memeorandum: Afghans' suffering is ‘heartbreaking’ but unavoidable, Biden says (Matt Viser/Washington Post)

3:10 AM ET, August 23, 2021

Top Items:

Biden doesn't plan to fire anyone over Kabul chaos, sources say — Biden isn't inclined to fire any senior national security officials over the chaos in Kabul unless the situation drastically deteriorates.

Discussion: Washington Post, Breitbart and TheBlaze

Meagan Flynn / Washington Post:

Hundreds of Afghans arrive at Northern Virginia Community College, greeted by outpouring of support — They kept coming: people carrying bags of clothes, bags of toiletries, bags of diapers and baby formula and toys and books. — All were donations for the hundreds of Afghan refugees …

Washington Post:

Biden says safe zone around Kabul airport to expand, as Pentagon enlists commercial airlines to aid evacuations — President Biden said Sunday that the U.S. military is “executing a plan” to move stranded American citizens to the Kabul airport in greater numbers, including through an expansion …

Discussion: HuffPost, New York Times, Financial Times, Al Jazeera, Washington Examiner, 6abc, Wall Street Journal, NPR, Washington Times and Fox News

NBC News:

Afghan staff at U.S. Embassy losing faith in evacuation efforts, diplomatic cable says — WASHINGTON — Local staff members at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul are “deeply disheartened” by U.S. evacuation efforts and have expressed a sense of betrayal and distrust in the American government …

Discussion: Washington Times, The Western Journal, Reuters, UPI, Forbes, Associated Press and Washington Post

Reuters:

U.S. ‘unwavering’ in Afghanistan evacuations, Biden says; Taliban beat back crowd at airport — The United States has an “unwavering commitment” to get U.S. citizens and at-risk Afghans to safety out of Afghanistan, President Joe Biden said, as Taliban fighters beat back thousands desperate to flee outside Kabul airport on Sunday.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Guardian, CNN, Politico, Slate and New York Post

Jon Craig / Sky News:

Afghanistan: Tony Blair slams President Biden for ‘imbecilic’ military pullout and says crisis risks relegating UK to ‘second division of global powers’ — The former prime minister, who sent British troops into Afghanistan in 2001, said the “abandonment of Afghanistan and its people is tragic, dangerous [and] unnecessary”.

Discussion: New York Times, HotAir, Hackwhackers, The Daily Caller and The Guardian

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

Distinguished persons of the week: Let's hear it for the deep state — As disturbing scenes of chaos and misery played out in the streets of Kabul, criticism — some earned and some not, some hyperbolic and some laser-focused — rained down on a wide expanse of people, including President Biden …

Discussion: The Irish Times, The American Spectator, Twitchy, Townhall and Mother Jones

Josie Ensor / Telegraph:
Joe Biden's aides ‘too afraid’ to tell him he was wrong on Afghanistan, say White House insiders

Discussion: HotAir, Townhall, Washington Times, The American Conservative, Power Line, Morning Shots and Louder With Crowder

David French / The Dispatch: They Held the Line — The sacrifice in Afghanistan was not in vain.

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Biden began to rebut negative story lines about Afghanistan

Discussion: Reuters, Fox News, The Daily Caller and Becker News

Dexter Filkins / New Yorker:
What We Left Behind in Afghanistan

Discussion: Washington Post

Bruce Haring / Deadline:
Fox News Rescues Afghan Nationals Who Aided Correspondents

Discussion: Fox News and RedState

Financial Times:
Johnson to host G7 talks on Afghanistan with role sought for China and Russia

Discussion: UnHerd

Washington Post:
Rush of Afghan evacuees to Qatar leaves many crammed in hot hangar, facing an uncertain future

Discussion: New York Magazine, Insider, The Drive and BizPac Review

Dominic Green / The Spectator World:
Biden must go — (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Discussion: Instapundit

E.J. Dionne / Washington Post:
The Afghanistan outcome is ugly. Biden was still right to say: Enough.

Discussion: HotAir, POLITICUSUSA, E-International Relations and BizPac Review

Martin E. Comas / Associated Press:

U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz marries girlfriend in California elopement — MIAMI (AP) — U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, eloped to Southern California and married his girlfriend Ginger Luckey on Saturday in a small ceremony on Catalina Island. — The controversial 39-year-old Republican …

Abigail Tracy / Vanity Fair:
“Trump Was an Inspiration for Me”: Matt Gaetz Tries to Shift the Narrative With a MAGA Romance

Discussion: The Guardian, Insider, The US Sun and Fox News

Allan Smith / NBC News:

Trump booed at Alabama rally after telling supporters to get vaccinated … Former President Donald Trump was booed at a rally on Saturday in Alabama after telling supporters they should get vaccinated. — “And you know what? I believe totally in your freedoms. I do.

Discussion: HuffPost, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Mother Jones

Tom Boggioni / Raw Story: ‘What traitors do’: Trump slammed for praising Taliban at Alabama rally

Devan Cole / CNN:
GOP congressman places blame on Trump admin for crisis in Afghanistan: ‘They set this up to fail’

Discussion: Raw Story

Adam Elmahrek / Los Angeles Times:

State officials open investigation into whether Larry Elder failed to disclose income sources — California regulators have launched an investigation into whether recall election gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder failed to properly disclose his income sources, a spokesman …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Caroline Vakil / The Hill:
California launches investigation into recall candidate Larry Elder's financial disclosure

Discussion: Breitbart

Silas House / The Atlantic:

Some Americans No Longer Believe in the Common Good — They now are thinking only of themselves. — About the author: Silas House, a writer based in Kentucky, is the author of six novels, including, most recently, Southernmost. — As a child in eastern Kentucky, I often helped …

Discussion: TheBlaze

Brian Kahn / Gizmodo:

Trump's Border Wall Torn Apart by Arizona Monsoon Rains — Record monsoon rains have blown floodgates off their hinges as Trump's border wall breaks down. — Alerts — It turns out ignoring bedrock environmental laws may not have been the best choice for a multibillion-dollar construction project.

Discussion: Raw Story

New York Times:

Hospitals and Insurers Didn't Want You to See These Prices. Here's Why. — The price for an M.R.I. at Mass General is ... Do you have a medical bill we should investigate? Share it with us. — This year, the federal government ordered hospitals to begin publishing a prized secret …

Tal Axelrod / The Hill:

Democrats scramble to reclaim lost ground in statehouse battles — Arizona state Sen. Lela Alston (D) was sitting at home on Nov. 3 last year huddled with her campaign advisers on Zoom with “huge expectations” that her party could flip at least one chamber of the state legislature.

Noah Feldman / Bloomberg:

Kavanaugh Is the Last Hope for Abortion Rights — Liberals have reviled the conservative Supreme Court justice since his confirmation hearing, but now hope that he still cherishes the reputation for moderation that he cultivated. — For the first time in 30 years — a legal generation …

Discussion: Reason

Mark Murray / NBC News:

Biden's job ratings decline amid Covid surge, Afghanistan withdrawal in NBC News poll — WASHINGTON — After a spike in U.S. Covid-19 cases and bipartisan criticism over the chaos from America's withdrawal from Afghanistan, President Joe Biden's overall job-approval rating …