Hi folks,

How are you?  I had to run out to the car first thing this morning.  It was just for a minute but still long enough for me to get soaked.  BDH and Little Buddha think it's supposed to rain like this all day, so we may have to revamp the to-do list in a little while.  First, let's check out the headlines.  The guys made coffee, so grab yourself a nice medium DD, because it's time to clear out some Thursday Clutter.

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That didn't take long:  Donald Trump is already attacking the judge in his upcoming hush money trial, after a gag order was placed on him, preventing Trump from going after jurors and potential witnesses in the case.  Trump falsely accused Judge Juan Marchan yesterday of doing the bidding of his daughter, who is a Democratic consultant.  Of course, the defendant had nothing to back up that claim, apart from a photo from a Twitter account that Trump falsely said belonged to Loren Merchan (who apparently abandoned it last year.) 

The judge wasn't covered by the gag order, so Trump didn't violate it with this meltdown.  We just hope Judge Merchan and his daughter have sufficient security to protect them from the mob who will do anything for their idol.

Lock up this sociopath.  (pic via cbsnews.com)

Analysts agree that the high stock price of Donald Trump's social media company is disconnected from its poor fundamentals.  The initial surge since going public is based on MAGA cult members buying anything with their leader's name on it, and other traders riding that momentum wave.  The Clutter investment team believes that reality will eventually sink in, as it usually does in these cases.  Once that happens lot of suckers are likely to lose money when the stock actually reflects the quality of the business.  Trump can't sell his shares for six months, so he'll have to do whatever he can to make sure that fall doesn't happen before he can cash out to pay his lawyers.

While Donald Trump frantically looks for new ways to pay his legal bills, President Biden is teaming up with Barack Obama and Bill Clinton for a fundraiser tonight that has reportedly raised $25 million.  Unlike Trump, Biden will in fact use these campaign funds for his campaign.  That's what happens when one man is actually running for office to govern the country, and the other is doing it to stay out of prison.

California State Bar Court Judge Yvette Roland formally recommended yesterday that former Trump attorney John Eastman be disbarred for his role as one of the key architects of Donald Trump's plan to overturn the 2020 presidential election.   Judge Roland wrote that, "Eastman's wrongdoing constitutes exceptionally serious ethical violations warranting severe professional discipline."  Anyone who supports democracy would agree with that statement.  The final decision rests with the California Supreme Court. 

Judge Roland's recommendation should be enforced, and every other attorney who participated in this coup attempt should meet the same fate.  (Speaking of which, where is Rudy Giuliani these days, anyway?)

Even Fox News polls show that Republicans are out of touch with most of the country on abortion:  According to the latest Fox News poll, 59% of Americans believe abortion should be in all or most cases, and a majority opposes a 15-week ban.  This isn't hard - people don't want the government controlling their health decisions.  Period.  This is a losing issue for GOP extremists, which is one of the reasons why they try so hard to make it impossible for anyone besides their supporters to vote.  They should all be sent packing.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Disney are apparently calling a truce in their multi-year legal battle.  Now that DeSantis isn't running for president, there's no point in continuing this fight.  

Shoot, we didn't win the Powerball last night.  However, no one else did either, so the jackpot is expected to reach $935 million before Saturday's drawing.  We've satisfied our lottery ticket urge for the time being, but if you happen to win, we are always accepting donations for our coffee budget.  Just click on the link at the top of your screen.  Thank you in advance for your support!

Here we go:  The 2024 Boston Red Sox start their regular season on the road against the Seattle Mariners tonight.  Brayan Bello gets the ball for Boston, while Luis Castillo takes the mound for Seattle.  Opening Day is all about optimism, so what the hell - we look forward to watching this year's Sox surprise everyone and make the playoffs.  Really, they shouldn't be a bad team.  The offense can do damage, and their fielding should be much better than 2023, especially if shortstop Trevor Story stays healthy all year. 

The issue is Boston's starting pitching.  Fingers crossed that youngsters Bello, Tanner Houck, Garrett Whitlock, and Kutter Crawford can deliver.

It's a bad sign that the Boston Red Sox and manager Alex Cora haven't even discussed a new contract for after the 2024 season.  While there's still time for things to change, we wouldn't blame Cora at all if he wanted to move on to a contending team.  Ownership has failed both him and the fans with makeshift rosters for the past few years, and winning does not seem like a priority anymore for John Henry and company.  If Cora's had enough of this multi-year rebuild, we predict he will be unemployed for all of about a day before someone offers him a chance to compete for the playoffs again.

We haven't focused that much attention on quarterback Caleb Williams, since he's likely to go #1 to the Chicago Bears in this year's NFL Draft and not be an option for the New England Patriots.  However, if Williams is making some homophobes mad because he has a pink phone and likes to do his nails (in honor of his mother who is a nail technician), we'll pull for him to light it up with Chicago.  Get out of here with that nonsense.

The San Francisco 49ers sound like they're prepared to pay up for Brock Purdy when it comes time for his contract extension:  Judging by 49ers owner Jed York's recent comments, the team expects Purdy's annual salary to jump up from just under $1 million to $40 million.  Not bad for a former "Mr. Irrelevant."  Not bad at all.  The interesting part will be to see how this impacts San Francisco's overall budget, because having a star QB on a rookie contract has given them significant flexibility to this point.  What will the fallout be when this bill comes due?

Actress Florence Pugh shared a fun behind-the-scenes video from the Thunderbolts set yesterday.  We loved Pugh as Yelena Belova in Black Widow and Hawkeye, and we're excited to see her reprise the role in this movie, which is scheduled to come out next July.

Doctor Who boss Russell T. Davies writes that there won't be a special episode in 2025 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the return of the series after an extended hiatus.  That's fine with us.  Of course, we'd appreciate any opportunity to watch new content.  However, it would get too confusing to talk about the 20th anniversary of a show that just celebrated its 60th anniversary last year.  Let's continue movingforward into this new era with Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson (while we wait for the 70th anniversary in 2033.)

Hulu is now officially available directly through the Disney+ app.  Talk to us folks, how do you feel about Hulu?  Is it worth the upgrade?  We should look into this more.

We're sorry to hear that Skid Row is parting ways with lead singer Erik Grönwall.  He seemed like a good fit for the band.  However, Grönwall was battling leukemia just months before he joined Skid Row two years ago, and he's apparently decided that being on the road isn't good for his health.  Well, at least it sounds like an amicable break-up between the two parties.  Singer Lizzy Hale will be filling in for Grönwall, and we're looking forward to hearing that pairing in action.

Poison drummer Rikki Rocket revealed that he's working on his memoir.  He's probably got some crazy stories to tell about the heyday of the hair metal scene in the 1980's.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  Let's have Lorde close things out with her cover of the Talking Heads classic, "Take Me to the River" 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, stay dry, 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.