Crooked Media - What A Day: The lion's (Bi)den

President Biden arrived in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, and his visit, in part, is bolstering hope of a breakthrough in addressing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza in the aftermath of Tuesday’s deadly hospital blast. 
 

• President Biden became the first American president to make a wartime visit to Israel on Wednesday. His whirlwind 8-hour visit was a strong show of support for one of America’s close allies, and many hoped that his presence would minimize the likelihood of expanding the war. On his flight back to Washington, Biden spoke by phone with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, who will allow up to 20 trucks of humanitarian aid into Gaza at the Rafah border crossing. The crossing, which had been closed after damage from airstrikes, will be reopened. The United States confirmed $100 million in federal funding to assist civilians in Gaza and the West Bank. In a speech in Tel Aviv, President Biden said, “This money will support more than 1 million displaced in conflict affected Palestinians, including emergency needs in Gaza.” The Israeli government has also agreed to allow for the safe passage of humanitarian assistance, which could ameliorate the loss of life among civilians affected by its decision to cut off food, water, and fuel to Gaza last week. 
   

• Tuesday’s deadly strike at al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza killed 471 people according to Wednesday’s totals from the Gaza Health Ministry. Palestinian officials blamed an Israeli airstrike, which was then disputed by the Israel Defense Forces, who blamed Hamas-allied Palestinian Islamic Jihad. National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson released a statement saying, “While we continue to collect information, our current assessment, based on analysis of overhead imagery, intercepts and open source information, is that Israel is not responsible for the explosion at the hospital in Gaza yesterday.” The House and Senate Intelligence Committees released concurring statements thereafter. The disagreement set off a frenzy of investigative fact-checking from various outlets. An independent investigation by “open-source intelligence” outlet Bellingcat said the weapon that caused the destruction was likely not a Joint Direct Attack Munition dropped from an Israeli plane. A UK-based Channel 4 News (a public broadcaster owned by the public but not funded by the state, like a British PBS) investigation tentatively ruled out the possibility that the rockets could have been fired from the two locations where the Israeli military claimed they were launched. 
   

• A spokesperson for Doctors Without Borders said on Wednesday that the organization is aware of “conflicting accounts” of responsibility for the blast at the al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza, and said that their Tuesday statement calling it an Israeli airstrike was “based on information received from our colleagues in Gaza and known dynamics in the region.” He continued, “We cannot verify who was responsible for the strike on Ahli Arab Hospital. The focus now needs to be on the protection of hospitals, health care workers, and patients. We are calling for an immediate cessation of the indiscriminate bloodshed and for the protection of civilians and health care facilities.”

While expressing his administration’s staunch support for Israel, it’s clear that the long shadow cast by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has had an impact on President Biden’s public rhetoric on the international stage. 
 

• Since the October 7 Hamas attack that claimed 1,400 Israeli lives, Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip have killed more than 3,400 people and wounded over 12,500 more according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. In his remarks in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, President Biden compared the October 7 attack to 9/11, assuring that Americans understand the Israeli government’s demands for justice. But he also cautioned against being consumed by rage saying, “After 9/11, we were enraged in the United States. While we sought justice and got justice, we also made mistakes.” Netanyahu only went so far as to say that his government will continue working with the United States to “assure that the minimum requirements are met” as it tries to retrieve hostages being held by Hamas.
   

• Back in Washington, hundreds of members of Jewish Voices for Peace and IfNotNow—two Jewish American advocacy groups who oppose the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories—gathered at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday to call for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas amid the ever-escalating humanitarian crisis. Many were detained by Capitol police officers and dozens arrested. The protesters in the House wore black shirts that read “Not in our name” on the front and “Jews say cease fire now” on the back. Out on the National Mall, protesters held a banner with red text reading “Our blood is the same color,” and posters saying “My grief is not your weapon.” 

As the humanitarian crisis worsens, calls for a ceasefire are growing, including from progressive members of the House. But it’s clear that among the majority of elected officials of both parties in the United States, there is little appetite for that solution.

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Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) once again failed to become Speaker of the House (never thought I would have to write this combination of words after Kevin McCarthy’s debacle in January, but here we are). A second ballot on Wednesday left Jordan with more GOP defections than he had on Tuesday, which is iconic!! Lawmakers in both parties are now calling for the House to endow Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), who is currently acting as interim speaker, with explicit power to conduct House business so we can have a (semi) functioning government. As of now, McHenry is constrained strictly to presiding over the election of a new speaker. Expanding McHenry’s power is, apparently, an easier solution for House Republicans than finding a nominee who isn’t actively trying to burn the country to the ground and who can get enough votes to win.

The Biden administration unveiled new sanctions targeting Iran’s ballistic missile and drone programs, which come into effect as a set of United Nations restrictions expire. The sanctions will be imposed on “11 individuals, eight entities, and one vessel based in Iran, Hong Kong, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and Venezuela that are enabling” Iran’s ballistic missile program, according to the Treasury Department.

Senate Republicans on the Foreign Relations Committee grilled Jack Lew, President Biden’s pick for U.S. ambassador to Israel, over his role in the Iran nuclear deal signed during the Obama administration and promptly destroyed by Trump. Because the GOP holds the minority in the Upper Chamber, they can’t stop Lew’s confirmation if all Democrats vote for him, but they can hobble the process. 

The Republican supermajority in North Carolina unveiled two redistricting proposals that would eliminate as many as four Democratic-held seats in the House. Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC) does not have veto over redistricting. Both of the maps released on Wednesday would put three House Democrats from the Tar Heel State in “almost impossible to win” districts, according to Chris Cooper, a political science professor at Western Carolina University.

Almost two decades after Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway vanished in Aruba, Joran van der Sloot, the man long suspected of her murder, confessed to killing her. Van der Sloot, now 36, admitted to killing Holloway with a cinder block after she rejected his sexual advances. 

Dr. Cornel West, longtime professor at Princeton University and left-wing activist running for president as an independent, received the maximum allowable campaign donation—$3,300—from GOP mega-donor/Clarence Thomas’s personal benefactor billionaire Harlan Crow.

Columbus, OH approved a landmark deal on Monday to erase $335 million in medical debt for moderate-income city residents—those who make too much money to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to overcome the hardships incurred by significant medical bills. Wouldn’t it be cool if the United States joined our Western allies in relegating “medical debt” into the world of dystopian fiction?

The City of Baltimore will pay $48 million to three men arrested as teenagers who spent 36 years in prison for a fatal shooting they did not commit—$14.9 million each, and $3.3 million for their lawyers. It is the highest such plaintiff settlement ever awarded in Maryland.