Hi everyone,

Welcome back, and a happy Friday to you all!  Any big plans for the weekend?  Not sure what's on the schedule, but I do know that today's focus is on doing a little office cleaning.  I've let that get away from me a little bit recently, so that's going to get fixed as soon as we're done here.  It helps that the forecast calls for rain this afternoon, so it should be easy to stay inside anyway.  First, let's see what's going on in the world.  BDH and Little Buddha made coffee, so grab yourself a nice medium DD, because it's time to clear out some Clutter.

Former Vice President Mike Pence says he and Donald Trump probably won't ever see "eye to eye" about the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol, but gosh darn, he still is proud to have worked with Trump, so please vote for him in 2024.  (We may have paraphrased that last part.)  Trump sent a violent mob after Pence and congressional leaders, and Pence is still kissing his feet.  The guy has the strength and courage of a melted marshmallow, and whoever wins the GOP presidential nomination, you can bet the house it won't be this coward.

Profile in weakness.  (pic via gazettextra.com)

It's fascinating to watch men like Pence, Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz, George P. Bush, and the like, just completely check their self-respect at the door to kowtow to a buffoon who has attacked them and/or their families.  These guys will do anything for power.

The Department of Justice is investigating Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's political fundraising efforts.  DeJoy allegedly pressured his private sector employees to make campaign contributions, and then he reimbursed them for those donations, which is illegal.  He denies the allegations, of course, but one way or another, that guy needs to be removed from his position.  DeJoy tried to wreck the USPS to help Donald Trump win reelection, and the agency will remain at risk as long as he's in charge.

Senator Joe Manchin continues to live in a fantasy world when it comes to bipartisanship.  If Manchin really thinks Republicans are interested in governing, or democracy in general, he's either deluded or dangerously naive.  The more likely answer is that Manchin has his own agenda.  What we want to know is, what's his price to stop hijacking Democratic proposals? 

Cheers to Texas high school valedictorian Paxton Smith, who used her platform to speak out against the state's new extreme anti-abortion law.  Smith submitted a speech about media consumption for approval by school officials and then made the switch at the event.  She spoke eloquently about her fears regarding the law, saying: 

"I have dreams, hopes, and ambitions. Every girl here does," Smith said in her speech. "We have spent our whole lives working towards our futures, and without our consent or input, our control over our futures has been stripped away from us. I am terrified that if my contraceptives fail me, that if I'm raped, then my hopes and efforts and dreams for myself will no longer be relevant. I hope you can feel how gut-wrenching it is, how dehumanizing it is, to have the autonomy over your own body taken from you."

That took guts, and you can bet the world hasn't heard the last of Paxton Smith.

High profile attorney F. Lee Bailey has died at the age of 87.  Honestly, we would have guessed that happened years ago.  Bailey had a number of celebrity clients like O.J. Simpson, Patty Hearst, the Boston Strangler, and Dr. Sam Sheppard. 

Great to hear that Facebook will stop allowing politicians to get around the posting rules that all other users have to follow.  There's no reason elected officials shouldn't be subject to see same guidelines around disinformation, bullying, and other conduct that could get "regular" people suspended from the site.  Of course, conservatives will have a collective meltdown over this policy change and frame it as an attack on them, because they have nothing to say if they can't lie.  It sounds like there will still be some room for a "newsworthiness" exemption, so we'll see how large of a loophole that is, but this is a step in the right direction.

Hey, happy National Donut Day, everyone!  Hmm, we do have to take care of the cleaning today, but maybe we can just pop down to the local DD for our annual donut first, right?

BDH and Little Buddha aren't surprised to hear that new research indicates some puppies are particularly good at understanding humans.  Heck, BDH understood everything that was happening around him right from the start.  This is yet another reason why dogs are awesome.  (Also, even if you don't want to read the linked article, you should still click on it anyway to see the pictures.)

The Boston Red Sox beat the Houston Astros 5-1 yesterday afternoon to avoid a sweep.  Boston starter Martín Pérez  stepped up big time by throwing 7 2/3 innings of shutout baseball.  The Sox offense also finally woke up, with eight hits and RBI from Xander Bogaerts and Christian Arroyo.  Next up, the Red Sox face the New York Yankees in the Bronx for the first time this year.  It's crazy that their first series wouldn't happen until early June, but in any case, Nate Eovaldi will take the mound for Boston tonight.

Speculation is already running wild about who will be the next Boston Celtics head coach now that Brad Stevens has been bumped up to the front office.  There are a number of interesting candidates being named, but the one who stands out the most to us right now is San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammond.  She's well-respected around the league, and it would be great to watch the Celtics make history by hiring the first female head coach in NBA history.

Our crew was tired last night, so we didn't catch the season finale of Law & Order:  Organized Crime, but we'll do our best to get to it before we see you again.  However, we did finally watch the NCIS: New Orleans series finale.  Still a little bitter that the show was cancelled, but they did a good job with the ending.  There were still more stories to tell, but you have a sense of what the future holds for the characters, and that's good enough for us.

We're just five days away from the debut of Loki on Disney+.  BDH and Little Buddha are excited to have something else to watch on Wednesdays for a few weeks, now that NBC's "One Chicago" programs are on summer break.  The guys can't wait to see Tom Hiddleston back in action as the god of mischief.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  Here's Sublime to close things out with, "Garden Grove" 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 of course you're welcome to come back tonight to watch the Red Sox - Yankees game with them.  (They also wonder if maybe you could bring some snacks?)  Otherwise, enjoy the rest of your day, be good, 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.