;)
The Commentariat -- August 13, 2021
Late Morning Update:
Tameem Akhgar, et al., of the AP: "The Taliban completed their sweep of the country's south on Friday as they took four more provincial capitals in a lightning offensive that is gradually encircling Kabul, just weeks before the U.S. is set to officially end its two-decade war. In just the last 24 hours, the country's second- and third-largest cities -- Herat in the west and Kandahar in the south -- have fallen to the insurgents as has the capital of the southern Helmand province, where American, British and NATO forces fought some of the bloodiest battles of the conflict. The blitz through the Taliban's southern heartland means the insurgents now hold half of Afghanistan's 34 provincial capitals and control more than two-thirds of the country -- weeks before the U.S. plans to withdraw its last troops. The Western-backed government in the capital, Kabul, still holds a smattering of provinces in the center and east, as well as the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif." ~~~
~~~ The New York Times is live-updating Friday's developments in Afghanistan here.
Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "Nine moderate House Democrats told Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday that they will not vote for a budget resolution meant to pave the way for the passage of a $3.5 trillion social policy package later this year until a Senate-approved infrastructure bill passes the House and is signed into law. The pledge, in a letter released early Friday, is a major rift that threatens the carefully choreographed, two-track effort by congressional Democrats and the Biden administration to enact both a trillion-dollar, bipartisan infrastructure deal and an even more ambitious -- but partisan -- social policy measure. The nine House members are more than enough to block consideration of the budget blueprint in a House where Democrats hold a three-seat majority."
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Friday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Friday are here.
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Cleve Wootson & Amy Goldstein of the Washington Post: "President Biden stepped up his battle over drug costs on Thursday, calling on Congress to pass legislation that would let Medicare negotiate directly with pharmaceutical manufacturers and penalize drugmakers that increase prices faster than inflation. Biden's remarks from the White House were less a set of new policy ideas than a reminder that he is eager to make headway on an issue of keen concern to voters -- one he describes as critical to helping Americans recover economically from the pandemic. 'Alzheimer's, diabetes, cancer -- they don't care if you're Democrat or Republican,' Biden said in the East Room. 'This is about whether or not you and your loved ones can afford prescription drugs.'"
Jeremy White of Politico: "President Joe Biden resoundingly endorsed Gov. Gavin Newsom against a looming recall vote on Thursday, telegraphing that the White House could come to Newsom's aid in the race's critical final weeks. The Biden administration had already gone on the record opposing the vote to oust Newsom. But Biden's statement was on a different order of magnitude and came as the White House considers deploying Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris -- or both -- on Newsom's behalf. 'Governor Newsom is leading California through unprecedented crises,' Biden said in a statement. 'He is a key partner in fighting the pandemic and delivering economic relief to working families and helping us build our economy back better than ever. He's taking on the climate crisis and standing up for the rights of women, immigrants, and the LGBTQ community. He knows how to get the job done because he's been doing it. And to keep him on the job, registered California voters should vote no on the recall election by September 14 and keep California moving forward.'"
Missy Ryan & Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration will temporarily send thousands of additional military personnel to Afghanistan, U.S. officials said Thursday, as the United States bolsters security and braces for what could be a dramatic and dangerous departure after 20 years at war. Approximately 3,000 combat troops will deploy to the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan's capital, facilitating the withdrawal of civilian staff from the U.S. embassy and assisting as the United States speeds up the departure of Afghans who have assisted the U.S. government in the war effort. John Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman, declined to call the deployment a combat mission, but said infantry soldiers and Marines will deploy with machine guns, mortars and other heavy weapons, and authorization to defend themselves if attacked." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) A Politico story is here. ~~~
~~~ Lara Jakes of the New York Times: "American negotiators are trying to extract assurances from the Taliban that they will not attack the U.S. Embassy in Kabul if the extremist group takes over the country's government and ever wants to receive foreign aid, three American officials said. The effort, led by Zalmay Khalilzad, the chief American envoy in talks with the Taliban, seeks to stave off a full evacuation of the embassy as they rapidly seize cities across Afghanistan. On Thursday, the State Department announced it was sending home an unspecified number of the 1,400 Americans stationed at the embassy and drawing down to what the agency's spokesman, Ned Price, described as a 'core diplomatic presence' in Kabul." More on Afghanistan linked under Way Beyond the Beltway. ~~~
~~~ Julian Borger of the Guardian: "Interviews with former officials who have been intimately involved in US policy in Afghanistan point to an interconnected webs of factors behind the implosion, some of them long in the making, some a result of decisions taken in the past few months. While there is consensus that a failure of leadership and unity in Kabul has played an important part in the domino-fall of defeats, there is also agreement that the attempt to put all the blame on the Afghans obscures the share of responsibility of the US and its allies for the military disaster.... In the early years, when the Taliban were on the run, the Pentagon, under the defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld, was loath to fund a substantial Afghan force, particularly after the Iraq invasion drew away resources and attention. Later, when the Taliban had regrouped and struck back, the coalition raced to build the Afghan national security forces (ANSF).... Out in the provinces, newly minted police were left to fend for themselves, and many used their authority and guns to squeeze income out of the population. Army officers drew salaries for tens of thousands 'ghost soldiers', whose names were on the books, but who never materialised." And more.
Sabrina Tavernise & Robert Gebeloff of the New York Times: "The United States grew significantly more diverse over the past decade, as the populations of people who identify as Hispanic and Asian surged and the number of people who said they were more than one race more than doubled, the Census Bureau reported on Thursday. Overall population growth slowed substantially over the past decade, but the growth that did occur -- an increase of about 23 million people -- was made up entirely of people who identified as Hispanic, Asian, Black and more than one race, according to the data, the first racial and ethnic breakdown from the 2020 census. The white population declined for the first time in history.... That drop, of 2.6 percent, was driven in part by the aging of the white population -- the median age was 44 in 2019, compared with 30 for Hispanics -- and a long-running decline in the birthrate. Some social scientists theorized that another potential reason for the decrease was that more Americans who previously identified as white on the census are now choosing more than one race.... People who identify as white now make up 58 percent of the population, down from 64 percent in 2010, and 69 percent in 2000." The AP's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Reports of NYC's Demise Are Greatly Exaggerated. Annie Correal of the New York Times: "New York City has grown by more than 629,000 people -- or nearly 8 percent -- since 2010, reaching 8.8 million and defying predictions that its population was on the decline.... But city officials said the increase was at least in part a result of getting a better count.... Each of the city's five boroughs grew.... In recent years, New York's Department of City Planning, which supplies data to the Census Bureau, added 265,000 housing units that had been missing from the bureau's list...." MB: It could also be true that while the city's population increased (or at least remained level), jobs in NYC decreased, thus creating more economic hardship.
Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "The number of migrants detained along the Mexico border crossed a new threshold last month, exceeding 200,000 for the first time in 21 years, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection enforcement data released Thursday. Among the 212,672 migrants taken into U.S. custody in July were 82,966 family members and 18,962 unaccompanied teenagers and children -- an all-time high. The unaccompanied minors' custody requirements have once more overwhelmed the Biden administration as it struggles to care for them safely in the middle of the pandemic. Biden officials predicted earlier this year that the volume of people crossing the border would decline with the summer heat. Instead, Central American adults and children are crossing again in large groups of 300 or more, and U.S. border facilities are jammed with migrants shoulder-to-shoulder in detention facilities."
Ryan Reilly & Alanna Vagianos of the Huffington Post: "An Ohio man who was identified by online investigators in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack was arrested by the FBI on Thursday and charged with attacking law enforcement during a brutal siege on the western side of the U.S. Capitol Building. Dave Mehaffie of Dayton, Ohio, was known to online investigators as #TunnelCommander because he was issuing orders to members of the mob who were attacking officers during a brutal battle at the lower western terrace entrance to the Capitol."
Michael Luciano of Mediaite: After Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told CNN's Dana Bash that she was afraid she might be not only be killed on January 6 but also sexually violated, Fox "News" personality Tucker Carlson had some thoughts. "As he usually does, Carlson incorrectly referred to the congresswoman as 'Sandy Cortez.'... [Carlson said,] 'Sexualizing? Get a therapist, honey. This is crazy. These people were mad because they thought the election wasn't fair. Now, you may disagree with that, but it wasn't about you, surprise, surprise! "Sexualized the violence, I thought I was gonna be raped by Ashli Babbitt!"'... Regarding Ocasio-Cortez's concerns about being raped, as just one example, in July 2019 she confronted then-acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan about a secret Facebook group in which Border Patrol agents had shared racist and sexist content, including photoshopped images showing Ocasio-Cortez being violently raped and in other sexually graphic ways." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Tucker's one saving grace is that he makes it impossible not to despise him. You never have to wonder if you're being unfair to Tucker, because he constantly confirms your worst suspicions about him.
The Trump Crime Blotter, Ctd.
Ann Marimow & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump's last acting attorney general has told U.S. senators his boss was 'persistent' in trying to pressure the Justice Department to discredit the results of the 2020 election. In closed-door testimony Saturday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Jeffrey Rosen said he had to 'persuade the president not to pursue a different path' at a high-stakes January meeting in which Trump considered ousting Rosen as the nation's most powerful law enforcement officer. According to a person familiar with the testimony, Rosen's opening statement also characterized as 'inexplicable' the actions of his Justice Department colleague, Jeffrey Clark, who was willing to push Trump's false claims of election fraud and whom Trump considered installing as acting attorney general to replace Rosen." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Betsy Swan & Nicholas Wu of Politico: "During Donald Trump's final weeks in office, top Justice Department officials wrangled over how the FBI should handle a particularly wacky voter fraud allegation promoted by the then-president and his allies. Unreleased emails obtained by Politico show just how tense the episode got. The dispute pitted a senior career section chief against one of the DOJ's top officials, with the FBI caught in the crossfire. Trump's appointees at DOJ ultimately prevailed, and their investigation -- a probe into a viral video from Georgia that didn't actually find any evidence of fraud -- ended up playing a role in torpedoing the president's narrative.... Trump's allies [falsely] claimed [the video] showed the workers secretly pulling ballots out of 'suitcases' and using them to commit election fraud. Officials in the office of Georgia's secretary of state quickly debunked those claims.... The DOJ had a long-standing approach to voter fraud probes: Agents waited to open these investigations until the elections were over, ballots were cast, and winners were certified.... But ... on Nov. 9, 2020, a few days after the networks called the election for Joe Biden, [William] Barr issued a memo letting the FBI investigate some voter fraud allegations much more quickly." An interesting read. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Aaron Blake of the Washington Post on the "spectacular implosion of Mike Lindell.... Josh Merritt, also known as 'Spider' or 'Spyder' and who was hired by Lindell for his 'red team,' told the Washington Times on Wednesday at the symposium that, effectively, Lindell has sold his adherents a bill of goods.... He confirmed the source of the cyber-data as Dennis Montgomery." Montgomery is a notorious con man who conned the federal government out of $20 million on the promise that he could decode al Qaida encrypted messages. "Current and former intelligence officials told PBS in 2014 that it was one of the most elaborate and dangerous hoaxes in U.S. history." Montgomery later conned infamous Maricopa County, Arizona, Sheriff Joe Arpaio out of $100K "to pursue a [fake] theory involving a federal government conspiracy against Arpaio." ~~~
~~~ It's All Antifa's Fault. Zachary Petrizzio of Salon: "MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, on the final day of his 'cyber symposium,' remained unable to produce any tangible evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. He attempted to deflect blame for his failed event onto supposed antifa activists -- or, actually, 'antifa things' -- who were nowhere to be seen in this Great Plains city of 177,000 residents. 'We've got antifa things, or people that have infiltrated, they're telling me this morning,' Lindell said. 'I just want everyone to know all the evil that's out there....'... He went on to say he now has a team of bodyguards protecting him, claiming that he was 'attacked' late on Wednesday night outside his Sioux Falls hotel. He did not provide details, and so far the alleged incident has not been independently verified."
The Washington Post publishes "Part two of an excerpt from 'The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War' [by Post reporter Craig Whitlock]. Part one can be found here.... President Barack Obama had promised to end the war, so on Dec. 28, 2014, U.S. and NATO officials held a ceremony at their headquarters in Kabul to mark the occasion.... In a statement, Obama called the day 'a milestone for our country' and said the United States was safer and more secure after 13 years of war.... In fact, the war was nowhere near a conclusion, 'responsible' or otherwise, and U.S. troops would fight and die in combat in Afghanistan for many years to come. The baldfaced claims to the contrary ranked among the most egregious deceptions and lies that U.S. leaders spread during two decades of warfare."
Joe Coscarelli & Liz Day of the New York Times: "In an abrupt reversal after more than a year of fighting in court -- and a much longer battle behind the scenes -- Britney Spears's father has agreed to eventually step aside from his long-running role overseeing the singer's finances as part of the unique conservatorship that has governed her life since 2008. Ms. Spears has called the conservatorship abusive and said she is afraid of her father, James P. Spears, vowing not to perform as long as he remained in charge. A new lawyer for the singer recently filed in court to have Mr. Spears immediately suspended or removed from his position as conservator of her estate. Initially, Mr. Spears objected to the request and defended his work on behalf of his daughter."
The Pandemic, Ctd.
Fenit Nirappil, et al., of the Washington Post: "Two-thirds of Americans in highly vaccinated counties now live in coronavirus hot spots, according to an analysis by The Washington Post, as outbreaks of the highly transmissible delta variant -- once concentrated in poorly vaccinated pockets -- ignite in more populated and immunized areas still short of herd immunity. The Post analysis illustrates how rapidly the state of the pandemic changed in July from a problem for the unvaccinated to a nationwide concern.... While covid cases are rising almost everywhere, the vaccinated states still have consistently lower case rates than states with less vaccination." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Lauran Neergaard & Matthew Perrone of the AP: "U.S. regulators on Thursday said transplant recipients and others with severely weakened immune systems can get an extra dose of the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines to better protect them as the delta variant continues to surge. The late-night announcement by the Food and Drug Administration applies to several million Americans who are especially vulnerable because of organ transplants, certain cancers or other disorders. Several other countries, including France and Israel, have similar recommendations." The New York Times story is here.
Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court allowed Indiana University on Thursday to require students to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. Eight students had sued the university, saying the requirement violated their constitutional rights to 'bodily integrity, autonomy and medical choice.' But they conceded that exemptions to the requirement -- for religious, ethical and medical reasons -- 'virtually guaranteed' that anyone who sought an exemption would be granted one. Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who oversees the federal appeals court in question, turned down the student's request for emergency relief without comment, which is the court's custom in ruling on emergency applications. She acted on her own, without referring the application to the full court, and she did not ask the university for a response. Both of those moves were indications that the application was not on solid legal footing." CNN's report is here.
Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked part of an eviction moratorium in New York State that had been imposed in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Other challenges to eviction moratoriums, including one recently imposed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, may reach the court soon. That federal moratorium is on precarious legal ground in light of a ruling from the justices in June. The court's order was unsigned and stressed that it applied only to a part of a state law that bars the eviction of tenants who file a form saying they have suffered economic setbacks as result of the pandemic. 'This scheme violates the court's longstanding teaching that ordinarily :no man can be a judge in his own case" consistent with the Due Process Clause,' the majority wrote. The order left other parts of the law intact, including a provision that instructed housing judges not to evict tenants who have been found to have suffered financial hardship. The court's three liberal members dissented. Justice Stephen G. Breyer, writing for himself and Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, said the law was set to expire in a matter of weeks and was not plainly unconstitutional." Politico's report is here.
"We Can't Live Forever": Margie's Philosophical View of Covid. Jordan Williams of the Hill: "Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Thursday waved off concerns over hospitals exceeding capacity due to COVID-19, saying 'we can't live forever.' During an interview with right-wing network 'Real America's Voice,' Greene claimed that the media and public health officials are over-hyping the number of people that have been hospitalized with COVID-19. 'I've talked to local hospitals here in my district in here in my state. Yes, the waiting rooms get full, but guess what? The waiting rooms are full of all kinds of things, not just COVID,' Greene said. 'But they're seeing about 30 percent of those numbers being COVID cases.' ... 'Everybody needs to get back down to common sense and remember that, you know, we're human, we can't live forever, we're going to catch all kinds of diseases and illnesses and other viruses, and we get hurt sometimes," she continued.'"~~~
~~~ Marie: Margie doesn't seem to understand 8th-grade arithmetic. If your hospital normally runs at about 80% capacity, & 30% of the incoming patients showed up because of severe Covid, then the hospital is over capacity.
Florida. Andrew Atterbury of Politico: "Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration backed down from its threat to withhold school officials' salaries if they resist his anti-mask rule, saying instead that the defiant officials should be responsible for the 'consequences of their decisions.' The move by the governor's office represents a tacit acknowledgement that it legally can't take away the salaries of school board members and others despite previously threatening to. DeSantis could levy hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines against school districts for disobeying his mask orders, but it would be up for the board leaders themselves to cut their own pay."
Beyond the Beltway
Minnesota. Olafimihan Oshin of the Hill: "Federal authorities on Thursday arrested a Minneapolis-based GOP strategist and PAC founder on allegations of sex trafficking minors, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported. The FBI arrested Anton 'Tony' Lazzaro on Thursday on numerous charges, including conspiring with others to recruit minors to engage in sexual acts. According to the indictment, Authorities seized Lazzaro's possessions including his 2010 Ferrari, property at a downtown hotel, $371,240 in cash, and multiple electronic devices, according to the Star-Tribune."
Texas. Eva Moravec & Elise Viebeck of the Washington Post: "The Texas Senate on Thursday approved a bill that contains new voting restrictions after a Democratic senator filibustered for 15 hours to try to stop the legislation, moving it one step closer to being enacted and increasing pressure on Republicans in the House to reestablish a quorum to move the measure forward. The state Senate voted 18-11 in favor of Senate Bill 1 around 9 a.m. local time, after Senate Democratic Caucus Chair Carol Alvarado left the floor for the first time since 5:50 p.m. on Wednesday -- the latest long-shot effort by state Democrats to try to stymie passage of the legislation." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
West Virginia. Clyde McGrady of the Washington Post: "On a hot, muggy mid-June day, several hundred people gathered along the Kanawha River in preparation for a 'March on Manchin' to voice their displeasure with the Democratic senator's lack of support for filibuster reform, a massive expansion of voting rights and a litany of Democratic priorities. The crowd, while overwhelmingly White, included some African Americans, reflecting their small number in the heart of Appalachia.... As the crowd marched toward Manchin's office along the Elk River chanting, 'Where's Joe?,' cars drove by and honked their support. When the marchers reached their destination, they were greeted not by Manchin but by representatives from his staff, who handed out complaint cards, as if the marchers were hotel guests leaving feedback for management about the stiffness of the bathroom towels." An interesting article about Black West Virginians.
Way Beyond
Afghanistan. Christina Goldbaum, et al., of the New York Times: "Two more major cities in western and southern Afghanistan were on the verge of collapse to the Taliban on Thursday night, as the insurgency's race to seize control of the country accelerated. With the Taliban's sudden gains in Kandahar, in the country's southern Pashtun heartland, and Herat, a vital cultural and economic hub, the insurgents appear to be nearing a complete military takeover. Only four major cities -- including the capital, Kabul -- remain under government control, and two of them are under siege by the Taliban." ~~~
~~~ Ezzatullah Mehrdad & Susannah George of the Washington Post: "As Ghazni's capital fell to the Taliban on Thursday amid days of sweeping territorial gains by militants, the province's governor was arrested while fleeing, according to a spokesman for the Afghan Interior Ministry. Ghazni is the 10th provincial capital to fall to the Taliban in less than a week. The city -- about 80 miles southwest of Afghanistan's capital, Kabul -- had been under siege by the militants for over three months." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Conor Finnegan & Luis Martinez of ABC News: "As Taliban forces advance on more provincial capitals, the U.S. is warning that its fighters are committing atrocities that could amount to war crimes.... While the Taliban have previously denied reports that its fighters have executed Afghan troops, the U.S. embassy said Thursday it was 'hearing additional reports of Taliban executions of surrendering Afghan troops' and said they were 'deeply disturbing and could constitute war crimes.'"
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