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12:45 PM ET, August 15, 2021

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Axios:
1 big thing: Biden's stain  —  Rarely has an American president's predictions been so wrong, so fast, so convincingly as President Biden on Afghanistan.  — Usually military operations and diplomacy are long; the outcomes, foggy.  Not here.  —  Just five weeks ago, President Biden assured Americans …
RELATED:
Associated Press:
Taliban enter Kabul, await ‘peaceful transfer’ of power  —  KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Taliban fighters entered Kabul on Sunday and sought the unconditional surrender of the central government, officials said, as Afghans and foreigners alike raced for the exit, signaling the end …
Susannah George / Washington Post:
Afghanistan's military collapse: Illicit deals and mass desertions  —  KABUL — The spectacular collapse of Afghanistan's military that allowed Taliban fighters to reach the gates of Kabul on Sunday despite twenty years of training and billions of dollars in American aid began with a series …
Discussion: Associated Press
Yaroslav Trofimov / Wall Street Journal:
Taliban Enter Kabul as Panic Spreads in Afghanistan's Capital  —  Mass evacuations of Western diplomats and civilians under way, with insurgents preparing to assume power  —  KABUL—Taliban fighters on Sunday entered Kabul, freeing inmates at the city's main prison and triggering a massive effort …
New York Times:
A frenzied flight from Kabul as the U.S. evacuation accelerates.  —  KABUL, Afghanistan — As the Taliban stood at the gates of Kabul, completing the near total takeover of Afghanistan two decades after the American military drove them from power, a chaotic and frenzied evacuation of U.S. diplomats …
George Packer / The Atlantic:
Biden's Betrayal of Afghans Will Live in Infamy  —  There's plenty of blame to go around for the 20-year debacle in Afghanistan—enough to fill a library of books.  Perhaps the effort to rebuild the country was doomed from the start.  But our abandonment of the Afghans who helped us …
BBC:
LIVEAfghan President Ghani leaves country - reports  —  Summary  — Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has left the country bound for Tajikistan, reports say  — A Taliban spokesman says their fighters have been ordered to enter the city to prevent looting
Tara Palmeri / Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: How the White House wants to spin the fall of Kabul  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  President JOE BIDEN, July 8: “The Taliban is not ... the North Vietnamese army. ...  There's going to be no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of ... the United States from Afghanistan.
Discussion: Fox News and Trending Politics
Adam Weinstein / Responsible Statecraft:
20-year US intervention in ruins as Taliban enters Kabul
Michael R. Gordon / Wall Street Journal:   Biden's Afghanistan Exit Raises Questions About His Foreign-Policy Record
Washington Post:
Taliban enters Kabul, leaving Afghan government on brink of collapse
Sky News:   Afghanistan live updates: Taliban enters outskirts of Kabul - as Afghan government promise peaceful transition of power
The White House:
Statement by President Joe Biden on Afghanistan
ABC News:
‘This Week’ Transcript 8-15-21: Sec. Antony Blinken & Rep. Liz Cheney
Discussion: POLITICUSUSA
Liz Sly / Washington Post:
Afghanistan's collapse leaves allies questioning U.S. resolve on other fronts
Discussion: HotAir, Insider and Politico
New York Times:
Taliban Sweep in Afghanistan Follows Years of U.S. Miscalculations
Jessica Donati / Wall Street Journal:
Afghans Despair Over Long Visa Process as Taliban Close In on Kabul
Discussion: RedState
France 24:
Weapon seizures ‘massive boon’ for Taliban as cities fall
Associated Press:
Taliban capture key northern city, approach Afghan capital
CBS News:
California's vaccinated say unvaccinated are adding risk; strong support for mandates — CBS News poll  —  As Californians express widespread concern about the Delta variant, they overwhelmingly say the state's recent rise in cases was preventable, had more people gotten vaccinated and taken more precautions.
Discussion: CBS San Francisco
RELATED:
Ashton Pittman / Mississippi Free Press:
Mississippi 8th Grader Dies With COVID Hours After Gov. Reeves Downplays Child Cases  —  An eighth-grade girl died this morning in Raleigh, Miss., mere hours after testing positive for COVID-19.  Multiple sources told the Mississippi Free Press that the student attended classes at the school …
The Daily Beast:
This Pro-Trump Lawyer Was a Rising ‘Stop the Steal’ Star.  His Firm Erased Him  —  WE DON'T KNOW HIM  —  In the months since Trump's failed coup, government documents have further revealed the extent of attorney Kurt Olsen's behind-the-scenes crusade to try to keep him in power.
Discussion: Raw Story
Erin Banco / Politico:
Inside America's Covid-reporting breakdown  —  There were too many cases to count.  —  Covid-19 was spreading rapidly throughout the United States, as cold winter weather began to drive people indoors, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was flying blind …
 
 
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 More Items: 
New York Post:
Inflation keeps growing, but Dems won't stop spending
Washington Examiner:
Marriage and work are worth fighting for
Noah Pransky / LX:
Want to Curb Voter Disenfranchisement? Take These Steps to End Gerrymandering
Los Angeles Times:
One person stabbed as COVID anti-vaxxers and counterdemonstrators clash in front of L.A. City Hall
 Earlier Items: 
Hannah Allam / Washington Post:
‘Why Omaha?’: DHS bets on Nebraska as the future of terrorism research
Carlie Porterfield / Forbes:
FEMA Has Paid Out Over $1 Billion For Funerals Of Coronavirus Victims
Wall Street Journal:
New Covid-19 Hospitalizations for 30- to 39-Year-Olds at Record Rate
Aya Elamroussi / CNN:
‘This is starting to look really ominous in the South,’ expert says, as US is among nations with highest rate of new Covid-19 cases
Discussion: Insider
 

 
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Financial Times:
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Jibin Joseph / PCMag:
UK mobile operator Virgin Media O2 creates Daisy, an AI-generated “scambaiter” tool that mimics the voice of an elderly woman to waste scammers' time
 
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