'Don't you ever forget that name': Biden's tough meeting with grieving relatives  —  President Biden made his way on Sunday around a quiet room at Dover Air Force Base, a chamber filled with couches and chairs, with dignitaries and grieving families huddling together as the president came …

Joe Biden's Critics Lost Afghanistan  —  A month ago I thought I was a cynic about our 20-year war in Afghanistan.  Today, after watching our stumbling withdrawal and the swift collapse of practically everything we fought for, my main feeling is that I wasn't cynical enough.

No, the Taliban did not seize $83 billion of U.S. weapons  —  “ALL EQUIPMENT should be demanded to be immediately returned to the United States, and that includes every penny of the $85 billion dollars in cost.”  — Former president Donald Trump, in a statement, Aug 30

The New Puritans  —  “It was no great distance, in those days, from the prison-door to the market-place.  Measured by the prisoner's experience, however, it might be reckoned a journey of some length.”  —  So begins the tale of Hester Prynne, as recounted in Nathaniel Hawthorne's most famous novel, The Scarlet Letter.

Joe Biden ended the war in Afghanistan after 20 years.  That's a BFD.  —  OK, I'll say it again: I was wrong about Joe Biden.  —  During the 2020 presidential primaries, I was aghast at the prospect of an Iraq War supporter winning the Democratic nomination.

Axios-Ipsos poll: Vaccine hesitancy may be crumbling  —  Vaccine hesitancy in the U.S. is showing signs of crumbling, according to the latest installment of the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index.  — Fewer adults than ever now say they won't take the shot, and in the past two weeks …

Taliban Seek Friendly U.S. Ties as Challenges Mount After War  — Militant leaders meet at airport after last U.S. soldiers exit  — China calls on world to provide Taliban economic assistance  —  The Taliban called for friendly ties with the U.S. hours after the last American soldiers flew …

Trump acolytes poised to push out Senate dealmakers  —  If Senate Republicans seem conservative now, just wait until next year.  The 2022 midterms could usher in a wave of full-spectrum MAGA supporters who would turn the GOP conference an even deeper shade of red — and make the Senate a lot more like the fractious House.

GOP Congressman Says He Wants to Bust Out Jan. 6 ‘Political Prisoners’  —  When Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn was asked about what he's doing to help the hundreds in jail awaiting trial for their roles in the violent January 6 riots, he called them “political prisoners”—and said he wanted to “bust them out.”

Former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell is being sued for billions over election fraud claims.  She sat down with Four Corners  —  You can watch this and read at the same time with picture in picture  —  For weeks after the US election, high-profile Fox News anchors peddled Donald Trump's …

Independence MO says positive case traced to public hearing |  The Kansas City Star  —  Two weeks after Independence leaders rejected a proposed mask mandate promoted by the city's own health advisers, the city is encouraging anyone who attended that public meeting to get tested for COVID-19.

Trump's pick in a key Senate race touts his agriculture ties.  He doesn't mention his role in a bankruptcy that cost farmers millions.  —  As Rep. Ted Budd launched his campaign for a pivotal U.S. Senate seat earlier this year, the North Carolina Republican pitched himself as a staunch ally of farmers.

Biden Waived Congressional Mandate for Report on Afghanistan Withdrawal Risks  —  President Joe Biden waived a mandate in June that would have forced the Pentagon to provide a detailed report to Congress about the risks of leaving Afghanistan.  —  Under the federal statute …

Forest Service officials confirm all California national forests to temporarily close  —  All of California's national forests will be closed beginning late Tuesday.  —  The closures will go into effect at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday and stay in place until the same time on Sept. 17 …

Federal Judge Strikes Down Trump Rule Governing Water Pollution  —  The rule allowed fertilizers, pesticides and industrial chemicals to flow into small streams, marshes and wetlands.  The judge warned of environmental harm.  —  WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Monday struck …

The Intolerable Wait for a Kids' Vaccine  —  Julie Swann, an engineer who studies health systems and models infectious disease at North Carolina State University, leads a team of researchers who recently tried to simulate how the Delta variant of the coronavirus could move through schools in various scenarios.

The Density Divide and the Southernification of Rural America  —  The Old North/South Split Lives on in the Urban/Rural Divide  —  When I was a kid, the accents changed.  Driving north from central Iowa through the corn toward Minnesota, the dialect would gradually get a little Fargo …

What Voters in a California Swing District Say About Afghanistan  —  In a battleground district, even some Trump voters said they were hesitant to hold President Biden accountable for the casualties and chaos in the U.S. pullout from Afghanistan.  —  HACIENDA HEIGHTS, Calif. …

Why France was more clear-eyed about Afghanistan than the US  —  Paris, which started evacuating Afghans and staff in May, had ‘more dispassionate’ assessment of same intelligence  —  In May — three months before the fall of Kabul to the Taliban — France began evacuating Afghans working …

Biden brings the world closer to nuclear war  —  Over the past six months, the world has edged closer to nuclear war than it has been since the Cuban Missile Crisis.  The Doomsday Clock is ticking toward midnight.  The global power balance has been dramatically reshuffled …

The QAnon crowd has a familiar face: How right-wing cults have always plagued our politics  —  The latest white guy going on a rage-bender before being “respectfully” taken into custody for “mental health evaluation” was at the Miami airport, an incident that broke the internet last week.

We're Giving Up On Afghanistan—and the Americans Still There … The human tragedy is incalculably vast, and the political ramifications of abandoning American citizens to the Taliban could also be hugely significant.  —  Nemo resideo is a Latin phrase that means, “Leave no one behind.”

Democrats in This Red State Learned to Fight Back Over COVID-19  —  Cities, counties, and school boards are defying the governor and legislature—and mandating masks and other public-health measures.  —  Coronavirus infections are on the rise.  Vaccination rates are lagging.