Hi everyone,

Welcome back!  We made it to the end of another week -good for us!  This summer seems to be picking up speed as we head into the back half of August.  I wonder if fall and winter will do the same, or if colder weather will tap the brakes on the clocks.  You don't want to be rushing through your life, but at the same time, I think we're all ready for 2021 to arrive at this point.  Anyway, BDH and Little Buddha are excited that you're here, and they want you to know they just made coffee.  There's a fresh pot on the table, so grab yourself a nice medium DD, and let's clear out some Friday Clutter.

That didn't take long:  Donald Trump is back to his birther nonsense with claims that Senator Kamala Harris might not be eligible to serve as vice president because her father came from Jamaica and her mother came from India.  Let's cut to the chase:  Senator Harris was born in Oakland, California.  She's a natural born citizen and is thus able to serve as VP, so this is a non-starter.  Also, Donald Trump doesn't think black people should be president or vice president.  His racism is on full display for the country to see, and it's past time to send him packing.

Still a little surprising Trump doesn't wear a hood and robe when he speaks.  (pic via summarizer.co)

Donald Trump knows he will be humiliated by the results if we have a fair election in November, and he full-out admitted yesterday he's fighting funding for the USPS so they can't process this year's mail-in voting:

"They want three and a half billion dollars for something that'll turn out to be fraudulent, that's election money basically. They want three and a half billion dollars for the mail-in votes. Universal mail-in ballots. They want $25 billion, billion, for the Post Office. Now they need that money in order to make the Post Office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots," Trump said, repeating his false claims that mail-in voting would be "fraudulent."  But if they don't get those two items that means you can't have universal mail-in voting because you they're not equipped to have it," Trump added."

He's trying to steal the election, friends, and he's not being subtle about it.  This is the stuff of third-rate dictators.  The question is, are Democrats prepared for this threat?  We're not seeing anything on that front that makes us feel better at the moment.

Trump is keeping himself busy as he frantically tries to stay in office/out of jail.  In the midst of all of this, Trump also found time to pressure Attorney General Bill Barr to create a fraudulent investigation to discredit Joe Biden.  Much like the behavior with Ukraine that got Trump impeached, it's not clear that Barr even has to agree to the request to make Trump happy, because just having it in the headlines may be enough for the Great Pumpkin.

If Donald Trump spent as much time on the coronavirus pandemic as he has trying to sabotage this year's election, we wouldn't have 5.26 million cases and over 165,000 deaths (and counting) because of this crisis.  Families would be preparing to send their children back to school without concern, you could go to any restaurant you liked, and no one would be arguing about whether being asked to wear a mask is a constitutional violation.  Trump's utter failure to lead this country can't be allowed to continue for one day longer than necessary.  In a proper timeline, he was removed from office at least a year ago, but we'll have to settle for taking care of it in November.

Speaking of the coronavirus, CDC Director Robert Redfield warns that we're looking at "the worst fall, from a public health perspective, we've ever had," if people don't do the right things about staying healthy.  That includes getting a flu shot in addition to wearing your mask, keeping your distance, and washing your hands.  We can do this, folks.  It's really not a huge lift.

Joe Biden called for a nationwide mask mandate yesterday, saying it could save thousands of lives.  It's such a straightf0rward acknowledgement of science and a call for basic empathy/humanity, but it feels groundbreaking to hear someone who wants to be in the White House making this argument:

“Wearing the mask is less about you contracting the virus,” Biden said. “It’s about preventing other people from getting sick.  This is America. Be a patriot. Protect your fellow citizens. Step up, do the right thing.”

Joe Biden's campaign raised $48 million in the first 48 hours after he named Kamala Harris as his VP pick, so it seems people are excited about this ticket.

Former Trump fixer Michael Cohen's new book about his old boss comes out on September 8.  We're happy to hear whatever embarrassing details Cohen wants to reveal about the Great Pumpkin, but we're loathe to give him any money by paying for Disloyal: The True Story of the Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump. 

This sums up what it is like to be a Boston Red Sox fan this year:  The Red Sox lost 17-8 to the Tampa Bay Rays yesterday, while Mookie Betts had the sixth 3-home run game of his career for the Los Angeles Dodgers last night, which ties the MLB record.  The well-known "To Be Determined" takes the mound for Boston as they start a weekend series against the New York Yankees tonight.  The only thing we're looking forward to about the rest of this "season" is it hopefully becoming official on August 31, which means Boston's salary cap will reset.  After that, wee can talk about how management is going to make this team relevant again.  It shouldn't be a huge lift if Chris Sale and Eduardo Rodriguez return.

Supernatural stars Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki are preparing to shoot the final two episodes of the series.   Padalecki referred to changes being made in the scripts to accommodate coronavirus-related filming issues.  No word on yet on what exactly that means, but hopefully it doesn't distract from the story too much.  This adventure deserves a proper ending.  There are also five other episodes which need post-production work, but it looks like we will finally see how the Winchester brothers' story ends at some point in the fall.

Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson face off in a new movie called The Devil All The Time, which comes out on Netflix on September 16.  This looks like a good movie to check out on a quiet night, even if we're not entirely sure what's going on in the trailer.  What do you think?

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  Let's close things out with the tune that's back on the charts after a long absence.  If you are of a certain age and you hear this on the radio while you're driving, it feels like you've been transported to the middle of a Miami Vice episode.  You know what we're talking about.  We speak of course, of Phil Collins and, "In the Air Tonight," for today's, "Song of the Day."

Thanks for stopping by, everyone.  It was great to see you, as always.  BDH and Little Buddha say you're welcome to come back tonight if you want to watch the Red Sox game, or maybe a movie, with them.  Otherwise, enjoy the rest of your day, 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.