Saturday Clutter: DOJ Corruption, Trump, Ben & Jerry's, Apple, MLB, Jamie Fox, Beyonce, and more
06/20/2020
Hi everyone,
Happy summer solstice! According to BDH and Little Buddha's research, we are looking at a total of 15 hours and 17 minutes of sunlight today. That's outstanding. (The guys also say highs will be in the 90's, which is a different issue.) It's too bad we can't have this much light every day, but I guess we have to deal with long nights in the winter in order to appreciate this more. At least, that's what I'll be telling myself in December. Anyway, let's check out the headlines. There's a fresh pot of coffee on the counter, so grab yourself a nice medium DD, because it's time to clear out some Saturday Clutter.
Attorney General William Barr said last night that Donald Trump is firing U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman and replacing him with current SEC Chairman Jay Clayton. Problem is, Berman says he has no intentions of resigning. Awkward. Berman says all active investigations will continue until Clayton is confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Like just about everything else connected to Trump, the move to replace Berman reeks of self-interest and corruption. Berman hasn't shied away from investigating Trump cronies like Rudy Giuliani and fixer Michael Cohen. Trump would clearly like to have a patsy in the position, so Barr is here to do his dirty work for him yet again.
Impeachment proceedings against Bill Barr are overdue. (pic via abcnews.go.com)
This is also the district where Donald Trump allegedly promised to help nix the investigation of a Turkish firm as soon as he had "his people" in there, according to John Bolton's new book. With the presidential election just a few months away, the U.S. Senate should hold off on confirming any further nominations until the public has a chance to weigh in, right Mitch McConnell? It will take years to repair the damage done to the Department of Justice by this group of mob-wannabes.
Donald Trump is ignoring the health experts and moving forward with his campaign rally in Tulsa tonight. Expectations are that over 100,000 people will gather outside ahead of time without masks. That will be followed by some 19,000 people who will move into an enclosed space (that's shut down for all other events because of safety concerns), where they can scream their MAGA heads off and then go back to their communities with a high chance of spreading the coronavirus. All of this so the sad insecure Great Pumpkin can get a desperately-needed ego boost.
The White House occupant is a public health threat. (pic via newslagoon.com)
Vice President Mike Pence refused to say "Black lives matter" despite being asked repeatedly to do so during an interview yesterday. Pence knows he'd be kicked off the 2020 GOP ticket faster than you can say, "loathsome boot-licking toady" if he uttered those words, so he stuck to a denial of systemic racism in the United States instead.
Ben & Jerry's doesn't mess around when it comes to their social activism. The ice cream maker issued a statement yesterday in support of defunding the police and creating a new system which actually protects the public safety for everyone. Good for them. Now let's see other companies follow their lead. In the meantime, we feel justified in buying a pint of Coffee Heath Bar Crunch the next time we go grocery shopping.
Cheers to the Boston city councilors who are proposing that non-violent 911 calls in the city be diverted away from the police. We need to readjust our perspectives and stop sending police officers to situations that they're unqualified to handle.
Apple is temporarily closing stores in Florida, Arizona, North Carolina, and South Carolina because those states have seen a spike in coronavirus cases. What, reopening the economy with no real plan to handle the pandemic might not be a great idea? Shocking. Let's see if other businesses are forced to make the same decision and follow Apple's lead. As long as there's no strategy, will recurring temporary shutdowns become a new standard occurrence?
It looked like it might get lost in the drama over the money, but it's clear that Major League Baseball has a coronavirus problem which should lead to a cancellation of the season. It's already an issue for the Philadelphia Phillies, Toronto Blue Jays, and Houston Astros, who have had players and staff test positive this month. Given that Florida is quickly turning into the new national epicenter, the prudent move is to shut down all of the teams' training facilities for the rest of the year. A temporary closure is a waste of time. There's no way to play baseball (or basketball, or football) safely in 2020. We know, there's too much money involved for people to do the right thing until they have no other alternative, but this is a waste of time as well as a public health problem.
23 members of the Clemson football team have tested positive for the coronavirus. Shut college football down.
AMC Theatres did a 180 and will now require customers to wear masks when the movie chain reopens later next month. Regal Cinemas still won't require it at the moment, so there's no chance they'll get our business. However, one local independent theater said they would absolutely require masks whenever they reopen, so at least we'll have one potential option to consider if we change our mind about going to the movies later this year.
Jamie Foxx will apparently play boxer Mike Tyson in a new biopic. That wouldn't get us to the theater, but we'd consider it on-demand. How about you?
Okay kids, that's going to do it for now. Beyoncé dropped a surprise track yesterday, so let's have her close things out with, "Black Parade" for today's, "Song of the Day."
Thanks for stopping by, everyone. It was great to see you, as always. Oh hold on, BDH and Little Buddha just discovered that Ford v. Ferrari, starring Matt Damon and Christian Bale premieres on HBO tonight, and they want to invite you to come back and check it out with them. Otherwise, enjoy the solstice, 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.
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