This was a revenge move: George Clooney called White House to defend wife's work on Israel warrants

[shrike3]

57. I hear myself just fine, thank you very much. You obviously don't, but I don't really care.

This defies logic. Suddenly Clooney is revealing the real Biden? Didn't occur to him to do it before? Didn't occur him that maybe he should step back from fund raising if he knew the real Biden? These rumblings are nothing new. They've been around forever. He couldn't have put his two cents in before? Or declined to fund raise? The real Biden appeared overnight? If he didn't appear overnight, George was just going to go along and let him be president of the United States (if the debate hadn't happened) with his help? It's possible this is just personal with George. To reiterate what the Post said:

Biden had sharply criticized a move by the International Criminal Court to issue warrants for Israeli leaders.

George Clooney called one of President Biden’s top aides last month to complain about the president’s criticism of the International Criminal Court’s action against Israeli leaders — a case his wife, Amal Clooney, worked on.

Clooney called Steve Ricchetti, counselor to the president, to express concern about Biden’s denunciation of arrest warrants sought by ICC prosecutors for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, especially his use of the word “outrageous.”

The actor was also upset about the administration’s initial openness to imposing sanctions on the ICC because his wife might be subject to the penalties, the people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a private conversation.

Kind of weird that WaPo muddied the waters like this. They're mad because George didn't write the Oped for them? Because the Times got that scoop? I don't know. Lot of stuff behind the scenes. I don't know what's going on. Weirdest damn thing I've seen for a long time. I was in media for thirty years. While I didn't work in an elite newsroom I met my share of elites, and they work angles that would seem quite cynical to the rest of us. They're about money and power in a way most of us aren't. (I include Biden in that mix because he is an elite and I doubt he's that much different from the rest of them.) They make power moves, they stab each other in the back without a second thought. Part of me isn't all that surprised this is happening. Part of me is also sure Clooney isn't doing this out of the goodness of his heart. Or out of patriotism or love for his country. Why he's doing it, whether it has to do with Amal or no, I do not know.