Crooked Media - Blinken and broker, over and over

Monday, Apil 29, 2024 BY CROOKED MEDIA

- Kristi Noem, possible Trump VP pick, explaining she was just being a "responsible parent, dog owner and neighbor" when she shot her family dog, Cricket.

There are tentative new green shoots of hope for a possible ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

This time the optimism is coming out of Egypt, which has a track record of brokering deals between the ever-warring parties and could be behind this one too. Negotiators are scrambling to get a deal in place before Israel makes a potentially devastating assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where a million displaced Palestinians are sheltering. Israeli airstrikes killed 22 people in Rafah, including six women and five children, according to Palestinian health officials.

Hope comes and goes with the breeze in this war. But negotiators seem increasingly confident about a deal now because Israel has reduced its demand for the release of hostages from 40 to 33, according to a report in the New York Times. In addition to up to a 40-day ceasefire and forestalling a Rafah invasion, Israel could release thousands of Palestinian prisoners if the deal goes through. Israel would also agree to allow for Palestinians sheltering in the south to move back north to resettle.

As of this writing, the deal has been presented to Hamas, which hasn’t announced whether it would accept, under encouragement from Egypt and others. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Riyadh in multilateral talks with the Brits, Saudis and others on the future of Palestinians’ international status and possible normalization with Israel. The Saudis are talking up the possibility of a breakthrough on that front, and we’ll keep watching.

At home, pro-Palestinian campus protests gathered momentum and attention despite efforts at some universities to quell them. Columbia University said it began suspending students after they defied an order to vacate on Monday afternoon. Police arrested more protesters at the University of Texas Austin, where Gov. Greg Abbott has been more than eager to burnish his tough-guy credentials against peaceful demonstrators.

Strict Scrutiny just launched their YouTube Channel! So now, hosts Leah Litman, Kate Shaw, and Melissa Murray aren't just for your earholes, your eyeballs can get in on the action too. Make sure to type Strict Scrutiny into your nearest YouTube search bar and tune in for new episodes every Monday!

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is all the way MAGA. But is she just a cheerleader, or an enforcer?

Congress is back in session this week, and everyone is wondering when, and if, Greene will make good on her promise to try to oust Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) with a “motion to vacate” on the floor. Greene vowed before the Spring recess that the move was coming, as punishment for Johnson capitulating to Dems and passing funding for Ukraine over the objections of an increasingly pro-Russia GOP majority.

Rules that Republicans enacted to rein (remember a guy called) Kevin McCarthy mean Greene can call Johnson on the floor all by herself. Two other Republicans have said they support her. But after Johnson delivered on Ukraine, several Dems also say they’d vote to back Johnson if Greene tries it. That would do something absolutely wild: Make Johnson the speaker of a bipartisan coalition of Republicans and Dems. We throw around “unprecedented” a lot these days, but this would be a true bill. Even Donald Trump hasn’t given Rep. Greene any public encouragement on her quest, suggesting even he recognizes that a razor-thin GOP majority, combined with a vote of no confidence, would make Johnson even more beholden to Democrats for the rest of the year. Doooo it, Marge!

Israel is reportedly worried that the International Criminal Court may issue arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials this week for war crimes in Gaza, an Israeli official told NBC News. It’s unclear if warrants could also come for Hamas leaders. The U.S. has reportedly been leaning on the ICC to hold back on fears that the warrants could upend a possible ceasefire deal.

U.S. authorities thwarted an alleged plot from the highest levels of India’s intelligence services to assassinate a leading Sikh dissident on American soil. If that sounds nuts, don’t forget that India was accused of pulling a similar op in Canada earlier this year.

Watch all five GOP candidates for the open House seat in Georgia’s deep-red 3rd district indicate that Donald Trump was the “rightful” winner of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Counterpoint: No, he definitely wasn’t!

The Peach State has gained 13,500 more Dem-registered voters than Republicans since the 2020 election, according to an analysis by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Most of those voters are new residents from out-of-state. And 13,500 may not sound like much, but remember Biden won Georgia by 11,779 votes (yup, exactly one less than Trump asked election officials to “find” for him!)

The Supreme Court rejected former Trump advisor and convicted subpoena-dodger Peter Navarro’s second attempt to get his conviction overturned. Navarro is serving a five-month sentence in Miami for two counts of criminal contempt.

Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) has joined the ranks of Republicans hoping you’ll un-remember their records on abortion since conservatives’ Dobbs decision. Perry now says he’s against a national abortion ban, despite sponsoring one in Congress for seven years! If you’re in Arizona, don’t forget Kari Lake’s double-flip on that state’s abortion ban.

A Minnesota state senator was back on the floor today after getting arrested for first-degree burglary last week. DFL Sen. Nicole Mitchell allegedly broke into her late father’s home to retrieve belongings. She says she startled her stepmother, who she said has memory and paranoia issues.

Trump-orbiter Kimberly Guilfoyle has been posting about her new children’s book, which is all about…wait for it…a princess and her dog. Assuming you’re ok with Guilfoyle entertaining your children, here’s very much hoping this MAGA dog story doesn’t end tragically in a gravel pit.

Whether you’re searching for a buzzy new memoir, riveting true crime, or a fantasy novel that sweeps you away, Bookshop.org has just the book you’re looking for. Their online bookstore is stocked with a range of titles that will keep you entertained for hours. From Kristin Hannah’s “The Women" to “The Anxious Generation" by Jonathan Haidt, there's something for everyone. Book recommendations on Bookshop.org also come from real people who love books, not algorithms.

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Bookshop.org is a certified B Corp, named “Best of the World” in Governance and they believe local bookstores are essential community hubs that foster culture, curiosity and a love of reading, and they’re committed to helping them survive and thrive.

Happy reading!

A federal Appeals Court struck down West Virginia and North Carolina’s laws barring state-funded medical care for transgender persons. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 8-6 that rules barring coverage of gender-affirming care in government-funded insurance in North Carolina and in state-funded Medicaid in West Virginia are both unlawfully discriminatory. The case is likely headed to the Supreme Court.

Paleontologists have uncovered fossils of a short-faced kangaroo that lived 46,000 years ago. No long faces for this ancient kangaroo!

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