memeorandum: Why Illegal U.S. Border Crossings Likely Aren't Fueling the Covid-19 Surge (Michelle Hackman/Wall Street Journal)

1:45 PM ET, August 23, 2021

Top Items:

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

Why so many people find Biden an easy target — The vehemence with which many politicians and media pundits on the left and right have attacked President Biden should not be surprising. Given the chaotic and heart-wrenching scenes in Afghanistan, the commander in chief becomes an obvious target …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair, Fox News, The Federalist, BizPac Review, Telegraph, HotAir, New York Times, Sky News, Telegraph, Washington Post, CNBC, Althouse, Washington Post, Washington Post, NBC News and Reuters

Sally Lockwood / Sky News:

Afghanistan: Taliban warns there will be ‘consequences’ if Biden delays withdrawal of US troops — The Taliban meets Sky News in Doha to discuss what happens next - and issues a stark warning about the withdrawal of troops from the country. — Created with Sketch.

Alissa J. Rubin / New York Times:

Did the War in Afghanistan Have to Happen? — In 2001, when the Taliban were weak and ready to surrender, the U.S. passed on a deal. Nearly 20 years later, the Taliban hold all the cards. — Taliban fighters brandished Kalashnikovs and shook their fists in the air after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks …

Discussion: Al Jazeera, Washington Post, The Carpentariat, Human Events, Breitbart, Daily Kos, Foreign Policy, Insider, Reuters and New York Post

Meagan Flynn / Washington Post:
Hundreds of Afghans arrive at Northern Virginia Community College, greeted by outpouring of support

Discussion: Human Events, Financial Times, BizPac Review, HotAir, Washington Examiner, Gizmodo, New York Magazine, Slate, RedState, Insider, The Daily Caller and Townhall

CNN:
Taliban issue death sentence for brother of Afghan translator who helped US troops, according to letters obtained by CNN

Discussion: Washington Examiner, BizPac Review, HotAir, The Daily Caller, New York Post, POLITICUSUSA, Insider, NBC News, Mediaite, Political Wire and Power Line

Axios:
Biden doesn't plan to fire anyone over Kabul chaos, sources say

Discussion: HotAir, New York Post, Washington Post, Breitbart, Deadline, Washington Post, The Dispatch, Financial Times, New Yorker, CNN, Washington Post, The Spectator World, Washington Post, Financial Times, TheBlaze, U.S. Department of Defense and UPI

John Harwood / CNN:
Why Biden's Afghanistan exit wasn't about good politics

Discussion: The National Interest, Balloon Juice, Breitbart, Politico, RedState, Common Dreams, The Global Warming … and Trending Politics

Washington Examiner:
Democrats trust the Taliban more than their fellow Americans

Discussion: Politico, NBC News, CNN, Washington Post and Human Events

Washington Post:
Taliban rejects extending Aug. 31 U.S. pullout, calling it a ‘red line’

Discussion: CBS News, CNN, Reuters, Associated Press and Just Security

Politico:
Deadlines burn Biden

Discussion: HotAir, RedState, CNN and Trending Politics

Washington Post:
At least 21 dead, 20 missing after ‘catastrophic’ flooding in central Tennessee, officials say

Discussion: WGN-TV, NPR, New York Post, Talking Points Memo, Associated Press, The Daily Beast, WKRN-TV, The Hill and CNN

USA Today:
Kabul could turn into President Biden's Katrina if Afghanistan evacuation fails U.S. citizens

Discussion: The Liberal Patriot, RedState and Instapundit

Jacqueline Alemany / Washington Post:
Power Up: House Democrats return from recess to hash out infrastructure packages

Discussion: Breitbart

Brendan J. Lyons / Albany Times Union:

Cuomo's dog Captain left at mansion after governor departed — ALBANY — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who has been staying with one of his sisters in Westchester County in the final days of his third term, recently has asked staff members at the Executive Mansion if anyone would like to keep his dog …

Discussion: Washington Post, Fox News, Insider, Wall Street Journal, Instapundit, Jezebel, RedState, Progress Pond, New York Post, Gawker, Mediaite, National Review, Twitchy and Political Wire

Ed Morrissey / HotAir:

Tune in or the dog gets it: Cuomo delivers farewell address; UPDATE: Prerecorded? — Old and busted: Did Andrew Cuomo really resign? New hotness: Did Melissa DeRosa really resign? Two weeks ago, DeRosa supposedly quit, under fire from Cuomo's victims and Attorney General Letitia James …

Discussion: Washington Post, ABC News, The Lid and Twitchy

Kevin Breuninger / CNBC:
Cuomo endorses successor Kathy Hochul in farewell speech on his last day in office

Discussion: New York Magazine, Associated Press and UPI

Washington Post:

Let's take the win. Let's do infrastructure first. — The authors are Democratic members of the House of Representatives from Georgia, Hawaii, California, Texas, Maine, New Jersey and Oregon. — Time kills deals. This is an old business saying and the essence of why we are pushing …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Fox News, CBS News, New Jersey Online, HotAir, Wall Street Journal, Politico, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, The Hill, No Labels, Breitbart, Fox Business, Daily Kos, Common Dreams and The Daily Caller

Burgess Everett / Politico:

Sinema: I simply won't back a $3.5T spending bill — Kyrsten Sinema still opposes her party's plans for a $3.5 trillion, party-line spending bill. And she's not up for a negotiation about it. — As House Democratic leaders hold back Sinema's own Senate-passed bipartisan infrastructure bill …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Hill, Insider, The Daily Poster and The Daily Caller

Thomas Franck / CNBC:

Wall Street calls moderates' bluff, urges investors to prepare for infrastructure and budget reconciliation bills — Wall Street thinks moderates are bluffing and says investors should prep for both an infrastructure bill and a $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill.

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Bloomberg

Russell Berman / The Atlantic:
The Man in Joe Biden's Way

Discussion: Politico, Insider, Washington Times, NBC News, New York Times, The Hill, One America News Network and UPI

Olivia Beavers / Politico:
McCarthy faces speakership test on infrastructure vote

Discussion: Raw Story, Maryland Matters and New York Times

Bill Scher / Real Clear Politics:
Moderate Dems Have Upper Hand. Will They Stick or Fold?

Discussion: Roll Call, The Editorial Board, CNN, The Hill and Florida Politics

US Food and Drug Administration:

FDA Approves First COVID-19 Vaccine — Approval Signifies Key Achievement for Public Health — For Immediate Release: — Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine has been known as the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine …

Washington Post:

Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine wins full FDA approval, potentially persuading the hesitant to get a shot — The licensing is a landmark event that could have major effects, experts said. — Federal regulators Monday granted full approval to the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine …

Discussion: ABC News, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Politico, New York Post, TheBlaze, NPR, Common Dreams, RedState, Hackwhackers, IJR, BizPac Review, UPI, Just The News and Forbes

Berkeley Lovelace Jr / CNBC:
FDA grants full approval to Pfizer-BioNTech's Covid shot, clearing path to more vaccine mandates

Discussion: HotAir, NBC4 Washington, CBS News, NBC Chicago, Trending Politics, STAT, POLITICUSUSA and CBS Dallas / Fort Worth

United States Capitol Police:

USCP Completes Internal Investigation into the January 6 Officer-Involved Shooting — After interviewing multiple witnesses and reviewing all the available evidence, including video and radio calls, the United States Capitol Police has completed the internal investigation into the fatal shooting …

Discussion: CBS News, Politico and Talking Points Memo

Chad Pergram / Fox News: REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK: Latest Capitol security incident a reminder of how often they happen

CNN:

Afghan visa applicants told to stay away from Kabul airport as US races to meet exit deadline — Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN)Afghans who have applied for special immigrant visas to the US were told to stay away from Kabul's airport on Monday, as American officials ramped up evacuation flights …

Discussion: Reuters, New York Post, The Daily Caller, The Western Journal, Associated Press, National Review and U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan

Gina Martinez / Daily Mail:
Washington Post reporter reveals how she and her team were rescued by brave BRITISH troops after Biden banned US forces from venturing out of Kabul airport

Discussion: New York Post and BizPac Review, more at Mediagazer »

Washington Post:

Third Pfizer dose significantly lowers risk of infection in seniors, Israeli data shows … 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 where all stories are free to read.

Discussion: Mercury News, @crewcrew, Breitbart, Homeless on the High Desert, ACA Signups, The Hill, Washington Post and NBC News

Politico:
States gripped by Delta variant face case surge with fewer health workers

Discussion: Wall Street Journal

Michelle Hackman / Wall Street Journal:
Why Illegal U.S. Border Crossings Likely Aren't Fueling the Covid-19 Surge

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money and Raw Story

Lucas Kunce / Kansas City Star:

Here are two sentences of truth about the US and Afghanistan | The Kansas City Star — What we are seeing in Afghanistan right now shouldn't shock you. It only seems that way because our institutions are steeped in systematic dishonesty. It doesn't require a dissertation to explain what you're seeing.

Scott Dworkin / Newsweek:

Stop Blaming Biden for Afghanistan. He's Cleaning Up Trump's Mess — , EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE DEMOCRATIC COALITION — The images coming out of Afghanistan have been disturbing. But let's be clear: The Trump Administration led us straight into this mess.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Hill, BizPac Review, Raw Story, Crooks and Liars, American Greatness and Ace of Spades HQ

Steve Benen / MSNBC:
Team Trump struggles to defend former president's Taliban deal

Discussion: Media Matters for America and Raw Story

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

As Democrats run away from Biden over Afghanistan, one senator gets it right — Let's keep two ideas in our heads at the same time. The first is that President Biden deserves serious scrutiny over the withdrawal from Afghanistan, and congressional hearings should examine it.

Discussion: Washington Examiner and E-International Relations

Will Carless / USA Today:

Armed protests are picking up, and a new study says they're more likely to turn violent — Corrections/clarifications: This story originally mischaracterized the uptick in armed protests. The number of armed protests increased from February to June; the proportion doubled.

Sam Levin / The Guardian:

Revealed: how California police chased a nonexistent ‘antifa bus’ — Authorities in rural northern counties spread misinformation and launched aircraft surveillance in response to false rumors about antifa ‘infiltrators’, according to records obtained by the Guardian

USA Today:

No vaccination? Americans back tough rules and mask mandates to protect the common good — As a fourth wave of the coronavirus surges, Americans by a wide margin say protecting the common good is more important than ensuring personal liberty when considering whether to require people …

Discussion: Iowa Capital Dispatch and Raw Story