;)
The Commentariat -- August 31, 2021
Unbelievably, the Comments section may be messed up again. A comment that was posted in today's Commentariat showed up in my email notifications & in my data files -- but not in the viewable comments. After I made a test comment, the first comment showed up -- more than an hour after it was posted. Although I have some stuff to do today that will keep me away from my computer off and on, I'll try to keep an eye on what's going on with the comments. In the meantime, save your work. -- Marie
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Afternoon Update:
The New York Times' live updates of developments in Afghanistan are here. The Washington Post's live updates of developments in Afghanistan Tuesday are here: "The Taliban took control of the Kabul airport Tuesday as celebratory gunfire echoed across the city, capping the militant group's victory in a 20-year war with the United States after the last U.S. military flight left the country. One of the Taliban's top officials, however, cautioned its fighters to be careful in how they treated the local population. Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid called for international investment and national unity in the country during a speech at the airport."
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here. The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Tuesday are here.
Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: "The actions of Republican governors, some of the leading stewards of the country's response to the virus, reveal how the politics of the party's base have hardened when it comes to curbing Covid. As some Republican-led states, including Florida, confront their most serious outbreaks yet, even rising death totals are being treated as less politically damaging than imposing coronavirus mandates of almost any stripe.... Most top Republicans, including every Republican governor, have been vaccinated and have encouraged others to do so. But most have also stopped short of supporting inoculation requirements and have opposed masking requirements." ~~~
~~~ The Pro-Virus Party. Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "Rather than work with him to vaccinate the country, [President] Biden's Republican opposition has, with only a few exceptions, done everything in its power to politicize the vaccine and make refusal to cooperate a test of partisan loyalty. The party is, for all practical purposes, pro-Covid. If it's sincere, it is monstrous. And if it's not, it is an unbelievably cynical and nihilistic strategy. Unfortunately for both Biden and the country, it appears to be working.... [For instance, after taking aggressive actions to encourage spread of the virus, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said on Fox 'News.'] 'You know, he said he was going to end Covid. He hasn't done that.... At the end of the day, he is trying to find a way to distract from the failures of his presidency.'... The effect of all of [Republican measures] for the country is a pandemic that won't die. The effect of it for the Republican Party is a substantial part of its base that won't take the vaccine.... [The] Republican effort to prolong the pandemic shows no sign of abating."
Florida. Valerie Strauss of the Washington Post: "Florida officials are now withholding some funding from two counties with tough school mask mandates -- despite a court decision against the state's ban on such restrictions and a move by the U.S. Education Department to investigate states with these bans. Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran announced late Monday that the Florida Department of Education has withheld the monthly salaries of school board members in Alachua and Broward counties who voted to impose mask mandates that only provide for a medical exemption from a doctor."
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Elvis Has Left the Building
~~~ Adam Nossiter & Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "The last United States forces left Afghanistan late Monday, ending a 20-year occupation that began shortly after Al Qaeda's attacks on 9/11, cost over $2 trillion, took more than 170,000 lives and ultimately failed to defeat the Taliban, the Islamist militants who allowed Al Qaeda to operate there. Five American C-17 cargo jets flew out of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul just before midnight, the officials said, completing a hasty evacuation that left behind tens of thousands of Afghans desperate to flee the country, including former members of the security forces and many who held valid visas to enter the United States. 'A new chapter of America's engagement with Afghanistan has begun,' Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said on Monday evening. 'It's one in which we will lead with our diplomacy. The military mission is over.' But the war prosecuted by four presidents over two decades, which gave Afghans a shot at democracy and freed many women to pursue education and careers, failed in nearly every other goal. Ultimately, the Americans handed the country back to the same militants they drove from power in 2001." ~~~
~~~ Robert Burns & Lolita Baldor of the AP: "The United States completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan late Monday, ending America's longest war and closing a chapter in military history likely to be remembered for colossal failures, unfulfilled promises and a frantic final exit that cost the lives of more than 180 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members, some barely older than the war.Hours ahead of President Joe Biden's Tuesday deadline for shutting down a final airlift, and thus ending the U.S. war, Air Force transport planes carried a remaining contingent of troops from Kabul airport.... In announcing the completion of the evacuation and war effort. Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, said the last planes took off from Kabul airport at 3:29 p.m. Washington time, or one minute before midnight in Kabul. He said a number of American citizens, likely numbering in 'the very low hundreds,' were left behind, and that he believes they will still be able to leave the country." (Also linked yesterday.)
Lara Jakes of the New York Times: "American diplomats have left Afghanistan, and the U.S. Embassy in Kabul will remain closed, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said on Monday, after the military announced that it had completed its withdrawal from the country. The disintegration of U.S. diplomacy was a stunning turnabout from plans to stay and help Afghanistan transition from 20 years of war and work toward peace, however tenuous, with a government that would share power with the Taliban. Earlier this month, Mr. Blinken had pledged that the United States would remain 'deeply engaged' in Afghanistan long after the military left.... What was one of the largest U.S. diplomatic missions in the world will for now be greatly scaled back, based in Doha, the Qatari capital, and focused largely on processing visas for refugees and other immigrants.... Mr. Blinken said any engagement with the Taliban -- a longtime U.S. enemy that seized power when President Ashraf Ghani fled Afghanistan on Aug. 15 -- 'will be driven by one thing only: our vital national interests.'" Here's a transcript of Blinken's speech, via the State Department.
Laura Smith-Spark, et al., of CNN: "Nine members of one family -- including six children -- were killed in a US drone strike targeting a vehicle in a residential neighborhood of Kabul, a relative of the dead told a local journalist working with CNN. The US carried out a defensive airstrike in Kabul, targeting a suspected ISIS-K suicide bomber who posed an 'imminent' threat to the airport, US Central Command said Sunday. The youngest killed was a 2-year-old girl, according to a brother of the one of those killed. They were 'an ordinary family,' he said. 'We are not ISIS or Daesh and this was a family home -- where my brothers lived with their families.'" (Also linked yesterday.)
** Groundhog Day All Over Again. Frank Rich of New York: "... some two-thirds of Americans ... had never been onboard for [George W.] Bush's pivot from a war against Al Qaeda and the Taliban to a naïve and extravagant colonialist exercise in nation building. And so now we're back where we came in.... 9/11 proved to be Groundhog Day as far as the war was concerned.... Many of the loudest voices in the media and in Washington decrying our inept and catastrophic exit ... are the same voices that helped grease the skids for disaster in Afghanistan by promoting a second new war in Iraq on manufactured intelligence in the months after 9/11." Firewalled, but it's the last day of the month, so if you haven't used up your New York hits for the month, this is a fine place to spend one. Thanks to citizen625 for the link.
Ross Douthat of the New York Times: "... [President] Biden deserves plenty of criticism. But like the Trump administration in its wiser moments, he is trying to disentangle America from a set of failed policies that many of his loudest critics long supported. Our botched withdrawal is the punctuation mark on a general catastrophe, a failure so broad that it should demand purges in the Pentagon, the shamed retirement of innumerable hawkish talking heads, the razing of various NGOs and international-studies programs and the dissolution of countless consultancies and military contractors. Small wonder, then, that making Biden the singular scapegoat seems like a more attractive path. But if the only aspect of this catastrophe that our leaders remember is what went wrong in August 2021, then we'll have learned nothing except to always double down on failure, and the next disaster will be worse." Oh, go ahead, read it.
Lawrence O'Donnell noted Monday evening that when the U.S. fled Vietnam, President Jerry Ford never said a word. Ford issued one written statement about the evacuation.
Ryan Nobles, et al., of CNN: "The House Select Committee investigating the deadly January 6 riot has requested that a group of telecommunications companies preserve the phone records of a group of GOP members of Congress and ... Donald Trump, as well as members of the Trump family, who played some role in the "Stop the Steal" rally that served as the prelude to the Capitol insurrection.... [Sources say] the list is ... evolving and could be added to as the investigation steps up. As of now it includes Republican Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Jim Jordan of Ohio, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Paul Gosar also of Arizona, Mo Brooks of Alabama, Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Louie Gohmert of Texas, Jody Hice of Georgia and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania.... The committee will also request the records of the former President be preserved, as well as his daughter Ivanka, his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, as well as his daughter-in-law Lara Trump and Kimberly Guilfoyle, who is Trump Jr.'s girlfriend." ~~~
~~~ Anna Massoglia of Open Secrets: "... Donald Trump's political operation reported paying more than $4.3 million to people and firms that organized the Jan. 6 rally since the start of the 2020 election. However, questions remain about the full extent of the Trump campaign's involvement in the 'Save America' rally on the day of the Capitol attack as a House select committee's sweeping requests attempt to shine some light on that day's events." Subpoenas from the Jan. 6 Select Committee requested information from 15 social media companies for some of the principals of the rally organizers who were recipients of Trump campaign cash. The committee asked the National Archives, FBI & DOJ to expedite records collection.
Cameron Joseph of Vice: "When Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn was asked [at a GOP event Sunday] about what he's doing to help the hundreds in jail awaiting trial for their roles in the violent January 6 riots, he called them 'political prisoners' -- and said he wanted to 'bust them out.'... Someone in the audience then asked, 'When will you call us to Washington again?' 'We are actively working on this,' Cawthorn responded. 'We have a few plans in motion I can't make public right now,' he said, before calling those facing charges for their role in the January 6 insurrection 'political hostages' for the second time.... Cawthorn's remarks came during a question-and-answer period after his speech, where he claimed that 'Trump obviously won' and repeated false claims that voter fraud had stolen the 2020 election for Democrats. 'Can we actually trust our voting system? Because I'll tell you, anybody who tells you that Joe Biden was duly elected is lying to you,' he said to cheers. 'We all saw the fraud. It was on full display in front of us, we all know it was a stolen election.' Cawthorn even claimed issues with his own state and suggested that North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper had won because of voter fraud too....
It has been a whole day since we have heard a bizarre story coming out of the bizarro Trumpland Fantasy Fun Fair. So time for another one. ~~~
~~~ January 6 (Alleged) Insurrectionists Have Fake Lawyer. Adam Klasfeld of Law & Crime: &"As high-profile conservative attorney John Pierce reportedly grapples with COVID-19, an employee has started appearing on behalf of suspected Jan. 6th rioters. That employee, Ryan Marshall, has been charged with felonies and is 'not a licensed attorney,' federal prosecutors told a judge on Monday. Known for formerly representing Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse in his homicide case, Pierce kept picking up clients fighting federal charges associated with the Jan. 6th siege of the U.S. Capitol. Rittenhouse's family fired Pierce after questioning what he did with the millions he raised for the accused murderer. Now, Pierce's relationship with some 17 other clients stands in limbo for health reasons.... Marshall was the same associate who reportedly told a judge in open court on Aug. 15: 'Mr. Pierce is in the hospital, we believe, with COVID-19, on a ventilator, non-responsive.'... Prosecutors say that they have had no contact with Pierce since Aug. 13." However, other associates of Pierce have denied he has Covid-19 or is on a ventilator.
Coral Davenport of the New York Times: "A federal judge on Monday struck down a Trump-era environmental rule that drastically limited federal restrictions against pollution of millions of streams, wetlands and marshes across the country. The Biden administration had already begun the lengthy process of undoing the policy, which ... Donald J. Trump established in 2020 to please real estate developers and farmers. Mr. Trump's policy allowed the discharge of pollutants such as fertilizers, pesticides and industrial chemicals into smaller streams and wetlands. But on Monday, Judge Rosemary Márquez of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona found 'fundamental, substantive flaws' with the Trump administration's policy and said that it was in conflict with the 1972 Clean Water Act. She warned of the 'possibility of serious environmental harm' if the Trump rule remained in place. The Trump policy allowed more than 300 projects across the country to proceed without environmental permitting, the judge noted.... The court ruling is the latest in a series of decisions by federal judges who have struck down Trump environmental policies after noting that the administration had frequently ignored the analysis of career federal scientists."
The Pandemic, Ctd.
Laura Meckler of the Washington Post: "The Education Department opened civil rights investigations Monday into five states for policies banning school districts from requiring masks, upping the Biden administration's battle with Republican governors over pandemic policies for schools. Letters were sent to education officials in Iowa, South Carolina, Utah, Oklahoma and Tennessee, all of which bar local districts from mandating masks. They allege that these states may be preventing districts from meeting the needs of students with disabilities who are at heightened risk for severe illness should they contract the coronavirus. The Education Department did not open investigations in Florida, Texas, Arkansas or Arizona, all of which have tried to ban such mandates as well, because the policies there are not being enforced as a result of court orders or other state actions, the agency said."
Samuel Petrequin of the AP: "The European Union recommended Monday that its 27 nations reinstate restrictions on tourists from the U.S. because of rising coronavirus infections there, but member countries will keep the option of allowing fully vaccinated U.S. travelers in. The decision by the European Council to remove the U.S. from a safe list of countries for nonessential travel reverses the advice that it gave in June, when the bloc recommended lifting restrictions on all U.S. travelers before the summer tourism season."
Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "Federal researchers will not objectively study ivermectin as a treatment for Covid-19, the Kentucky senator Rand Paul claimed, because 'hatred for Donald Trump' has tainted their view of those who say the drug used to deworm horses can aid the fight against the pandemic. Ivermectin, an anti-parasitic, does have uses in humans, to treat worms, lice and skin problems.... It is not proven to combat Covid-19." MB: Okay, Rand, Donald claims he singlehandedly caused Covid-19 vaccines to be developed quickly. So why don't federal regulators ban vaccines because of "hatred for Donald Trump"? (Also linked yesterday.)
A Hoax that Proved Deadly. David Gilbert of Vice: "Robert David Steele, a former CIA officer turned conspiracy theorist who claimed to be the first person to call COVID-19 a hoax, has died from COVID-19. Steele, who was among the earliest QAnon promoters and helped the conspiracy theory move from the fringes of the internet into the mainstream, was hospitalized with symptoms of COVID-19 earlier this month. But he continued to spread anti-vaccine and COVID-denial conspiracy theories until the end." One of Steele's fellow conspiracy buffs, Mark Tassi, called Steele's death "very suspicious." MB: Well, of course he did. (Also linked yesterday.)
Ohio. Jake Zuckerman of the Ohio Capital Journal: "A Butler County judge ruled in favor of a woman last week who sought to force a hospital to administer Ivermectin -- an animal dewormer that federal regulators have warned against using in COVID-19 patients -- to her husband after several weeks in the ICU with the disease. Butler County Common Pleas Judge Gregory Howard ordered West Chester Hospital, part of the University of Cincinnati network, to treat Jeffrey Smith, 51, with Ivermectin. The order, filed Aug. 23, compels the hospital to provide Smith with 30mg of Ivermectin daily for three weeks. The drug was originally developed to deworm livestock animals before doctors began using it against parasitic diseases among humans. Several researchers won a Nobel Prize in 2015 for establishing its efficacy in humans. It's used to treat head lice, onchocerciasis (river blindness) and others. Both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have warned Americans against the use of Ivermectin to treat COVID-19, a viral disease. It's unproven as a treatment, they say, and large doses of it can be dangerous and cause serious harm." (Also linked yesterday.) For some nuance, see Patrick's comment in yesterday's thread.
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Reader Comments (9)
Frank Rich doing what he does best: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/08/9-11-america-terrorism-existential-threat.html.
Ever since the Squarespace debacle, under my "Author Email" the word "nonsense" appears and under the URL appears R.C. address. I have to delete them each time I post –-they seem to have found a home and won't let go. I tried posting without deleting and I get scolded for not being authentic. Talk about nonsense!!!!!
@PD Pepe: It's Biden's fault. Why not, everything else is.
Hypothetical future Q&A with Rep Cawthorne's spox:
Q. What did Rep C mean yesterday when he said President Biden should be executed? *
A. “He was not advocating for any form of illegal action, only that they receive full due process,” he continued." **
This type of GOP crawfishing is getting tiresome. GOP person A says something provocatively criminal-ish, and when asked about it his/her bobblehead talker explains it was all OK because it was not intended to be illegal, defamatory, whatever.
Yes, non-GOP folks in all walks of life (not just pols, but used car salesmen, contractors, poh-lice, 7-year old cookie thieves, etc.) use this type of evasion -- but the GOP pol talkers have made it a go-to move as never before.
We need to get reporters who take the next step and challenge that type of answer, develop the fact that it is evasive and deceitful, and continue to write the story that Rep X advocates political violence despite disclaimers. Else we can become 1980s Northern Ireland , not a pleasant way for us to enjoy our golden years.
* not a real quote
** a real quote -- if "real" means anything anymore -- to a different real Q
YES! to Patrick's post. (see the video from the Lincoln Project that I posted yesterday–-it corresponds.) And given the full coverage of the end of our 20 yr. War, a hurricane, a bombing in Kapul, etc. the following story caught my eye:
While Sharquille Brewster was outside in Gulfport, Miss: reporting on the hurricane, a middle aged white man came barreling in on the scene in his white pick up truck, jumped out and RAN over to Sharq and began berating his reporting. Watch the video for another example of abnormal behavior writ large in this country that's chocked full of dimwits and destruction.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/shaquille-brewster-msnbc-accosted-on-camera_n_612d3821e4b02be25b5f0021
And Forest: you betcha! why not–-they blamed Obama for everything including the lack of sunny days.
"They seem intelligent, but what are they actually saying?
All of the questions savvy punditry puts aside — the impacts of policies, the context of events, the accuracy of a politician’s line of attack — are the core functions of journalism. They require effort and knowledge and time. They are why we are here, why this is a job.
Skipping them doesn’t make you smart. It makes you Charles. "
https://rottenindenmark.org/2021/08/23/savvy-punditry-isnt-smart/?campaign_id=129&emc=edit_jbo_20210828&instance_id=39088&nl=jamelle-bouie®i_id=72934356&segment_id=67517&te=1&user_id=266bfdf0b48569ca11981ff641388e0d
Hello:
Debbie Downer here, with the latest from Professor Andrew Pollard of the Oxford Vaccination Development Team:
"It is clear that the delta variant can infect people already vaccinated, making herd immunity impossible to reach even with high vaccine intake. Anyone who is still unvaccinated will, at some point, meet the virus. We don't have anything that will stop transmission. I suspect the virus will throw up a new variant which is even better at infecting vaccinated individuals."
He goes on to say that covid will become endemic and a winter wave is inevitable. Since it will be everywhere, only people who are sick will be tested, for clinical purposes.
The latest data are suggesting that 2 doses are probably only 50% protective at preventing illness (90% effective at preventing death).
Dr. John Campbell says, "I think we should take this as a significant warning."
This makes Dr. Fauci seem sweet but evasive.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation produced a recent documentary about Rupert Murdoch, TFG, Faux News, and The Big Lie. Featuring; Botox Bartiromo, Pinot Noir Pirro, et. al.
Part One
Part Two
Warning: Contains scenes of suspect portions of the American populace.
(Watching both will consume about 1-1/2 hours of your life.)
The best quote from the above:
ABC reporter to Sydney Powell: "Do you ever hear yourself and think that it sounds ridiculous?"