memeorandum: Florida accounts for nearly a quarter of new U.S. COVID-19 deaths (Peter Weber/The Week)

1:25 PM ET, September 7, 2021

Top Items:

The U.S. surpasses 40 million known coronavirus cases. — More than 40 million cases of the coronavirus have been recorded in the United States, according to a New York Times database. — The total number of known infections, more than the population of California, the nation's most populous state …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Bangor Daily News, The Daily Beast, Forbes, WV MetroNews, CNN and Denver Post

Miami Herald:

COVID vaccine is not personal choice despite DeSantis — Getting the COVID vaccine is not a “personal choice.” It never was, really, but the onslaught of cases fueled by the delta variant has removed any doubt. — And yet that's not what Florida's governor would have you believe.

Discussion: HotAir, Raw Story, POLITICUSUSA, Daily Kos and HuffPost

Peter Weber / The Week:

Florida accounts for nearly a quarter of new U.S. COVID-19 deaths — August was Florida's deadliest month of the COVID-19 pandemic. With a new batch of delayed COVID-19 deaths reported Monday, Florida lost more than 6,600 people to the coronavirus in August, an average of 213 deaths a day.

David Leonhardt / New York Times:

One in 5,000 — The real chances of a breakthrough infection. — The C.D.C. reported a terrifying fact in July: Vaccinated people with the Delta variant of the Covid virus carried roughly the same viral load in their noses and throats as unvaccinated people.

Discussion: Twitchy, CNN and Raw Story

The Intercept:
New Details Emerge About Coronavirus Research at Chinese Lab

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Fox News, HotAir, New York Post, Mediaite, The Western Journal, RedState, TheBlaze, Raw Story, Twitchy, National Review, The Federalist, Ace of Spades HQ, The Daily Caller and Breitbart

Kaitlan Collins / CNN:
Biden set to deliver major speech on next phase of pandemic response, sources say

Discussion: Political Wire

Washington Post:
In Florida, a summer of death and resistance as the coronavirus rampaged

Discussion: HotAir, Blue Virginia, Raw Story and POLITICUSUSA

Associated Press:

The Latest: Taliban disperse Kabul rally, arrest journalists — KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban have fired gunshots to disperse a rally on Tuesday in Kabul and arrested several Afghan journalists who were covering the demonstration, witnesses and Afghan media outlets said.

Discussion: HotAir and The Hill

Jessica Chasmar / Fox News:
Schumer falsely says all Americans who wanted to leave Afghanistan have evacuated

Discussion: Townhall

Adela Suliman / Washington Post:
Lindsey Graham says United States ‘will be going back’ into Afghanistan

Discussion: HotAir, The Hill, New York Post, Crooks and Liars, Insider and Talking Points Memo

Ali Soufan / Washington Post:
The terrorism threat is entering a new, more dangerous phase

Discussion: Insider, The Daily Caller, Washington Examiner and NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

John Hudson / Washington Post:
Blinken denies Taliban holding Americans in Afghanistan ‘hostage’

Discussion: New York Post, Politico, Washington Examiner, The Hill, The Gateway Pundit, IJR and Althouse

Yaroslav Trofimov / Wall Street Journal:
Shot-Up SUVs, Teens Manning Checkpoints: A Reporter's Return to Kabul Weeks After the Fall

Discussion: Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, HotAir and Washington Post

Humeyra Pamuk / Reuters:
Blinken denies Taliban blocking Americans from leaving Mazar-i-Sharif

Discussion: Insider, National Review, Axios, IJR, Fox News and Political Wire

Paul LeBlanc / CNN:

Ex-FBI official says law enforcement needs to take upcoming right-wing rally in DC ‘very seriously’ — Washington (CNN)Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe said Monday evening that law enforcement needs to take the upcoming right-wing rally in support of jailed January 6 rioters …

Discussion: The Hill, Alternet.org, Raw Story, Zandar Versus The Stupid and Washington Times

The Daily Beast:
GOP's Promised Jan. 6 Probe Has One Problem: No One Wants It

Discussion: Insurrection, Raw Story and Mediaite

Betsy Woodruff Swan / Politico:
‘Keep your head on a swivel’: FBI analyst circulated a prescient warning of Jan. 6 violence

Discussion: The Daily Beast

Politico:

Trump builds ‘turnkey’ campaign operation for 2024 — Boots on the ground in Iowa. Accelerated fundraising. More national media interviews. A flood of new press statements. A rise in attack ads on the web. — With a flurry of activity from his main political committee and hints dropped …

Discussion: The Hill, Mediaite, Insider, The Federalist, CNN, RedState, IJR and Althouse

Zach Montellaro / Politico:
State GOP leaders push new 2020 election reviews as Arizona report looms

Discussion: HotAir, Mock Paper Scissors, No More Mister Nice Blog, Raw Story and Newsweek

Judd Legum / Popular Information:

These corporations bankrolled the sponsors of Texas' abortion ban — Texas just enacted the nation's most draconian abortion ban, prohibiting all abortions after six weeks — before many women even know they are pregnant. There are no exceptions for rape or incest.

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Magazine, Washington Post, myfox8.com, HotAir, Washington Monthly and The Guardian

Greg Olear / PREVAIL:

Breaking Brett — Properly investigating Kavanaugh would be the right thing to do AND enormously popular. Why won't the Dems act? — LAST WEEK, the Texas State Legislature passed one of the most repressive antichoice laws in the history of our nation. The fine print is so hateful, so anti-woman, so infuriating—six weeks?

Yaroslav Trofimov / Wall Street Journal:

Taliban Unveil New Afghan Government — Afghanistan's new rulers named prime minister, with senior post for leader of al Qaeda-linked Haqqani group — Breaking News: — *Taliban Announce New Afghan Government, Mullah Hassan Akhund as Prime Minister — *All Key Positions to Remain in Taliban Hands

Discussion: Associated Press, BBC, Breitbart, Al Jazeera, Slate, Foreign Policy, New York Times and The Daily Caller

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:

Alphonso David, Who Advised Cuomo, Fired as Human Rights Campaign President — Mr. David, who previously worked as a lawyer for Andrew Cuomo, was identified in a report as having advised the former governor on how to handle sex harassment allegations. — Alphonso David, the president …

Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:

J.D. Vance Is So Thirsty — The sad, needy tweets of a loser. — On Sunday, J.D. Vance pushed out a nova-hot tweet professing his respect for Alex Jones: … This is what the kids call a thirst trap. It's very sad. Let me explain. — You can tell that Vance's tweet was engineered …

Discussion: Alternet.org and Mediaite

Allan Smith / NBC News:

Schools become political ‘battlefield’ in culture wars Trump cultivated … Schools have become the focal point for culture war fights that animated former President Donald Trump's base and have been advanced by conservative activists and influencers since he left office.

Discussion: Insurrection

Ankush Khardori / New York Magazine:

Elizabeth Holmes's Last Pitch She now faces her greatest challenge: convincing a jury that she is not to blame for a massive fraud. — Over the course of what must have been several uncomfortable days for her in the summer of 2017, Elizabeth Holmes sat in a San Francisco conference room …

Discussion: Althouse and New Republic

Eva Ruth Moravec / Washington Post:

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signs law creating new voting restrictions as opponents sue in federal court — AUSTIN — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) on Tuesday signed a bill into law that creates strict new voting rules in the state, ending a months-long effort by Democrats to stall the legislation by denying Republicans a quorum in the House.

Discussion: CNN, USA Today, Axios and One America News Network

William McGurn / Wall Street Journal:

The Real Structural Racism — Is it OK that black eighth graders aren't proficient in math and reading? — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez may have a point about structural racism. But it's probably not the point the Queens Democrat and her progressive allies think it is.

Discussion: Fox News

David Gilbert / VICE:

QAnon Is Harassing a Hospital Into Giving Bogus COVID ‘Cure’ Ivermectin — Some of the most powerful QAnon influencers are urging their hundreds of thousands of followers to harass a Chicago hospital into treating an anti-vaccine activist with ivermectin. — Veronica Wolski …

Discussion: Gizmodo

Anemona Hartocollis / New York Times:

How Professors Are Handling Unmasked Students Amid Delta — At universities, some instructors are finding the return to the classroom a nerve-racking experience. A few have quit — one in the middle of class. — Matthew Boedy, an associate professor of rhetoric and composition …

Discussion: Insider and National Review

Nick Niedzwiadek / Politico:

Biden to campaign for Newsom in California ‘early next week’ — President Joe Biden will travel to California sometime next week to campaign in support of Gov. Gavin Newsom, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday. — Last week Newsom said the president would stump on his behalf …

Discussion: Washington Examiner and Alternet.org