Hi everyone,

How are you?  Weekend going okay so far?  Our crew is fine, even though I messed up our schedule a bit.  I was all set to tackle yesterday's to-do list, and then BDH and Little Buddha told me there was a 30% chance of snow.  That was an unexpected development. 

I hate driving in snow, even if it's just a light coating, mostly because I don't trust other drivers.  People drive like maniacs these days, even under good conditions.  Add in the chance of slippery roads?  Forget about it.  I ended up punting on the list, so now I've got some running around to do after we're done here. 

Speaking of which, let's get to work.  The guys made coffee, so grab yourself a nice medium DD, because it's time to clear out some Sunday Clutter.

A federal judge declined the DOJ's request to hold Donald Trump's legal team in contempt for refusing to comply with a May subpoena requiring Trump to turn over all of the classified documents he took with him when he left the White House.  Instead, the two parties have been instructed to resolve the issue themselves.  That's weak.  Trump's default legal strategy is to run out the clock whenever possible.  If there's no threat of a contempt charge, what incentive does he have to change course and actually respect the law?

Republicans are trying to make Hunter Biden the all-encompassing boogeyman to distract voters from the fact that the GOP has nothing to offer 99% of the country.  Most MAGA cult members can't even tell you what exactly they think President Biden's son did that harmed the country.   (Fun fact:  Donald Trump Jr. is everything they imagine Hunter to be.) They just know that Fox News keeps telling them the guy is Satan, and that's good enough for them.  Apparently Biden and his allies are planning to fight back against whatever comes his way next year.

While it's unsurprising, conservatives having meltdowns that Brittney Griner was released from a Russian prison show once again how much they hate America.  If you're not a rich, straight, white guy, the GOP has no use for you.  As far as they're concerned, Griner, a Black lesbian, should have died in Russia. 

On a related note, while it's great that Griner has been freed, a lot of the coverage seems to be missing the fact that thousands of people are still locked up in U.S. prisons for pot offenses.  This country has made a lot of progress on the marijuana front, mostly at the state level.  It's well-past time we legalized it at the federal level and abandoned this racist policy.

Elon Musk loves to ramble about how he supposedly loves free speech.  However, Musk just sent Twitter employees an email saying the company will sue anyone who leaks any harmful information to the media.  Of course, that memo was then immediately leaked.  What Musk (who just leaked Twitter files himself) really means by "free speech" is that right-wing trolls are free to attack anyone they like, but if you make fun of him, you'll get booted from the platform. 

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried "is willing" to testify before the House Financial Services Committee on December 13 about what caused the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange.  We'd rather see the guy testify before a jury explaining why he shouldn't be convicted on fraud charges.

We're still a little jealous as we continue to read stories about falling gas prices across the country.  Apparently the national average right now is $3.31 a gallon.  Our local station evidently didn't get the memo, because prices have been holding steady at $3.65 a gallon for the past few weeks.  Maybe we need to drive down to New Jersey to fill up our tank.

Calls are growing for the return of widespread masking in public places, as the U.S. faces a triple threat of COVID, an already brutal flu season, and RSV.  We're not excited about this either, friends.  Truth be told, we've been pretty lax about wearing ours in recent weeks.  However, there's no need to play with fire, so we'll be making a push to be better about it again, and we hope you'll join us.  It's a low-effort action with a high-level reward.  Let's all end the year on a safe and healthy note.

(Also, don't forget to get your flu shots and COVID boosters if you haven't already gotten them.)

Stay safe out there.  (pic via abcnews.go.com)

It's awful to hear that prominent soccer journalist Grant Wahl died on Friday in Qatar on during the Argentina-Netherlands World Cup match.  Wahl was only 48 years old, and while he had complained about feeling ill earlier in the week, it's hard not to wonder about what happened here.  The writer had no hesitation about using his platform for advocacy.  Wahl was detained earlier during the tournament for wearing a rainbow t-shirt, and he criticized Qatar officials just this past Thursday for not caring about a worker who died recently.  Whatever happened, his voice has been lost far too soon.  Our condolences go out to his family and friends.

As Boston Red Sox beat writers continue to dissect Xander Bogaerts signing with the San Diego Padres this week, it still feels like they're missing the biggest point:  It's not so much that the team "misread the market" this winter.  The driving issue is that their original offer last winter was so insultingly low, they made it clear they didn't want Bogaerts back.  They had years to take care of this, and they never once made re-signing look like a priority.

The organization strung fans along because they didn't want the bad press they knew was coming.  We thought they should have kept the shortstop.  If that was never the plan, the Sox should have traded Bogaerts (and J.D. Martinez) at the deadline this past season to at least get a quality return instead of some draft picks.  Management is making it clear they no longer care about winning.  John Henry and company are too busy trying to build a global sports empire.  They're apathetic about giving fans a reason to come to Fenway Park.  If they don't change course, it will come back to bite them in the wallet.

The New England Patriots will be missing a number of players when they take on the Arizona Cardinals tomorrow night:  Wide receiver Jakobi Meyers (concussion protocol), starting cornerback Jalen Mills (groin), and starting right tackle Isaiah Wynn (foot) are all listed as out for the game.   You like to think their replacements will step up, but that's not a given with this year's team.

Wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. reportedly has no interest in playing in the regular season this year.  He wants a team to just trust that he's fully recovered from an ACL tear and ready to go in a playoff game.  If anyone is foolish enough to fall for that, they deserve to be blown out in the first round.

We're glad to hear pro wrestling legend Barry Windham is reportedly doing better after suffering a massive heart attack a week ago Friday.  It was unclear at first if Windham was expected to survive right after the incident, but he is apparently up and about in the hospital.  His niece Mika Rotunda set up a GoFundMe page if any wrestling fans would like to help with Windham's medical expenses.  We've heard conflicting stories about Barry Windham's post-wrestling life, but like so many of his peers, it sounds like he's had a rough go of it since leaving the ring.  Here's hoping for a full and speedy recovery for the 62-year-old Windham.

This week's SNL offered a healthy way to get through the holiday season:

Apparently Kim Burgess will be dealing with some old trauma when Chicago P.D. returns on January 4.  We still love our "One Chicago" shows, but, man, P.D. has been beating up each member of the Intelligence Unit this season, and it's getting exhausting.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  It's been a while since we played The Winery Dogs, so let's see what they're up to with their new track, "Xanadu" for today's, "Song of the Day."

Singer/guitarist Ritchie Kotzen has a bit of a Chris Cornell vibe happening there.

Thanks for stopping by, everyone.  It was a treat to see you, as always.  Enjoy the rest of your day, drive safely (snow or no snow), 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.