Top Items:
Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
A primer on false narratives about Afghanistan — There are many alarmist headlines pronouncing with certitude what has occurred or will occur in Afghanistan. Many are premature — or alternatively, out of date. Others ignore information now available to us that debunks fanciful explanations …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, HotAir, NPR, Twitchy, New York Post, Breitbart, The Guardian and Yahoo Lifestyle
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New York Times:
The Taliban respond with force to an outpouring of public anger. — Even as the Taliban took their first steps to create a functioning government, they faced the first street protests on Wednesday against their takeover of Afghanistan, with demonstrations in at least two cities.
Jazz Shaw / HotAir:
Kinder, gentler Taliban murder woman in the streets for not wearing a burqa — I'm not sure, but it sounds as if not all of the Taliban militants received their copy of the strongly worded letter from the United Nations. The New York Post is reporting today that a woman in Takhar province …
Discussion:
NBC News, Washington Examiner, New York Post and Townhall
CNBC:
Ousted Afghan President Ashraf Ghani resurfaces in UAE after fleeing Kabul, Emirati government says — Ousted Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who fled his country as its capital Kabul was being overtaken by Taliban fighters, is now in the United Arab Emirates.
Discussion:
mofaic.gov.ae, Washington Examiner, Politico, Insider and Raw Story
Mike Pence / Wall Street Journal:
Biden Broke Our Deal With the Taliban — It's a foreign-policy humiliation unlike anything our country has endured since the Iran hostage crisis. — 'The likelihood there's going to be the Taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country [of Afghanistan] is highly unlikely," …
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Post, HotAir, CNN, The Liberal Patriot, NBC News, Breitbart, The Hill, The Daily Caller, The American Mind, Politico, Trending Politics, claytoonz, The Carpentariat, Boston.com, Israpundit, The US Sun, The Bulwark, Althouse, New York Post, Washington Examiner and WEB OF EVIL
Yaroslav Trofimov / Wall Street Journal:
Taliban Block Routes to Kabul Airport, Hampering Evacuations From Afghanistan — Residents in eastern city of Jalalabad stage first protest against Taliban rule — Afghans and Westerners stranded in Kabul after Sunday's Taliban takeover started trickling into the city's U.S.-controlled airport …
Discussion:
HotAir, Breitbart, Human Events, Washington Post, Anadolu Ajansı … and Townhall
Adam Liptak / New York Times:
A First Amendment Precedent — The Supreme Court may reconsider a major case concerning freedom of the press. The Times's Adam Liptak explains why. — Four years ago, at his Supreme Court confirmation hearings, Justice Neil M. Gorsuch indicated that a 1964 precedent protecting press freedom was secure.
New York Times:
Afghanistan Live Updates: Taliban Meet Public Protest With Violence
Discussion:
HotAir, Stars & Stripes, Associated Press, UPI, France 24, Forbes, Al Jazeera, The Daily Caller, CNN and Washington Examiner, more at Techmeme »
Jerry Dunleavy / Washington Examiner:
From prison to power: Taliban leaders go from jail, to negotiating table, to Kabul
Discussion:
Vox, Financial Times and The Moderate Voice
Chris Kahn / Reuters:
Biden approval drops to lowest of 7-month presidency after Taliban takeover
Discussion:
HotAir, New York Times, Vanity Fair, CNN, Breitbart, Washington Post, The Daily Caller, IJR, Reason, The Dispatch, The Nation, Insider, New York Post, Power Line, Bloomberg, Forbes, Washington Free Beacon and Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Sahil Kapur / NBC News:
The coming U.S. political fight over accepting refugees from Afghanistan
Discussion:
IJR, MSNBC and New York Magazine
David Rohde / New Yorker:
Trying—and Failing—to Save the Family of the Afghan Who Saved Me
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, HotAir, Common Dreams, The Dispatch, Sputnik News, New York Post, NBC News, National Review and Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »
Graeme Wood / The Atlantic:
This Is Not the Taliban 2.0 — When the Taliban first sacked Kabul 25 years ago …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner and National Review
CNN:
Biden administration faces daunting odds of pulling off massive Afghanistan evacuation in 2 weeks
Discussion:
RedState, Mediaite, Breitbart and Ace of Spades HQ
Ed Morrissey / HotAir:
Senate Dem: We're gonna get to the bottom of this disgrace in Afghanistan; UPDATE: Pelosi too?
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, The Hill, The Missouri Times, The Carpentariat and Townhall
Washington Post:
Taliban strikes conciliatory tone, consolidates power as de facto leader returns to country
Reuters:
Biden's vow to airlift Afghan allies meets ticking clock, risky rescue
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Daily Beast, Washington Examiner, HotAir, New York Times, CNN, UnHerd, BBC, Washington Post, Reuters, New York Post, CNN, New York Times, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Breitbart, Portland Mercury, HuffPost, Politico, IWMF, HotAir, CNN, Washington Post, New York Times and Foreign Policy, more at Mediagazer »
Jeffrey Morris / Covid Data Science:
Israeli data: How can efficacy vs. severe disease be strong when 60% of hospitalized are vaccinated? — A surge involving the rapidly-transmitting Delta variant in heavily vaccinated countries has led to much hand-wringing that the vaccines are not effective against Delta, or vaccine efficacy wanes after 4-6 months.
Discussion:
Calculated Risk, The Guardian, Vanity Fair, Forbes, National Review, NPR and VICE
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Reuters:
U.S. reports more than 1,000 COVID deaths in single day — The United States reported more than 1,000 COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday, equating to around 42 fatalities an hour, according to a Reuters tally, as the Delta variant continues to ravage parts of the country with low vaccination rates.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Bloomberg, New York Times, The Root, CNN, VICE, The Texas Tribune, KXAN-TV, HuffPost, Slate and Balloon Juice
Phil Helsel / NBC News:
Texas school district makes masks part of dress code to get around Gov. Abbott's order … A small Texas school district has made facial coverings part of its dress code, in a bid to get around Gov. Greg Abbott's executive order banning mask mandates. — The board of the Paris Independent …
Discussion:
WFAA-TV, Human Events, Washington Post, KXII-TV, The Texas Tribune, Bipartisan Report, KXAN-TV, Insider, Raw Story, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth and The Intellectualist
al.com:
Alabama has net of only 2 ICU beds in state, hospital association says
Discussion:
WSFA-TV, The Hill, Forbes, Washington Post and Chad Prather for Texas
Cameron Jenkins / The Hill:
Arizona governor withholding grants to schools with mask mandates
Discussion:
POLITICUSUSA
Klark Byrd / Paris News:
Paris ISD to require masks as part of dress code
Discussion:
The Guardian, TheBlaze, Common Dreams, NPR, USA Today, Bloomberg, Unfogged, CBS Dallas / Fort Worth and Political Wire
Kelly Weill / The Daily Beast:
QAnon 'Queen's' Followers Are Sending Insane Anti-Vaxx Notes to Hospitals
Anita Sircar / Los Angeles Times:
Op-Ed: As a doctor in a COVID unit, I'm running out of compassion for the unvaccinated. Get the shot
Discussion:
USA Today, UPI, Breitbart and Common Dreams
HHS News releases:
Joint Statement from HHS Public Health and Medical Experts on COVID-19 Booster Shots — Today, public health and medical experts from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released the following statement on the Administration's plan for COVID-19 booster shots for the American people.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Gizmodo, New York Post, Forbes, CBS Pittsburgh and The Atlantic
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Erika Edwards / NBC News:
U.S. announces plan to offer boosters to all Americans starting in late September — Top U.S. health officials announced Wednesday that the country has developed a plan to start offering Covid-19 booster shots to all Americans beginning the third week of September, citing evidence that protection …
Discussion:
New York Times, Politico, BuzzFeed News, NBC4 Washington and Political Wire
Berkeley Lovelace Jr / CNBC:
U.S. will begin wide distribution of Covid booster shots next month, saying vaccine protection wanes over time
Discussion:
CBS News, Washington Examiner, HotAir, Forbes and The Daily Caller
Sara Boboltz / HuffPost:
White House Recommends COVID-19 Booster Shot 8 Months Post-Vaccination
Discussion:
POLITICUSUSA
Douglas London / Just Security:
CIA's Former Counterterrorism Chief for the Region: Afghanistan, Not An Intelligence Failure — Something Much Worse — While it's certainly convenient to depict the shock and miscalculation U.S. officials claim over Afghanistan's tragic, rapid fall to the Taliban as an intelligence failure, the reality is far worse.
Discussion:
TMZ.com, Washington Post, New York Post and HuffPost UK
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Quin Hillyer / Washington Examiner:
After epochal disaster in Afghanistan, Biden should step down
Discussion:
Washington Post, Sacramento Bee, Melanie Phillips, Bipartisan Report, Jacobin, Ground News and Crooks and Liars
Ed Morrissey / HotAir:
Knives out: CIA sources tell NBC they warned Biden of fast collapse
Discussion:
National Review, RedState and Trending Politics
Los Angeles Times:
Cox served with subpoena, Elder blasted for remarks on women at California recall debate — Republicans hoping to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom in the recall election focused their criticism on the Democratic governor and a leading replacement candidate who both declined to join them at a Tuesday debate …
Discussion:
CNN, Fox News, Raw Story, Sacramento Bee, Associated Press, KRON4, HuffPost, Political Wire and Politico
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- Raheem J. Kassam / The National Pulse:
Stunning Poll Reveals Trump Would Win Election Held Today, As Nearly 1 In 10 Democrats ‘Regret’ Their 2020 Vote. — Stunning new poll numbers from Rasmussen Reports suggest nearly 1 in 10 Democrats regret their vote in the 2020 Presidential election, with 12 percent of ‘Moderates’ saying the same …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal and Israpundit
Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
The hidden way Biden will salvage value from the Afghanistan debacle — A narrative is taking shape around the Afghanistan debacle that goes like this: The failure of our mission, and the terrible humanitarian consequences of the botched withdrawal, badly complicate President Biden's claim that “America is back.”
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Politico, TheBlaze, Washington Times and The Hill
New York Times:
The School Culture Wars: ‘You Have Brought Division to Us’ — From mask mandates to critical race theory and gender identity, educators are besieged. “You are just trying to keep everything from collapsing,” one official said. — July and August are supposed to be the quietest months of the school year.
Julie Barrett / The Federalist:
How To See If Critical Race Theory Is In Your Kids' School—And Fight It — If your school district is anything like mine, they don't call it critical race theory, and they insist people who use that term are crazy, right-wing conspiracy theorists. We're not.
Discussion:
Washington Examiner and Washington Free Beacon
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