* M.L. Elrick (Twitter @elrick/Facebook ML ELRICK/Instagram ml_elrick) zooms in from the front seat of a brand-new Ford F150 in the showroom at Roy O’Brien Ford in St. Clair Shores while Marc Fellhauer (Twitter @MarcFell) peppers him with questions… and Shawn Windsor (Twitter @ShawnWindsor) peppers him with salty comments. Matt Jennings (Twitter @MattRJennings) tries to make history with back-to-back strong performances. And Joey Zuver watches … and waits.* THE STRAIGHT DOPE:  ML was getting ready to head to Mussel Beach at the Cadieux Cafe last Thursday when he learned he would have to get up early to begin digging into the background of the man accused of masterminding the alleged plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Marc asks him how he got started. (SPOILER ALERT: Part of the answer is “slightly hung over.”* ML reveals how he came up with a plan to make the most of the 17 hours of reporting, and 500 miles on the road. * Here’s what ML came up with — but before you get to read it, you’ll have to subscribe here (it’s only 99 cents a month for the first three months).* Marc and ML discuss how more than a dozen Free Press reporters hit the streets Thursday and Friday in a quest to learn as much as they could about the alleged conspirators. Here’s the best of what they found.* Marc rudely keeps interrupting ML to tell him what a great job his wife Tresa Baldas is doing reporting from Grand Rapids, where five of the alleged plotters are in court for a detention hearing.* Oh, Shawn said some crap, too. SHAWN’S SOUL OF KERRYTOWN, Y’ALL!* THE GREAT DEBATE: The feds have busted self-styled revolutionaries before, only to see the case get thrown out of court. Will this case be any different? The boys exercise their constitutional rights in a lively discussion.* GEEK OF THE WEEK: Marc and Shawn cast a wide net to snare their geeks — including the first Van Halen reference of the episode — while ML makes a shocking call to protect a creature Spartans have been trying to wipe out for decades. * THIS WEEK IN SOFT HISTORY: Matt Jennings is working on his PhD in made-up his-tow-ree. Fortunately, he’s also making progress toward a bachelor’s in cah-mo-dee. And, of course, he already has a master’s in — wait for it — bation.* ROOM 7609: OK, so this was supposed to be a nice chat about Johnny Cash’s version of Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus.” Instead, it turns into a Van Halen love-fest. Except for ML. He only tolerated VH because it gave hi...