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5:25 PM ET, August 17, 2021

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
New York Times:
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 …
RELATED:
CNN:
The Taliban knocked on her door 3 times.  The fourth time, they killed her  —  (CNN)Najia was at home with her three young sons and daughter in a small village in northern Afghanistan when Taliban fighters knocked on their door.  —  Najia's daughter Manizha, 25, knew they were coming …
Discussion: HotAir, TheBlaze and UPI
Jeff Stein / Washington Post:
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: National Review
Associated Press:
Taliban vow to honor women's rights but within Islamic law  —  KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A Taliban spokesman promised Tuesday that the insurgents who overran Afghanistan in recent days would respect women's rights and would not exact revenge, seeking to calm a wary population and skeptical world powers.
Associated Press:
Taliban announce ‘amnesty,’ urge women to join government  —  KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban declared an “amnesty” across Afghanistan and urged women to join their government Tuesday, seeking to convince a wary population that they have changed a day after deadly chaos gripped …
Condoleezza Rice / Washington Post:
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.
Washington Post:
72 hours at Camp David: Inside Biden's lagging response to the fall of Afghanistan  —  Marine One lifted off Friday at 1:36 p.m. for Camp David bearing a leader headed on a long-planned August vacation: President Biden, clad in a black baseball cap and a light-blue short-sleeved shirt …
Hans Nichols / Axios:
Biden officials: Trump left bare cupboard on Afghanistan  —  Senior national security officials presiding over a historic foreign policy collapse are privately expressing deep frustrations about the thin Afghanistan withdrawal plans left behind by Donald Trump.
Paul Farhi / Washington Post:
The Washington Post evacuates Afghan employees and family members from Taliban-held Kabul
Politico:
Pelosi loses patience with centrists on infrastructure deal
The White House:
Remarks by President Biden on Afghanistan
Greg Bluestein / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Georgia gov open to accepting Afghanistan refugees after Taliban takeover
Erin Doherty / Axios:
Taliban accumulate massive amounts of U.S.-supplied firepower
Jonathan Allen / NBC News:
Even Biden allies question execution of Afghanistan withdrawal
Wall Street Journal:
Taliban Consolidate Control in Afghanistan's Capital, Thousands Remain Stranded
Harper's:
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.
Sharon LaFraniere / New York Times:
U.S. to Advise Boosters for Most Americans 8 Months After Vaccination  —  Nursing home residents and health care workers will most likely be the first to get booster shots, as soon as September, followed by other older people who were vaccinated last winter.
Joshua Zeitz / Politico:
Joe Biden's Kabul Is Not Gerald Ford's Saigon  —  Over the past week, as Taliban fighters shattered the brittle façade of Afghanistan's armed forces, many commentators noted the unnerving similarity to 1975, when television viewers shuddered at images of frantic embassy personnel …
RELATED:
BBC:   Why is the Taliban's Kabul victory being compared to the fall of Saigon?
Ryan J. Reilly / HuffPost:
Instagram Posts Help FBI Nab Trump-Loving Romance Novel Model Who Beat Capitol Cops  —  The FBI has arrested Logan Barnhart, whom online sleuths dubbed “CatSweat,” with the help of the Sedition Hunters community.  —  When former President Donald Trump sent a tweet early this year promoting Jan. 6 as a …
Molly Beck / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
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: Twin Cities and Raw Story
Jim Langevin / Foreign Policy:
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 …
Tim Kelly / Reuters:
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.
Office of the Texas Governor:
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.
Abdullah Shihipar / Slate:
You Should Start Telling Your Unvaccinated Relatives They're Not Welcome at Thanksgiving  —  It's a tough conversation to have with relatives.  Have it early.  —  As summer comes to an end and fall approaches, employers—including the federal government and some school districts and airlines …
Amara Omeokwe / Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Retail Sales Fell 1.1% in July as Spending Fell Across Categories  —  Sales are well above pre-pandemic levels, but spending on goods retreated over the month  —  Spending at U.S. retailers fell sharply in July, amid cooling purchases of goods and signs of some pullback in consumer demand …
Discussion: Kevin Drum
Jamie Killin / Insider:
I'm a landlord with 24 properties.  We're suffering during Biden's eviction ban, too, and no one is helping.  — The Biden administration's eviction moratorium, which covers most US counties, lasts until Oct. 3.  — Landlords like Julio Gonzalez, who owns 24 East Coast properties, are struggling to navigate costs.
Wall Street Journal:
As Delta Surges, Covid-19 Breakthrough Cases Remain Uncommon  —  WSJ analysis finds higher risk of infection from strain, but research shows that vaccines still protect against most serious illness  —  The Delta variant of the Covid-19 virus appears to be breaking through the protection vaccines provide …
Steve Benen / MSNBC:
Another GOP voter caught casting a ballot for a dead relative … In the wake of Donald Trump's defeat last fall, Republicans launched a desperate search for illegally cast ballots to help justify the GOP's conspiracy theories.  But as regular readers know, despite all the hysterical rhetoric …
Discussion: Raw Story
New York Times:
American Hospitals Buckle Under Delta, With I.C.U.s Filling Up  —  The summer surge in coronavirus cases in the United States, led by the domination of the more contagious Delta variant, is well into its second month, and the number of those hospitalized with Covid-19 has reached heights last seen during the overwhelming winter wave.
Discussion: The Atlantic
NBC4 Washington:
DC Tunnel History Site Flagged Suspicious Activity Before Capitol Insurrection  —  Web traffic to WashingtonTunnels.com was so unusually high starting on Jan. 1 that the site's operator notified the FBI  —  The founder and administrator of an obscure website about underground infrastructure in Washington …
Discussion: Raw Story
U.S. Department of Justice:
Pharmacist Arrested for Selling COVID Vaccination Cards Online  —  A licensed pharmacist was arrested today in Chicago on charges related to his alleged sale of dozens of authentic Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID-19 vaccination cards on eBay.
 
 
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 More Items: 
Miles Parks / NPR:
Death Threats And Conspiracy Theories: Why 2020 Won't End For Election Officials
Discussion: Raw Story
Allegiant Stadium:
Las Vegas Raiders to Require Proof of COVID-19 Vaccination for Raiders Games at Allegiant Stadium
Steven Erlanger / New York Times:
The Taliban Are Back. Now Will They Restrain or Support Al Qaeda?
Scott McClallen / Just The News:
Whitmer kidnapping case rocked by allegations FBI told informant to lie, delete text messages
Newlines Magazine:
Inside the Dizzying Fall of Kabul to the Taliban
Discussion: NPR
 Earlier Items: 
Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
The House Suicide Squad's Nonsensical Reason to Kill Biden's Agenda Gottheimer claims the bridges can't wait a few weeks.
Discussion: Politico and The Mahablog
Amy Nelson / Fox News:
Pollster: Biden receives F grade from independents for Afghanistan speech
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
CNN's Poppy Harlow Will Take Hiatus to Pursue Legal Studies (EXCLUSIVE)
Discussion: The US Sun and The Hill
Lachlan Markay / Axios:
Federal watchdog warns of foreign money in U.S. politics
Discussion: The Hill and Election Law Blog
Max Greenwood / The Hill:
Mike Lee holds commanding lead over GOP challengers in new Utah poll
Discussion: Political Wire