Crooked Media - What A Day: A week behind the curtain

- Donald Trump really adding some flourish to his disinformation on the campaign trail. 

President Biden expressed hope that a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas could happen in the next week. 
 

• Israeli officials headed to Qatar on Monday for so-called “proximity talks” (meeting with different intermediaries in the same city) as Qatari leadership met with the chief of Hamas. The meetings in a single location suggest  negotiators may be closer together than  at any  time since early February, when Israel rejected a Hamas counter-offer for a four-plus month ceasefire. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh—who met with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani—said the militant group has embraced efforts to find an end to the war, and accused Israel of stalling while people in Gaza remain under siege. Then late Monday, Biden weighed in, saying: “My national security advisor tells me that we're close. I'm hoping that next Monday we'll have a ceasefire.” The president, bizarrely, made this remark to a reporter while holding an ice cream cone and standing next to Seth Meyers, with whom he’d just finished taping an interview. 
   

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for his part, said that Israel is ready to strike a deal, but called on Hamas to drop demands that he described as “from another planet.” Israel continues to say it will not end the war until Hamas is wiped “off the face of the Earth,” as economy and industry minister Nir Barkat put it. Senior Hamas official Abu Zuhri told Reuters on monday that any ceasefire agreement would require “securing an end to the aggression, the withdrawal, the occupation, the returning of the displaced, the entry of aid, shelter equipment, and rebuilding.” 
   

• The United States has been increasing pressure on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to make personnel changes in the Palestinian Authority, which governs the occupied West Bank, as all parties look toward the postwar future of the occupied Palestinian territories. Against that political backdrop, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh announced his resignation on Monday.

At home, Biden faces a rising tide of opposition to his administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict. 
 

• An active-duty member of the United States Air Force named Aaron Bushnell set himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy on Sunday in protest of U.S. support for Israel’s war in Gaza. A video began circulating shortly thereafter, apparently posted by Bushnell, depicting him walking towards the embassy in his fatigues, speaking to the camera saying he, “will no longer be complicit in genocide.” Dousing himself in an unidentified fluid accelerant, he shouted, “Free Palestine!” as he burned. Law enforcement arrived at the scene swiftly. Some officers drew guns, while others attempted to extinguish the blaze. After the fire was put out, Bushnell was rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. He died just hours later. Self-immolation has a long history as an extreme, rare and controversial form of political protest, and occurred in multiple famous instances during the U.S. war in Vietnam.
   

• In Michigan, progressive organizers of Listen to Michigan, a “multiracial and multifaith, anti-war campaign” are attempting a large-scale nonviolent protest ahead of Tuesday’s Democratic presidential primary there. Organizers—many of whom supported and voted for President Biden in 2020—are urging voters to check the “uncommitted” box on their ballot as a way of protesting the Biden administration’s policy with Israel, which they hope will sway his administration to change course. Michigan is home to about 300,000 Arab Americans, a community which former Biden 2020 campaign staffer Abbas Alawieh says the president has lost “at a fundamental level.” 

Although much could change between now and November, Tuesday’s primary in Michigan, a key swing state, is being closely watched as a litmus test for Biden’s reelection prospects.

As you probably know by now, Lovett, Tommy and Favreau wrote a book called “Democracy or Else: How To Save America In Ten Easy Steps.” We’re only 4 months away from you all having a copy of the book in your hand, but maybe the lure of a reasonable page count loaded with illustrations isn’t your thing. We’ve got you covered there too. That’s right, the guys got back in the studio to bring you “Democracy or Else” as an audiobook. It’s perfect for the avid listener who loves the pod – but just wishes it could be four hours longer. Head to crooked.com/books and pre-order now!

President Biden will visit the U.S.-Mexico border this Thursday, on the same day that disgraced former president Donald Trump had already scheduled a trip there. Their split-screen moment will play out against a backdrop of multiple failed and stalled border security deals in Congress. Immigration has become one of President Biden’s most serious political liabilities, and is now the most-cited policy issue among voters who disapprove of his performance. In Brownsville, TX, Biden will meet with Border Patrol, law enforcement, and local officials, according to White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. The president did not answer questions on Monday about whether he plans to meet with migrants. Trump will visit Eagle Pass, TXand plans to “deliver remarks” (i.e., say a bunch of inflammatory shit about Biden and migrants). Trump has recently promised that, if reelected, he will close the border immediately and “begin the largest deportation operation of illegal CRIMINALS in American History!” Trump, naturally, tanked the bipartisan border security package earlier this month by, essentially, convincing his allies in Congress not to give Biden a potential win ahead of November. The Biden administration is considering an executive order to shut down the border to new arrivals if border crossings surpass an average of 5,000 per day in a given week, or 8,500 in a day. Such an action would likely be blocked by the courts, but would give Biden some cover over accusations of “avoiding” the crisis, and would put renewed pressure on members of Congress to do their jobs.

SCOTUS Justices across the ideological spectrum appeared to be leaning towards preventing Texas and Florida from immediately implementing laws restricting social media companies from removing certain political or controversial posts. 

State Attorney General Ashley Moody (R-FL) criticized the Biden administration for “siding” with the big tech companies against the Florida law that prohibits social media platforms from banning certain politicians as part of standard content moderation. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin's opposition leader Alexei Navalny died under mysterious circumstances in a Russian penal colony on February 16. A close ally of Navalny alleged on Monday that he was killed because Navalny was set to be released in a prisoner swap, the prospect of which Putin allegedly could not tolerate. 

Ahead of Trump’s first criminal trial next month, prosecutors are seeking a partial gag order to prevent the notoriously-mouthy former president from disparaging witnesses, jurors, and others involved with the case. They’ve also asked the judge to protect jurors by preventing the release of their names and addresses. 

The Wisconsin Ethics Commission recommended that state prosecutors file felony charges against one of Trump’s fundraising committees and state lawmaker Rep. Janel Brandtjen (R-WI) for scheme to evade campaign finance laws to support an effort to unseat Democratic State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos. 

Conservatives are once again trying to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA). 

The creeps over at the grift factory No Labels expressed interest in Nikki Haley as a potential third-party candidate in the face of her getting shellacked by disgraced former president Donald Trump in every Republican primary. 

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Biden’s FTC sued to block a proposed merger between grocery store giants Kroger and Albertsons, saying the deal would eliminate competition and lead to higher prices for millions of Americans. 

The Hungarian Parliament voted to approve Sweden as a new member of NATO on Monday, eliminating the final obstacle to the Nordic nation joining the alliance.