Crooked Media - Hamas and Israel at War

- Kevin McCarthy, begging for one good night of sleep this year.

On Saturday, Hamas militants stormed into Israel and have killed 1,000 people so far—including over 250 at a music festival—taking others as hostages. In retaliation, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) killed over 830 people in the Gaza Strip, and on Sunday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that his country was at war with “the enemy.” “We are at war. Not an ‘operation,’ not a ‘round,’ but at war,” he said, adding that “the enemy will pay an unprecedented price.”
 

• President Biden declared that “we must be clear: we stand with Israel.”  A report in the Wall Street Journal suggesting that Hamas is being funded by Iran inspired Florida Governor Ron Desantis to propose legislation to “expand the prohibition on state investment in Iranian businesses to include the financial, construction, manufacturing, textile, technology, mining, metals, shipping, shipbuilding, and port sectors.” Biden denied the report.
   
• The shocking brutality of the initial assault renewed anger against Hamas, as did the fact that most of the dead, Israeli and Palestinian, are civilians. Hamas has taken at least 150 hostages, most from the overnight rave targeted in the initial assault. One good bit of news on Tuesday was that 30 missing people were found safe in a Gaza border kibbutz after hiding out for three days. But the celebration has been tempered by other discoveries, among them that more than 40 babies had been murdered in one Israeli community.
   
• The U.S. will provide aid to Israel, but its ability to do so is somewhat complicated. Without a speaker, the House is unable to provide aid. Rep. Mike McCaul (R-TX) has urged to make a deal even without a speaker, saying, “How does the Ayatollah look at this knowing that we cannot function properly? And I think it sends a terrible message.” This is presumably a reference to the Ayatollah of Iran, which, again, Biden has said isn’t involved, since the Palestinians don’t have an Ayatollah as such. But apparently, the speaker drama hasn’t stopped us. Speaking anonymously, one U.S. official said “We are surging support to Israel” and that “Planes have already taken off.”

People are losing it everywhere. Rallies held all over the U.S. have been called out for insensitivity and misinformation is running rampant. If you saw videos of the early conflict it’s likely you were lied to.

• Protests and celebrations have erupted around the country. After a pro-Palestine rally in Times Square on Sunday where at least one rallygoer displayed a swastika, Rep. Alexander Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) called out the celebration. “The bigotry and callousness expressed … were unacceptable and harmful in this devastating moment,” she said. New Yorkers are “capable of rejecting both Hamas’ horrifying attacks against innocent civilians as well as the grave injustices and violence Palestinians face under occupation.”
   
• More backlash, much of it from conservative politicians, followed a pro-Palestine letter signed by 33 different student groups at Harvard after the university said students could “speak for themselves” but not the school.
   
• Many first-hand accounts of the attacks have been shot on cell phones. But many of those early videos have been proven to be fabrications, or mislabeled footage taken before the war began. This Hamas attack predates the current war as does this Israeli attack. The video of this purported Israeli missile strike was actually from a fireworks display at an Algerian soccer match. And this video that supposedly showed Hamas militants parachuting into Israel was actually filmed in Egypt in September.
   

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has decided he no longer wants to lose to Biden in the Democratic primaries in the spring; now wants to lose to Biden in the general election in November instead. Mr. Cheryl Hines is dropping his Democratic nomination bid and plans to run as an independent. 
 

Polling has indicated that this move will take a bite out of Trump’s support among conservatives. And as hard as it is to believe, Trump’s team has freaked out, and attempted to paint RFK Jr. as “a liberal parading in conservative’s clothing” and characterizing him as “just another radical, far-left democrat.” Yep, that’s RFK. He’s basically an antisemitic Bernie Sanders.
 

President Biden isn’t taking the threat of third-party candidates lightly, either. His team has made moves to spread oppo research about third-party candidates and limit their ballot access, or at least make it more costly for them to qualify. RFK Jr.’s sudden abandonment of the Democratic Party follows a change by Cornel West who eschewed a likely Green Party nomination in favor of an independent run. And this is just the beginning. The No Labels Party has a lot of money but no candidate yet. Also no platform. But you know they’re gonna jam at least one more dog in this race. Oh, and RFK Jr’s super PAC raised nearly $15 million in the hours since his announcement, and he’s been courting the support of Elon Musk. He’s gonna be a problem for somebody, that’s for sure. 

The race to replace the speaker of the House officially started Monday with a closed-door meeting among top Republicans, and a new challenger has entered the race—KEVIN MCCARTHY. Was this all for nothing???

A man crashed his vehicle into the Chinese consulate in San Fransisco before being shot and killed by police. And we really mean “into.” The vehicle ended up in the lobby of the building, but no one was hurt.

The investigation into the mishandling of the classified documents by the President is possibly nearing its end. Not the President you’re probably picturing. This is about Joe Biden. He was interviewed as part of an independent investigation into his handling of classified documents on Monday, a sign that the investigation is almost over. 

The WGA strike officially ended yesterday as members voted 99% in favor of the new deal. The celebration has been dampened by the realization that for most of the guild’s 11,000 members, jobs will be even more scarce than before the strike.

A gas pipeline in The Baltic Sea was compromised over the weekend, with Finnish authorities concluding that sabotage was the most likely explanation, though didn’t specify who they suspected of carrying out the attack.

Another Republican Presidential hopeful that you didn’t know was running gives up his bid for the seat. In terms of shaping this election, former Texas Rep. Will Hurd…will not be heard. 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill that makes it easier for authorities to compel treatment for people with mental illness or addiction issues. The law expands the definition of “gravely disabled” to include those who cannot provide themselves with food or shelter because of untreated issues like mental health or drug abuse. 

The man who vacated the seat that paved the way for George Santos to enter Congress, Tom Suozzi, is running to take back the seat. Suozzi left the House initially to launch a failed bid for Governor, and now he’s back to clean up his mess. 

Speaking of George, Santos was charged with 23 crimes—adding ten new charges not included in his original indictment in May. Charges include stealing people’s identities and making charges on donor’s credit cards without their permission. There’s always a great news cycle waiting in the wings, folks.

Lots of billionaires declare their intent to give away their money. But they almost never do it. Giving away some of your money, even if it’s billions, isn’t true philanthropy if your net worth still continues to grow. Do you hear that, Zuckerberg, Bezos, Gates, and Buffet?  Charles F. Feeney, who died on Monday, might have been one of our only philanthropists, at least in the truest sense of the term. After amassing a fortune of about $8 billion as a pioneer of duty-free shops, he vowed to give it all away before his death and actually did it. By 2022 he was down to his last 2 million dollars, earmarked to be split among his 5 children after his death. 

Not only that, but he gave away most of his money anonymously. None of the 1,200 or so buildings that his donations have built bear his name. It’s hard to understand just how few people are actually willing to do this. Even Mackenzie Bezos, who has vowed to give away her billions, has only given away a third of her total net worth, which continues to grow every year. Bill Gates and Warren Buffet have vowed to give half of their money away (because everyone needs $60 billion or so just in case). But to be fair, it took Feeney over 35 years to give it all away, so there’s still time for the younger generation.

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Jerry Seinfeld hinted that he and Larry David are planning a way to alter or add the divisive series finale of Seinfeld. Do Lost next! 

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed into law a bill to ban hidden fees on everything from concert tickets to hotel reservations.