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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:
Fox News, Washington Post, The Times of Israel and WEB OF EVIL
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Intelligence Warned of Afghan Military Collapse, Despite Biden's Assurances — Even as the president was telling the public that Kabul was unlikely to fall, intelligence assessments painted a grimmer picture. — WASHINGTON — Classified assessments by American spy agencies over the summer painted …
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HuffPost, Breitbart, HotAir, Washington Post, New York Post, The Colorado Sun, National Review, Twitchy and Bipartisan Report


Biden approval drops to lowest of 7-month presidency after Taliban takeover — President Joe Biden's approval rating dropped by 7 percentage points and hit its lowest level so far as the U.S.-backed Afghan government collapsed over the weekend in an upheaval that sent thousands of civilians …
Discussion:
HotAir, Breitbart and Washington Free Beacon


Taliban strikes conciliatory tone, consolidates power as de facto leader returns to country … At a wide-ranging news conference in Kabul on Tuesday, Taliban leaders in Afghanistan offered conciliatory messages, met with skepticism by experts, promising not to discriminate against women …


Biden administration freezes billions of dollars in Afghan reserves, depriving Taliban of cash — The move comes as the White House has scrambled to redraw its Afghanistan policies — The Biden administration on Sunday froze Afghan government reserves held in U.S. bank accounts …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Politico, The Drive, Portland Mercury, National Review and Al Jazeera


A Taliban official's TV interview with a female presenter is part of a broader campaign. — As Afghan women remained cloistered at home in Kabul, fearful for their lives and their futures, a starkly different image played out on Tuesday on Tolo News, an Afghan television station: a female presenter interviewing a Taliban official.
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, euronews and Insider


The Afghan people didn't choose the Taliban. They fought and died alongside us. — Condoleezza Rice was secretary of state from 2005 to 2009 and national security adviser from 2001 to 2005. She is director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. — It didn't have to happen this way.
Discussion:
Raw Story and emptywheel

The Washington Post evacuates Afghan employees and family members from Taliban-held Kabul
Discussion:
New York Post, New York Times and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »

72 hours at Camp David: Inside Biden's lagging response to the fall of Afghanistan
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Washington Examiner, ABC News, PolitiFact, New York Post, Insider, The Western Journal, Twitchy, Politico, Breitbart, CNN, Vox, spectatorworld.com, Newsweek and RedState

Pentagon: We may have 10,000 Americans stuck in Kabul
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Daily Mail, Washington Post, The Western Journal, Fox News, The Daily Wire, Breitbart, Forbes, Twitchy and National Review

Body Parts Found in Landing Gear of Flight From Kabul, Officials Say
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Washington Examiner, HotAir and TheBlaze

Ex-defense secretary: Trump's push to get US troops out of Afghanistan possibly ‘undermined’ deal with Taliban

Biden officials: Trump left bare cupboard on Afghanistan
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HuffPost, POLITICUSUSA, HotAir, Mediaite, New York Times, Washington Examiner, New York Magazine, Wall Street Journal, Breitbart, FactCheck.org, Wall Street Journal, claytoonz, Louder With Crowder, The Federalist, Insider, Raw Story, Reuters, Associated Press, Washington Examiner, Front Page Magazine and Associated Press

U.S. Military Veterans Rush to Help Afghan Interpreters Escape
Discussion:
ABC News

Office Of The Governor Statement Concerning Governor Abbott — Office of the Governor Communications Director Mark Miner today issued a statement after Governor Greg Abbott tested positive for COVID-19: — “Governor Greg Abbott today tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.
Discussion:
HotAir, The Hill, HuffPost, Bloomberg, VICE, Common Dreams, Insider, NPR, Washington Examiner, Forbes, UPI, Breitbart, National Review, CNN, The Daily Caller, TheBlaze, The Texas Tribune and Chad Prather for Texas
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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tests positive for COVID-19 — He spoke Monday night at a GOP event in Collin County, later tweeting photos of him addressing a maskless crowd. Less than three hours before his diagnosis was announced Tuesday afternoon, he tweeted pictures of a meeting with guitarist Jimmie Vaughan.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, Patterico's Pontifications, Politico, RedState, TMZ.com, KTLA, Louder With Crowder, Daily Kos and KVEO-TV


Florida officials find two school districts violated DeSantis's mask mandate restrictions … PLEASE NOTE — The Washington Post is providing this important information about the coronavirus for free. For more free coverage of the coronavirus pandemic, sign up for our Coronavirus Updates newsletter …
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Insider, The Hill, POLITICUSUSA, Crooks and Liars and NBC News


The latest GOP anti-mask lunacy is stirring a backlash. New polling reveals it. — The other day, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis likened mask and other health mandates to “medical authoritarianism.” The Republican added that we may be witnessing “the most significant threat to freedom in my lifetime …
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Yahoo News, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos, No More Mister Nice Blog and Forbes


Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has sought to ban mask mandates in schools, tests positive for the coronavirus
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USA Today, The US Sun, Gizmodo and Metro.co.uk

Gov. Greg Abbott tests positive for COVID after jam-packed, maskless GOP event
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The Hill, The Daily Beast, Associated Press, The US Sun, CBS Dallas / Fort Worth and ABC13

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tests positive for Covid after banning mask, vaccination mandates

Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas has tested positive for the coronavirus.
Discussion:
Vanity Fair


The owner of Politico is said to be seeking $1 billion in a deal with Axel Springer. — Politico, the Washington news site popular with Beltway power brokers, is seeking as much as $1 billion in a potential deal with the German publishing giant Axel Springer.
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Wall Street Journal, New York Post, The Wrap and Variety, more at Mediagazer »


The Taliban Have Seized U.S. Military Biometrics Devices … The Taliban have seized U.S. military biometrics devices that could aid in the identification of Afghans who assisted coalition forces, current and former military officials have told The Intercept.
Discussion:
Raw Story, more at Techmeme »

What I Learned About the United States After Ten Years in Ireland — This is an anniversary, of sorts, for me. I have now lived in Ireland for ten years. They were ten good years. During that time, I made some friends and worked with colleagues, who later became friends, and befriended some students, who later befriended me.


U.S. Halted Dollar Shipments to Afghanistan to Keep Cash Out of Taliban's Hands — U.S. officials are also blocking Taliban from Afghan government accounts managed by the Fed and U.S. banks — WASHINGTON—The Biden administration last week canceled bulk shipments of dollars headed …
Discussion:
New York Post, Townhall and Political Wire


Twitter Says Taliban Spokesman Will be Allowed to Remain if He Doesn't Get Too Violent — Twitter is refusing to join its peers in the social-media world in prohibiting the Taliban from using its platform. — Asked on Tuesday whether Twitter would join Facebook, TikTok and other tech companies …
Discussion:
New York Post, The Daily Caller, Page Array, The Wrap and BizPac Review
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Facebook, TikTok won't lift ban on posts that promote Taliban after the fall of Afghanistan
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BBC, Breitbart, The Hill, Forbes, Gizmodo, One America News Network, UPI, Mediaite, TheBlaze, Metro.co.uk and Reason, more at Techmeme »


Will you do your part to help him? — Donated before using an account? … Your contribution will benefit Laxalt for Senate. — Republicans need just ONE SEAT to flip the Senate and Adam is the best candidate to do it. Do NOT let the Democrats outraise us by making this donation recurring and help TAKE BACK the Senate today!
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Breitbart, CNN, The Daily Caller and Townhall
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DC Tunnel History Site Flagged Suspicious Activity Before Capitol Insurrection — The founder and administrator of an obscure website about underground infrastructure in Washington, D.C., saw a sudden and suspicious spike in traffic in the days before the U.S. Capitol insurrection.


I'm a Democrat Who Opposed the Withdrawal. This Catastrophe Is Why. — At minimum, Biden owed our allies in Afghanistan a plan. — During a hearing of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee about Afghanistan in May, I asked a senior Defense Department official if the U.S. military …
Discussion:
Politico, Townhall, The Hill, National Review and Raw Story


CNN's Abby Phillip Welcomes First Baby, Daughter Naomi Angelina, with Husband Marcus Richardson — Abby Phillip shared her pregnancy news to The Cut back in March — This just in: Abby Phillip is officially a mom! — The CNN anchor and senior political correspondent, 32 …


Bad News — In the beginning, there were ABC, NBC, and CBS, and they were good. Midcentury American man could come home after eight hours of work and turn on his television and know where he stood in relation to his wife, and his children, and his neighbors, and his town, and his country, and his world.
Discussion:
Kevin Drum, more at Mediagazer »


FBI joins investigation into QAnon-affiliated leak of voting machine logins in Colorado — (CNN)The FBI Denver field office has joined a Colorado district attorney's investigation into the County Clerk's office and how voting machine logins from the county wound up in a QAnon-affiliated video, an FBI spokeswoman told CNN.
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Washington Examiner, The Hill and Denver Post


UNICEF ‘quite optimistic’ after Taliban comments on girls' education, official says — The chief of field operations of the U.N. children's agency expressed cautious optimism about working with Taliban officials following their seizure of power in Afghanistan, citing their early expressions of support for girls' education.
Discussion:
Breitbart, The Daily Caller and Common Dreams


Three ways this Afghanistan crisis really hurts Biden — There's a quote in To Kill A Mockingbird where Jem is told by Miss Maudie that “things are never as bad as they seem.” For Joe Biden, right now, things do look pretty dark. — But if I'm digging into my quotations book …
Discussion:
Instapundit


And now there are 11: Steven Olikara officially enters crowded Democratic primary for U.S. Senate — Next year's Democratic race for U.S. Senate just got a bit more crowded. — Steven Olikara, a Brookfield native and former chief executive of the nonprofit Millennial Action Project …
Discussion:
The Hill


As Taliban takes over, some swap iconic AK-47s for made-in-America rifles — The Russian Kalashnikov AK-47 and its derivatives have long been the assault rifle of choice for militant groups because of their rugged design, but some Taliban fighters are trading them in for captured U.S. guns as Afghanistan's government collapses.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller


Sen. Andre Jacque of De Pere hospitalized after testing positive for COVID-19 — MADISON - One of the Legislature's most active lawmakers who has opposed mask and vaccine mandates has received hospital care after testing positive for COVID-19. — Sen. Andre Jacque, a Republican from De Pere …
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Twin Cities, The Daily Beast, Raw Story and The Intellectualist