Hi everyone,

Welcome back.  How are you?  BDH and Little Buddha were just reviewing today's to-do list.  It's pretty reasonable, and the weather is supposed to be nice, so this should be a good day. We couldn't stay up for Chicago P.D. last night, so maybe we'll catch up on that after everything else is done.

Are you ready to check out the headlines?  Let's do it.  The guys made coffee, so grab yourself a nice medium DD, because it's time to clear out some Thursday Clutter.

(Reminder:  We have someone celebrating a birthday next Wednesday, and we're still accepting present suggestions at [email protected].  What do you think would be a good gift for a small blue dog?)

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!

The United States Supreme Court will hear oral arguments today about whether or not Donald Trump should be disqualified for running for president again because he engaged in an insurrection on January 6.  This is a simple case.  Trump is guilty of insurrection, and the plain language of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states that makes him ineligible to run for office.  It's nonsense to argue that this section doesn't apply to the president.  The Founding Fathers didn't write a clause implying it would be acceptable to have a traitor in the White House. 

Trump doesn't have to be criminally charged with anything to trigger this provision.  We all saw what happened that day, and we've learned about his extensive efforts to overturn the legitimate results of the election.  He should be removed from the ballot.  The question is whether or not the justices will do their jobs. 

The court's conservative majority constantly puts their political agendas ahead of defending the U.S. Constitution.  In addition, Clarence Thomas has no business hearing this case, given his wife's efforts to push the coup attempt.  It's a corrupt institution whose credibility continues to erode.  They know exactly what Donald Trump did, and that he's a threat to our democracy.  To allow him to escape unscathed would be a dereliction of duty.  There's no way they can explicitly defend him, so our money is on them finding a technical reason to sidestep the main question and allow him to continue to run.

Disqualify him now.  (pic via twitter.com)

Both sides in Donald Trump's NY civil fraud trial want Judge Arthur Engoron to get going on a verdict and ignore the stories about Allen Weisselberg possibly negotiating a plea deal on a perjury charge.  We agree with the lawyers - let's get this show on the road and find out how big of a penalty the judge is prepared to impose on the con man.

The report on President Biden's handling of classified documents is expected to be released soon.  Our prediction is that special counsel Robert Hur will criticize how Biden handled these files and recommend that stronger safeguards be installed.  Upon hearing that, Republicans will claim that this is a snow job by the Justice Department and somehow proof that Donald Trump is being unfairly prosecuted.  We will preemptively point out that Biden returned all documents when they were discovered, while Trump went out of his way to keep what he improperly took from the White House.  That's why the MAGA cult leader is being tried, and why one has to wonder what he intended to do with that information.

Marianne Williamson suspended her presidential campaign yesterday.  No word yet on which candidate her three voters are expected to support next.  Meanwhile, Dean Phillips is still out there looking for anyone to attend his rallies.

Dr. Anthony Fauci has a memoir coming out on June 18.

The Boston Red Sox and Netflix announced a partnership to produce two shows:  One is a documentary about the 2004 team that won their first championship in 86 years.  The second is a docuseries about the 2024 squad.  We've got no problem with the former.  The 20th anniversary is a good time for a look back at such a historical event in Boston's sports history.  There's a good chance we'll watch that one.  However, the latter has us puzzled.  Who is going to spend hours in 2025 to watch an in-depth look at this year's team?  We'll watch the games, but given that this team will be lucky if they reach .500 this year, it's hard to believe we'll be left wanting more at the end.

Brian Belichick will reportedly stay with the New England Patriots as the team's safeties coach.  Dad Bill is obviously gone, and brother Steve just left to take a job as the University of Washington's defensive coordinator, so Brian is the last one standing.  Best of luck to him, as the team begins a major rebuild.

EA's Madden NFL just made its prediction for this year's Super Bowl.  The video game has a 65% success rate on this front, so adjust your betting accordingly.

ESPN says its stand-alone streaming service should be ready to launch by August 2025.  Cable providers have to be freaking out over that, as well as yesterday's news of the joint Disney/Fox/Warner Bros. Discovery streaming sports platform.  Live sports are one of the biggest things still propping up the cable industry.  If these two new options successfully convince more sports fans to cut the cord, will cable collapse like a house of cards?  We are unlikely to subscribe to either of these, but if their existence forces Comcast and the like to cut prices to stay competitive, that would be fine.

The Hollywood Reporter has a long look at Vince McMahon's resignation from the WWE and TKO Group Holdings after he was accused of sexual abuse and trafficking.  The whole thing reads like it was written by someone in TKO's public relations department, because there is simply no way folks there were shocked by the lawsuit.  The company identified Vince McMahon as a possible problem in paperwork filed with the SEC before the WWE sale.  Hell, he'd just been pushed out of the company the first time after it was revealed he paid multiple women hush money over his sexual misconduct.

The more likely reality is that TKO Group Holdings knew all about McMahon's past and didn't care until his recent actions became public.  The question now is if they'll try to claim the whole thing is just about one man, and not the company culture that enabled him for years.  If they don't clean house, then the cover-up will continue.

TVLine.com has everything there is to know right now about the upcoming Community movie.  The big thing that's missing is the release date.  It sounds like it won't be out for a while, given that filming is scheduled to begin this year.  However, our crew will be there whenever this thing debuts on NBC's Peacock streaming service.  We loved that show, and it would be a blast to revisit these characters again.

DenofGeek.com lists some of the major questions Young Sheldon still needs to resolve in its final season.  We're not sure that all of them will be addressed, particularly because there will only be 14 episodes.  However, if nothing else, they still have to address George Sr.'s death in some fashion. 

Former Doctor Who boss Chris Chibnall has completed his first project since leaving the Time Lord behind in 2022.

BDH and Little Buddha are happy to hear that Taylor Swift's recent concert movie will premiere on Disney+ on March 15, and that it will also include five additional songs.  Looks like we might be scheduling a dance party in the office that day.

Sebastian Bach said he's got a lot of unreleased Skid Row music at home, and that he'd like to release it at some point.  However, that would mean he and his former bandmates being willing to bury the hatchet.   That doesn't seem likely to happen anytime soon, but you never know.  Maybe we'll end up seeing a box set or two at some point down the road.  People have a way of calling at least a temporary truce when money is on the table.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  Let's have Def Leppard close things out with a live version of, "Gods of War" 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.