, wear your mask, 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.