Friday Clutter: Joe Biden, Steve Bannon Arrest, Trump, Speaker Pelosi MA Endorsement, Boston Red Sox, The Crown, the Killers, and more
08/21/2020
Hi everyone,
Welcome back, and a happy Friday to you all! We had a big day here yesterday, big day. First off, the free weekly paper finally arrived, so BDH and Little Buddha had a new rock and roll crossword puzzle to work on for the rest of the afternoon. They crushed most of it on the first attempt, and they only have a handful of empty spaces left. They've got six days to try to figure out the remaining answers. Second, the guys successfully completed last week's puzzle!
You should have seen them, as BDH read off the answers and Little Buddha confirmed that's what they wrote. I could hear them getting nervous as they got to the final few clues, but they finished it without an error. They were so excited. Maybe the new puzzle will keep them distracted while I look for something else for them to read this weekend. Anyway, let's check out today's headlines. We've got coffee, so grab yourself a nice medium DD, because it's time to clear out some Clutter.
Joe Biden officially became the Democratic Party's presidential nominee last night and framed his fight against Donald Trump as a moral contest between "the light" vs. "the darkness." (You can read the full text of Biden's speech here.) At its core, this election is about empathy and competence as opposed to a corrupt sociopath. Democrats showed this week that they span a wide variety of ideologies. However, they're united for now in the mission to end this country's nightmare. The mission is to send a team to the White House who believes in science, believes in working with our partners around the world, believes in expanding opportunity for more than just the top 1% of the country, and who will finally put the United States back on a better path.
Joe Biden is ready for Donald Trump. (pic via mytelegraphnews.com)
The Republican National Convention begins next Monday. Our prediction is that GOP pundits will spend most of the week trying to convince viewers that they didn't see what they thought they saw the night before.
Donald Trump's former adviser Steve Bannon was one of four people arrested yesterday on charges of defrauding MAGA supporters who donated to an idiotic GoFundMe campaign to build Trump's infamous border wall. Trump supporters think their leader walks on water, and meanwhile, Trump and company are conning them out of every dollar they can squeeze out of them. It's sad. What's fantastic is that the United States Postal Inspection Service teamed up with the Coast Guard to arrest Bannon on a boat. Apparently it's the USPS, not the FBI, that one turns to for justice in this country these days.
Who here thinks Bannon will throw himself on a grenade to protect Donald Trump like Roger Stone did, and who thinks Bannon will turn on Trump to save himself?
Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling is on the board of directors for Bannon's fraudulent group, and we will not be able to control our laughter if he ends up also being indicted. It's also easy to picture him turning on Bannon and company on a dime if he has to in order to protect his own backside.
Donald Trump wants the U.S. Supreme Court to let him block critics on his personal Twitter account. We'd suggest the guy focus on doing his job instead of obsessing about Twitter, but we all know that's not going to happen. This man is so insanely thin-skinned. Besides just being yet another sign of Trump's pervasive insecurity and low self-esteem, this attempt to silence opponents is a violation of the First Amendment. Trump has consistently and improperly used his personal account for official business during his time in the White House. The public has a right to read what their officials are declaring and to respond to it as they choose. It doesn't sound like a decision is expected before the election, but we expect Trump to lose this case, and it should be by more than a 5-4 margin.
Speaking of losing court cases, Donald Trump lost his attempt to quash a subpoena from the Manhattan District Attorney's office for his tax records yesterday. Trump seems to be prepared to drag this out as long as he can, and we wonder if the Supreme Court will lose interest in protecting him once he's out of the White House.
A new poll shows Joe Biden leading Donald Trump 51% - 43% in New Hampshire.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi endorsed Representative Joe Kennedy III in his primary challenge to Senator Ed Markey yesterday. This makes no sense to us. It obliterates any argument Pelosi and House leadership have ever made against primaries, and it shows those objections only matter when it's a challenge from the left (see: Ayanna Pressley vs. Mike Capuano.) It also eliminates any shred of credibility (not that much existed in the first place) to Kennedy's argument that he's somehow an outsider running against the establishment. Finally, it's hard to imagine the endorsement having much impact on the race, because we can't picture the Massachusetts voter who was looking for Pelosi's guidance here. In any case, we're looking forward to a new rush of progressive challengers taking on conservative House incumbents in 2022 after this little stunt.
Facebook users be warned: The site is changing its layout in September. You can see what the new version looks like by clicking on the option which is right above the "log out" feature. The stories we've read describe the change as a clean up, but it looks like a visual assault to us. Of course, we'll probably be used to it within two weeks, but it still seems like an unnecessary change. If you've already seen the new formatting, what do you think of it?
The Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 7-1 last night to improve to 8-18 on the "season." Nate Eovaldi gave up Baltimore's one run over seven innings, an extended outing that must have felt like Christmas in August for the Red Sox bullpen. The Red Sox offense pounded out 12 hits, including home runs by Xander Bogaerts (who better not be going anywhere) and Mitch Moreland. Colten Brewer takes the mound for Boston against Baltimore tonight as the Red Sox try to make it three wins in a row.
The New York Mets are the latest MLB team to be hit by the coronavirus. The team had to postpone a game against the Miami Marlins last night, as well as tonight's match-up with the New York Yankees, after two members of the organization tested positive.
We're sorry to hear that the Washington Football Team's head coach Ron Rivera has been diagnosed with a form of skin cancer. Apparently it's treatable, and Rivera plans to continue coaching. We wish him the best with this challenge.
Season 4 of The Crown comes to Netflix on November 4. It looks like Princess Diana has a strong presence this time. We really enjoyed the first season of the series but began losing focus during season 2. Maybe we should give it another shot this fall. In any case, check out the wonderful Olivia Colman in the new teaser trailer:
Okay kids, that's going to do it for now. Here are the Killers to close things out with, "My Own Soul's Warning," for today's, "Song of the Day."
Thanks for stopping by, everyone. It was great to see you, as always. Be good, wear your masks, 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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