Wednesday Clutter: George Santos, Cassidy Hutchinson, U.S. Supreme Court, Elon Musk, Boston Red Sox, NFL Notes, Doctor Who, GH, Journey, Phil Collins, and more
12/28/2022
Hi everyone,
How are you? Did you enjoy your weekend? Christmas was a bit of an adventure on this end. My dad lost power because of the storm. He and his wife ended up getting a hotel room, while I brought his cat back to the Northern Estate with me. Miguel and I are best buddies, but he was not feeling the change in scenery when we first got home.
Miguel eventually adjusted to his new surroundings, and we spent the past few days just hanging out, which was a blast. My dad's power was eventually restored, so I brought Miguel back yesterday. I'm sure he was glad to be home again, even though it meant another car ride. It's a little on the quiet side in here now without him roaming around, but he knows he has an open invitation to return anytime he likes.
BDH and Little Buddha kept a respectful distance from our house guest, but they're glad to see all of you again. The guys just made coffee, so grab yourself a nice medium DD, because it's time to clear out some Wednesday Clutter.
Representative-elect George Santos is facing increasing pressure to step down after the revelation that the Republican lied extensively about his background. At this point, it's been confirmed that Santos made false statements about his education, family history, and work experience. You know, nothing major. What's still not clear is how the Republican has made so much money in the past few years. All he'll say about it is that came from "consulting" jobs, but given his dishonesty, his new constituents have the right to know the specifics before he is seated in the House. The man appears to be a complete fraud, and he should be held accountable for it.
Who is this guy? (pic via abcnews.com)
Of course Republican "leaders" have nothing to say about Santos, because they're raging hypocrites. Imagine what a frenzy Fox News would be in if this was a Democrat. Kevin McCarthy isn't going to do anything about this, since he's still desperately trying to secure enough votes to be the next House speaker. All the GOP can do is rant about Hunter Biden and immigrants, while they try to distract from the fact that they have nothing to offer the country but tax cuts for the rich.
Former Trump White House staffer Cassidy Hutchinson apparently told the January 6 House select committee that chief of staff Mark Meadows burned some documents after meetings during the transition period. The released transcripts of Hutchinson's meetings with the committee also make it clear that her original attorney was more interested in protecting Donald Trump than helping her. Again we say, good for Hutchinson for having the courage to eventually retain her own counsel.
Donald Trump's 2015-2020 tax returns are expected to be made public on Friday.
We're not surprised that the U.S. Supreme Court decided yesterday to keep a harsh Trump immigration policy in place while legal challenges to it play out in court. What seems unexpected was Justice Neil Gorsuch joining the court's progressive bloc in the dissent. That doesn't happen often. Gorsuch said he would have denied the appeal to hear the case, because Title 42 was (supposedly) put in place to deal with the COVID crisis, and that's not what's driving the current issues at the border.
It's nice to see at least one conservative be honest about what's happening here. The pandemic was a cover for a racist White House to turn away immigrants, and it's time to revoke that lie. The court will hear the challenge during their next term, which starts in February. However, the policy will remain in place until then.
As we approach the midpoint of President Biden's first term, one of his biggest, and long-lasting accomplishments, has been his great success at diversifying the federal judiciary. With Democrats maintaining control of the U.s. Senate, look for those efforts to continue at a furious pace.
Is Vladimir Putin looking for an off-ramp for his failed invasion of Ukraine? Putin recently said Moscow was ready to talk about a peace settlement, but Russia continues to attack Ukraine in the meantime. The whole thing has been a humiliation for the Russian leader who clearly originally assumed he would score a quick military success. However, some 1o months later, his forces suffer loss after loss, and President Biden's coalition continues to stand together against Russia. The question is, what would Putin consider to be a face-saving accomplishment for him to feel like he can finally pull the plug on this whole thing?
It's no surprise conservatives are doing their best to crush the ballot initiative process. They lose when the public is able to vote freely on their ideas. It's why Republicans try to make voting as hard as possible in general. When that doesn't do the trick, they try to make sure people can't weigh in on policy questions, because these guys represent a shrinking minority of the country. They can't win a fair contest, so they try to rig the rules as much as possible.
Tesla continues to bomb, while Elon Musk remains focused on also running Twitter into the ground. The electric car company's stock is now down a staggering 69% for the year, while the NASDAQ is down 33.82%. Musk seems to be losing money in every direction, and it couldn't happen to a more deserving fellow.
There was no jackpot winner in Tuesday's Mega Millions drawing, so Friday's grand prize is expected to top $640 million. We've already hit our annual spending limit on lottery tickets, but if you win, a reminder that we are always accepting donations for our coffee budget. (See the link at the bottom of the screen.) Thank you in advance for your consideration, and good luck on Friday.
There's more good news on inflation: The Commerce Department reported that the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index rose 5.5% compared to a year ago. That's down from the 6.1% increase in October. The Clutter investment team won't make any predictions about what this means for interest rates next year. However, the data continues to show that things are finally moving in the right direction on this front, and that's investors have been waiting a long time to hear.
We have a friend who was stuck in Buffalo, New York right now, and we may owe him an apology for giving him a hard time about what he went through, because the city is a mess.
Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Rich Hill has agreed to a one-year/$8 million deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates. That's a shade disappointing. The 42-year-old lefty was a generally solid presence in Boston's starting rotation last season. We wouldn't have broken the bank to bring him back, but the Sox could have offered this type of contract. At this point, BDH and Little Buddha are starting to wonder if they should apply to pitch at Fenway next year.
Nate Eovaldi has agreed to a two-year/$34 million deal with the Texas Rangers. Good for him. We'll always appreciate Eovaldi's 2018 World Series performance, but the guy always has injury concerns lurking around the corner. The Red Sox are already wasting money on Chris Sale, and they should be focusing on younger guys who can hopefully stay consistently healthy.
As the Boston Red Sox continue to flunk this off-season, it sounds like outfielder Alex Verdugo could be on the trading block. That's fine. The guy was over-hyped in the first place, and we never felt good about rooting for him in the first place, given his explanation of his connection to a 2015 sexual assault situation in the minor leagues. Also, apart from Rafael Devers, there isn't a single guy left on the Boston roster who we would say should be untouchable. We don't trust Chaim Bloom to get anything worthwhile for Verdugo, but we won't miss him if he's gone before Opening Day.
So, the San Francisco Giants held up shortstop Carlos Correa's long-term contract because they were concerned about a medical issue. Then the New York Mets jumped in to steal Correa away, except now they also have issues with Correa's health. It is too crazy to suggest owners start looking at a player's medical records before making him an offer for hundreds of millions of dollars over the next decade+?
The New England Patriots lost 22-18 to the Cincinnati Bengals last week, which we predicted, although the score was closer than predicted. However, the big issue from the game is that Patriots quarterback Mac Joens has been fined for a dirty play against Bengals cornerback Eli Apple. Jones took out Apple with an illegal low block. He's now had a couple of questionable plays in his young career, and it's starting to sound like he's getting a bad reputation. That's one of many things the Patriots need to correct ASAP.
Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is in the NFL's concussion protocol again after last Sunday's game against the Green Bay Packers. If he's got a concussion, that's likely his third of the season. Whatever the league doctors tell him, the guy should shut it down for this season, and retirement should be considered. The 24-year-old has his entire life ahead of him, and suffering potentially three brain injuries in one year is no joke.
Congratulations to Arizona Cardinals defensive lineman J.J. Watt, who announced his retirement yesterday. The 33-year-old Watt tweeted yesterday that he's hanging it up after this season, following the recent birth of his first child. Good for him. Watt has put his body through the wringer in his 11-year NFL career. It's time to stop the damage and enjoy watching his son grow up, while he waits for the inevitable call from the NFL Hall of Fame.
The Denver Broncos finally fired head coach Nathaniel Hackett on Monday after the team was embarrassed 51-14 by the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday night. This was hiring was doomed from the start. Hackett seemed in over his head, new quarterback Russell Wilson has been a mess all year, and now even barely looks like a shell of his former self, and then you've got games like last night where Broncos players are fighting each other instead of their opponent. The question now becomes, will any decent coaching candidates even want this job? It probably depends on whether or not they think Wilson can be rehabilitated. In any case, good luck with that.
It looks like the WWE is putting out a new documentary about "Nature Boy" Ric Flair. ESPN already covered this five years ago, and it's a sad story. The WWE isn't going to bring anything new to this story, so we'll take a pass.
We caught Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery last weekend. As some of you may remember, we specifically kept our Netflix subscription to see this movie, and it was worth it. The film has a fun plot, terrific performances all around, and gorgeous visuals. Netflix should have given it a full theater run, but in any case, a definite thumbs-up. (The fact that some conservatives are having meltdowns about the movie makes it even funnier.)
Doctor Who fans got a hell of a Christmas present with the release of the first trailer for the 60th anniversary specials next year. You've got the Doctor (in the middle of an identity crisis) and Donna Noble, so we're already off to a great start. There are also glimpses of Donna's mom, husband, and daughter. Neil Patrick Harris is there as the villain to be named later, and Ncuti Gatwa is still wondering "what the hell is going on here?" We're asking the same question, and we can't wait to find out the answer in November 2023:
Departing General Hospital actor Marcus Coloma supposedly didn't film his final scenes on the soap opera because of concerns about his recent COVID-19 exposure, according to his spokesperson. Coloma's representative also disputed any notion that the actor was fired, saying he had simply reached the end of his three-year contract. Make of that what you will.
This Rolling Stone article about the drama around some leaked tracks from the Guns N' Roses Chinese Democracy album is a wild read. We can't really do it justice here, but at the end of the day, there are a lot of fanatical people hanging around on some Internet message boards. Sometimes they gang together to storm the U.S. Capitol, and sometimes they go after each other over some songs Axl Rose didn't think were ready for public consumption.
With Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain continuing to snipe at each other and fight in the courts, what do we think the odds are that Journey's 50th anniversary tour still kicks off on January 27? At the end of the day, money talks, so we're going with 55-45 the tour starts on time. The bandmates don't have to be speaking to each other to get through a show. What's your guess?
Whew, we had a lot to cover!
Okay kids, that's going to do it for now. Just like that, it's time to start packing up for the year. Here's Phil Collins to take us out with, "On My Way" for today's, "Song of the Day."
Thanks for stopping by, everyone. It's always a treat to see you. 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.
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