(Review) Doctor Who: Wild Blue Yonder
Tuesday Clutter: GOP Presidential Debate, Trump, Liz Cheney, Tesla Union Problems, Meta, Panera, New England Patriots, Barbie, Doctor Who, Mammoth WVH, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, and more

Monday Clutter: George Santos, Matt Gaetz, Liz Cheney, Moms for Liberty, U.S. Supreme Court, Elon Musk, New England Patriots, Aaron Rodgers, Chicago Fire, Ghost, and more

Hi everyone,

Happy Monday, gang.  How was your weekend?  Our crew enjoyed the second Doctor Who anniversary special on Saturday.  The New England Patriots game yesterday?  Not so much, but it was pretty much what we were expecting.  The weather forecast also told us to expect up to four inches of snow when we woke up this morning, but it looks like we got a light dusting instead.  I imagine the roads might be a little slippery at the moment.  However, it should be warmer by the time I have to start today's errands.

Speaking of which, let's check out today's headlines.  BDH and Little Buddha made coffee, so grab yourself a nice medium DD, because it's time to clear out some Clutter.

We have teamed up with Clearly Balanced Days, a NH-based/women-owned CBD company.  Enter promo code "cmoore" to get $5 off your next purchase!

George Santos was expelled from the House this past Friday by a vote of 311-114.  We admit, we were wrong.  It seemed unlikely that 105 Republicans would vote to remove a member of their own party.   It turns out that some members of the GOP can recognize that people who engage in alleged criminal and unethical behavior shouldn't hold public office.  They're just really selective about when they apply this basic standard of decency.

Now that George Santos has been expelled, a reminder that the House Ethics Committee is still investigating Rep. Matt Gaetz.  The Florida Republican has been accused of "sexual misconduct, illicit drug use and potential public corruption."  This would be a great time for committee chairman Michael Guest to provide an update on the status investigation and provide some sense of when the American people can expect to learn the results.  If the GOP really wants to act like they care about criminal behavior, they should have no problem with that.  Plus, you know some in the GOP would love to get rid of Gaetz for being such a pain in their sides, especially in the past few months.

Rep. Matt Gaetz December 4 2023Where do things stand with Rep. Gaetz?  (pic via ny1.com)

Liz Cheney has a new book coming out next week, and it doesn't sound like Donald Trump, Kevin McCarthy, or House Speaker Mike Johnson will be happy about it.  We're still processing a world where Dick Cheney's daughter wasn't conservative enough to satisfy today's GOP.  Good for her if she goes after Trump and his enablers in detail.  However, we'll be curious to see if she mentions Ginni Thomas, whom she seemingly protected during the January 6 hearings.  Liz Cheney took a lot of heat for protecting the U.S. Constitution, and it cost her her seat, but she's still covering for people who tried/continue to try to kill democracy in the United States.

Let's see if we've got this right:  The husband of the co-founder of the homophobic Moms for Liberty group has apparently been accused of sexual assault by a woman who claims she's been in a sexual relationship with the couple for the past three years.  In other words, Bridget Ziegler has been leading the group's anti-LGBTQ crusade because of some self-loathing issues?  It's long past time to pull the plug on Moms for Liberty and send that hate group to the dustbin of history.   Remove Christian Ziegler as the head of the Florida Republican Party while you're at it, and let him face the full legal consequences of his actions.

The U.S. Supreme Court is about to hear a case that could upend this country's tax code in order to yet again benefit the rich.  Basically, the question appears to be whether or not the government can tax unrealized gains.  Can't see how this could go wrong.

Elon Musk is now lashing out at Paris Hilton, following Hilton's decision to suspend her company's Twitter advertising, because of the rise of antisemitic content on the site.  Musk's response totally projects confidence and sound leadership, and it's definitely not another red flag for other advertisers who may not be excited about associating with him these days.  His poor management of the social media platform will serve as case study material for business schools for years to come.

On a related note, Walmart is the latest company to stop advertising on Twitter.  Will Elon Musk now try to pick a fight with the Walton family?  These big companies don't need Twitter to survive, but can Musk say the same?

PlayStation is emailing customers a notice that all Discovery content will be removed from their devices as of December 31, even if the users paid to own those titles.  No reason was given.  We're not gamers, so this particular story misses us.  However, it speaks to the larger issue of how we are all increasingly paying for digital content that can be taken away at anytime.  It's a convincing argument for still buying CD's, DVD's, and any other hard copy version of the things you like whenever possible, rather than be subject to a company's seemingly-arbitrary whims.

As MLB's Winter Meetings begin, Boston Red Sox fans are still waiting for new baseball boss Craig Breslow to make a noteworthy move.  Here's hoping we have something fun to talk about here before the end of this week.

The New England Patriots lost 6-0 to the Los Angeles Chargers yesterday to fall to 2-10 on the season.  The only surprise here is that we told Dad Clutter we thought the Pats might score nine points.  They never had much chance of winning, but the Los Angeles Chargers have the worst defense in the NFL, so a few field goals seemed possible.  Our apologies for being overly optimistic. 

Bailey Zappe got the start at quarterback for New England, and he showed everyone that Mac Jones was far from the only problem with the offense.  After all, even Jones could have gone 13-for-24 for 141 yards with no touchdowns.  Of course, he probably would have thrown at least one interception, so are we supposed to consider this progress, especially since the Patriots still lost a fumble?  This game felt like it was slipping away when the Chargers kicked their first field goal in the second quarter, and it seemed like a borderline blowout when they kicked the second one.

Did we mention the Chargers have the worst defense in the NFL?  The worst.  Never would have guessed that by watching this mess.  The Patriots defense held their opponents to 10 points or less for the third straight week, and the team still went 0-3 in that stretch.  Those guys have to be giving the offense the side-eye at this point.

Next up:  The Patriots have a short week, as they face the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road this Thursday.  The quest for the #1 draft pick continues.

Sorry, NY Jets fans, Aaron Rodgers isn't coming to play this season:  It doesn't appear that the 40-year-old quarterback will be able to defy science and fully recover from his Achilles surgery in time to take the field anytime soon.  The fact that the Jets are 4-8 doesn't help matters.  Why try rushing anything to come back to this ugliness?  The question now becomes, will Rodgers make it back next year?

Marvel boss Kevin Feige insists Robert Downey Jr. won't be returning to the MCU as Tony Stark.  Maybe that's true, but it's also not hard to see the possibility of a workaround featuring Doctor Strange visiting a different Stark in another universe at some point.  If Hugh Jackman can do something similar with Wolverine in Deadpool 3, why not here?

We've got the first official teaser trailer for the new season of The Boys on Amazon Prime Video.  Now we just need a premiere date:

Actor Mark Sheppard said he suffered "six massive heart attacks" on Friday and only survived because of the quick response from his wife.  That's insane.  We enjoyed Sheppard's work as the demon Crowley on Supernatural, as well as a guest appearance on Doctor Who, and we wish him a full and speedy recovery.

Alberto Rosende made his first public comments about his upcoming departure from Chicago Fire.  We're still not happy Blake Gallo is leaving, and especially since it will be during the season premiere.  Either he dies in a fire, or it's an abrupt departure that will likely be extremely unsatisfying.  We also still can't help wondering if something happened behind the scenes to force this move. 

KISS played their "final" show on Saturday and then revealed plans to live on as avatars.  Sounds about right.  What will you give us for odds that the "live band" will play again within the next 2-3 years?

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  Let's have Ghost kick off the new week with, "Zenith" for today's, "Song of the Day."

Thanks for stopping by, folks.  It was great to see you, as always.  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.

 

If you enjoy Clearing out the Clutter, please consider a $5 monthly donation!  You can click here or on the "Donations" category on the right-hand side of the page.

Check out our new Patreon page! 

Comments