Crooked Media - What A Day: Off on the Macron foot

- Turning Points USA goon Charlie Kirk describing the “liberation” of Twitter by Elon Musk (i.e. the reinstatement of alt-right trolls after their bans for hate speech)

Zut alors! French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in D.C. for a state visit with President Biden last night, and the two leaders had a lot to discuss. 
 

• President Biden welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife to the White House for an official state visit this week, stressing the centuries-long relationship of our two countries and calling France “our first ally.” Biden honored Macron with a grand state dinner Thursday evening, the first such event the president has hosted for a foreign leader, with Covid restrictions incrementally easing. But Biden and Macron’s relationship had an icy start after the French president recalled the country’s ambassador to the United States last year following the White House’s announcement of a deal to sell nuclear submarines to Australia that undermined France’s contract with the country. 
   

• Macron has also been critical of what is thus far president Biden’s signature policy achievement: the Inflation Reduction Act. France and other members of the European Union have expressed concerns that the IRA, passed in August of this year, is anti-competitive and gives the United States an unfair advantage at the expense of European jobs, specifically in the energy and automotive sectors. Biden admitted that there are “glitches” in the legislation but none of which were meant to disadvantage European workers. In a joint press conference, Biden reiterated, “We’re going to continue to create manufacturing jobs, but not at the expense of Europe,” and noted that France and the United States share a goal of rebuilding their respective domestic manufacturing bases after a half-century in decline. 
   

• Biden and Macron’s relationship strengthened in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with Macron emerging as one of the most prominent allies in the Western response to the war. The agenda for the two heads of state was long: they discussed Iran’s nuclear program, China’s increasing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific, and growing security concerns in Africa’s Sahel region. But at the center of the talks is the war in Ukraine. With a Republican House Majority on Biden’s doorstep come January and increasing energy costs across Europe causing EU members to shift in their seats, both leaders face immense challenges in maintaining a united front on continuing to provide aid to Ukraine.  

So what’s next on President Biden’s docket?
 

• Following his discussions with Macron, President Biden signaled that he is prepared to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin about ending the war in Ukraine, though he has “no immediate plans” to do so as Putin has shown no indication of interest in a resolution. Although the French and American leaders are largely aligned on the conflict, Macron has spoken far more frequently with Putin than Biden has, and he reported to Biden that he sees willingness in Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to negotiate, though Zelenskyy’s conditions for negotiations have not yet been met by Russia. 
   

• While Biden is smoothing relationships with foreign allies, he has unrest brewing at home. The Senate voted overwhelmingly to impose a labor agreement between rail companies and their unionized workers in order to avert a rail strike, sending the agreement to president Biden’s desk. As I detailed in yesterday’s newsletter, this forced deal kneecaps the unions’ ability to strike, which came at the president’s directive. By the same token, the Senate failed to meet the 60-vote threshold to pass the separate legislation which would have granted seven sick days to rail workers, which was the basis of the pending strike, and was passed yesterday in the House. All Democratic Senators voted for the legislation except Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), who apparently only cares about unions if they produce coal. Perhaps more embarrassing, even some of the worst Republican Senators like Marco Rubio, Lindsey Graham, and Ted Cruz voted for the PTO that Manchin voted against. 

After years of openly adversarial relationships with our allies and friendly relationships with our adversaries under disgraced former president Trump, it is a relief to see President Biden working towards domestic and geopolitical progress cooperatively with other world leaders. (I know that is an extremely low bar to clear, but sometimes we have to take our wins where we can get them.) We hope he is able to simultaneously keep his eye on the ball fighting for American workers as he promised to, as well. 

If you’ve ever messaged a friend about a manager who won’t stop texting after hours or a co-worker who keeps posting weirdly suggestive Austin Powers GIFs in Slack - you’re not alone. 

On Crooked Media’s newest podcast, Work Appropriate, author and host Anne Helen Petersen sets out to find solutions to these oddly specific yet completely universal listener-submitted questions. Whether you work in an office chair or a sixth grade classroom - the problems may be limitless but so are the solutions! 

Listen to Work Appropriate now wherever you get your podcasts. New Episodes drop every Wednesday. Check it out!

Human rights groups have reported that an Iranian man named Mehran Samak was shot in the head on Tuesday evening, allegedly killed by Iranian state forces while he was celebrating the country’s loss against the United States in the World Cup in the northwestern Iranian city of Bandar Anzali. The Center for Human Rights in Iran shared a video yesterday showing Samak’s funeral, where mourners chanted protest slogans like, “Death to the dictator,” which refers to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Mass public protests against the government continue in the country following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September at the hands of the country’s morality police. Iran launched a brutal state crackdown on protests, where over 450 civilians have reportedly been killed and hundreds more imprisoned.

The special master request granted by Trump-appointed Florida Judge Aileen Cannon was struck down by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which expressed concern that Cannon’s decision set a disturbing precedent of allowing the target of a search warrant to request a special master to interfere with a federal investigation. 

The rapper formerly known as Kanye West went on far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’s show InfoWars where he praised Hitler and denied the Holocaust in an hourslong interview of truly horrifying content. 

Ex-Florida tax collector and friend of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) Joel Greenberg has been sentenced to eleven years in prison for sex trafficking a minor as well as various corruption and fraud charges. Greenberg’s arrest led to an inquiry into Gaetz and other Florida politicians. 

The Supreme Court announced today that it will expedite the legality of President Biden’s federal student loan debt forgiveness plan and will hold oral arguments in February. 

Cases of respiratory viruses like RSV are surging in the U.S., with children under five years old at the greatest risk. 

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa faced calls to resign today after a parliamentary panel inquiry found he may have violated anti-corruption laws by allegedly stealing a large amount of money from his game farm and stuffing it in his couch. That’s the kind of fun, old-school political corruption we love to see. 

Jackie Johnson, the former Georgia prosecutor charged last year with hindering the police investigation into the 2020 murder of Ahmaud Arbery, has been ordered by a judge to appear for her first court date next month.  

President Obama traveled to Georgia to campaign for Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) this weekend ahead of the last day of early voting in the state’s Senate runoff. We’re really hoping he breaks Fox News by wearing the tan suit again at some point on the campaign trail.

On Tuesday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D-NY) issued a directive that would allow emergency responders to transport people with presumed mental illness to hospitals involuntarily. This will allow non-medical professionals, such as police officers, to request such removals from streets and subways, and is part of his larger plan to “crack down” on the city’s unhoused population, while pending budget cuts he supported will simultaneously remove services the city provides for its unhoused people. Fun how that works! At least 470 people have been arrested for “being outstretched” or taking up too much space in a subway car this year alone. Mayor Adams has approved regular encampment sweeps — the forcible removal of people experiencing homelessness from public spaces — but data shows that only five percent of those affected by the sweeps entered the shelter system as a result, while the rest remain unhoused and on the streets. It would be great if high-profile Democratic politicians would devise better solutions for the unhoused than “Make homelessness illegal,” and we should hold them accountable when their policies on the issue are truly no better than those of Republicans.

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A London-based tattoo removal clinic announced that they will remove Kanye West-related tattoos for free so people will no longer be "Bound 2" their regrettable ink choices. 

The average price of gas nationwide has again dropped to $3.50 per gallon, the price of gas before Russia invaded Ukraine. It could drop below $3 per gallon by Christmas.  

The World Cup match today between Costa Rica and Germany had three female referees for the first time in history. [Blows referee whistle in approval]