Hi everyone,

Welcome back, and a happy September 1 to you all.  (A quick reminder to our Massachusetts friends - don't forget to vote in today's primary!)

It's a treat to sleep in much more reasonable temperatures, but it will take some time to once again adjust to the later sunrises and earlier sunsets.  BDH and Little Buddha say they have the solution for that, which is that I should go to the bookstore today to see if there are any new releases they might like to read.  I see their logic - if they're happy, everything else is manageable, and fortunately, they're always happy.  They still have a new book from last week's trip to start.  However, it's always good to have more options on standby, so I'm off to the store after we're done here.  First, let's check out the headlines.  The guys made coffee, so grab yourself a nice medium DD, because it's time to clear out some Tuesday Clutter.

Donald Trump is scheduled to visit Kenosha, Wisconsin, today, even though local leaders don't want him there.  Heaven forbid that should matter to Trump, who has been pushing yet another bizarre alternate reality where he claims to be the "law and order" candidate while trying to blame Joe Biden for the racial upheaval that's happening under Trump's watch.  If it wasn't so destructive, we'd say it's almost fascinating how Trump runs from responsibility like a frightened child.  We'll never cease to be amazed by the MAGA cult members who consider him a strong leader, when he couldn't be more of a coward.

Joe Biden had no problem stating the obvious truth yesterday:  Donald Trump is fanning the flames of violence in this country in order to win re-election.   Trump defends white supremacist/domestic terrorist Kyle Rittenhouse because he's counting on more thugs like that to keep him in the White House.  It won't bother Trump one wit if more people are killed over the next two months.  As we've said time and time again, he simply does not care about anyone besides himself.  If you're troubled by the current state of affairs in the United States, as every decent person should be, the obvious move is to throw out the guy inciting terror and implement a change in leadership.

Joe Biden called out Donald Trump for failing the United States.  (pic via abcnews.com)

Donald Trump and company are spinning a conspiracy theory about coronavirus-related deaths which is so misleading that Twitter pulled the original tweet pushing the argument.  Basically, the claim is that the coronavirus is only responsible for 6% of the stated deaths in this country, which ignores the fact that it is the underlying cause in almost all of them.  The quoted 6% is the number of cases that had no secondary issues.  An understanding of 5th grade math should be enough for someone to understand that concept.  We know someone who was pushing this garbage yesterday, which is one of the reasons we no longer talk to that individual.  It will be a miracle if  MAGA stupidity doesn't get us all killed before the end of the year.

An upcoming book about Donald Trump by New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt says Mike Pence was told to be prepared to assume the powers of the presidency if Trump's unscheduled visit to Walter Reed Hospital in November 2019 required him to undergo anesthesia.  We don't know any more details about why anesthesia might have been required, but if this story is accurate, it once again confirms that the story at the time that Trump was doing an early annual physical was complete nonsense.  We'd also like to know when Schmidt learned this and why it's only coming out now when he's got a book to sell.  The public has a right to know this information about our leaders in a timely fashion.

The House Oversight Committee reportedly plans to subpoena Postmaster General Louis DeJoy for documents he was expected to provide to the committee last week.  Assuming DeJoy and Trump stall for as long as possible and take the issue to court to once again claim executive privilege on everything, because that's what this administration does, how is the House going give this subpoena any weight?

Good to hear that a New Jersey teen is no longer being charged for police overtime costs related to the Black Lives Matter rally she organized.  It was outrageous to hear that the local mayor sent Emily Gill a bill for $2500 for expressing her First Amendment rights.  We expect she would have easily won a court challenge, which is the real reason why the invoice was rescinded.

Twitter is now adding a quote tweets counter.  Is that something people were asking for?  We're not being snarky, we're legitimately trying to understand if this is a helpful new feature.

The Boston Red Sox lost 6-3 to the Atlanta Braves last night to fall to 12-23 on the year.   Ryan Weber takes the mound for Boston against Atlanta tonight.   At this point, now that the "season" is official (drop down three paragraphs for more about this), everything else is secondary.  Let's see if any  Red Sox players make any big statements over the final 25 games.  If yes, great, and if no, we're ready to look ahead to 2021.

The MLB trade deadline has come and gone, and the Boston Red Sox didn't make as many moves as we thought they might, but we're okay with what they did.  The Red Sox traded first baseman Mitch Moreland to the San Diego Padres for infielder Hudson Potts and outfielder Jeisson Rosario.  As far as we can tell, these guys appear to be an appropriate return for the 34-year-old Moreland who will be a free agent at the end of the season.  The move allowed the Sox to call up touted prospect Bobby Dalbec, who promptly had a home run for his first big league hit on Sunday. 

The Red Sox then moved outfielder Kevin Pillar to the Colorado Rockies and pitcher Josh Osich to the Chicago Cubs.   Boston will get players to be named later back in both cases.   Pillar had to go after his atrocious response to the recent short players' strike, and we've already forgotten about Osich, so this is fine. 

The big news is that now that the trade deadline has passed, this season is official and the Red Sox luxury tax can reset in the winter.  We might as well consider that this year's World Series trophy. If fans are going to be subjected to this dumpster fire of a year, at least the team has restored its financial flexibility.  Now the goal is to not waste it on the 2021 equivalent of Pablo Sandoval.

We're sorry to hear legendary college basketball coach John Thompson died.  No cause of death was announced.  Thompson was the first black coach to win the NCAA basketball title, and he built a dynasty at Georgetown University that also had a terrific graduation rate.  Our condolences go out to his family and friends.  Coach Thompson was 78 years old.

Washington Football Team owner Daniel Snyder would like you to think he suggested the NFL take over the team's investigation into allegations of a toxic workplace environment.  Daniel Snyder apparently doesn't think you're very smart.  Of course, having the NFL in charge doesn't inspire a huge boost of confidence either.   These guys all cover for each other, it's just easier to have Roger Goodell be the public face of the con job.  That's why they pay him the big bucks.

Prosecutors have filed 20 new sexual assault charges against adult film star Ron Jeremy.  If convicted of everything, Jeremy is looking a prison sentence of 250 years to life.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  In addition to being primary day in Massachusetts, September 1 is the big moving day in Boston.  In honor honor of everyone who is settling into a new place, let's close things out with David Bowie's, "Changes," 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 later to read or watch the Massachusetts primary results with them.  Otherwise, enjoy the rest of your day, 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.