The Commentariat -- August 15, 2021
Late Morning Update:
12 noon ET: CNN has reported on-air that the American flag over the U.S. embassy in Kabul has come down. MSNBC reports that the Taliban have entered Kabul "to prevent looting" as the police have abandoned the city.
Ahmad Seir, et al., of the AP: "Afghanistan's embattled president left the country Sunday, joining his fellow citizens and foreigners in a stampede fleeing the advancing Taliban and signaling the end of a 20-year Western experiment aimed at remaking Afghanistan. The Taliban, who for hours had been on the outskirts of Kabul, announced soon after they would move further into a city gripped by panic where helicopters raced overhead throughout the day to evacuate personnel from the U.S. Embassy. Smoke rose near the compound as staff destroyed important documents. Several other Western missions also prepared to pull their people out."
Kylie Atwood & Devan Cole of CNN: "The United States is pulling out all US personnel from its embassy in Kabul over the next 72 hours, including top officials, two sources familiar with the situation told CNN on Sunday. The withdrawal of embassy personnel marks a rapid acceleration of the process that had only been announced on Thursday, and is a situation that many State Department security officials expected would have to happen given the speed with which the Taliban has gained territory in Afghanistan in recent days."
Your Tax Dollars at Work -- for the Taliban. AFP: "The United States spent billions supplying the Afghan military with the tools to defeat the Taliban, but the rapid capitulation of the armed forces means that weaponry is now fuelling the insurgents' astonishing battlefield successes. 'We provided our Afghan partners with all the tools -- let me emphasise: all the tools,' US President Joe Biden said when defending his decision to withdraw American forces and leave the fight to the locals. But Afghan defence forces have shown little appetite for that fight and, in their tens of thousands, have been laying down their arms -- only for the Taliban to immediately pick them up.... Footage of Afghan soldiers surrendering in the northern city of Kunduz shows army vehicles loaded with heavy weapons and mounted with artillery guns safely in the hands of the insurgent rank and file.... Experts say such hauls -- on top of unacknowledged support from regional allies such as Pakistan -- has given the Taliban a massive boost."
California. Vote No! Los Angeles Times Editors, reprinted in Yahoo! News: "Removing [Gov. Gavin] Newsom and replacing him with an untested and unprepared alternative who wouldn't represent the values of most Californians would be a disaster. It would doom the state to months of political and bureaucratic dysfunction and economic uncertainty. And for what purpose?... [Newsom's shortcomings] do not justify using the extraordinary power of recall to remove a legitimately elected governor in favor of someone who may only have a sliver of support from voters.... The 46 candidates vying to replace Newsom -- most of them men, most of them Republican, and most of them utterly unqualified -- offer an endless litany of grievances that are little more than objections to his liberal policies -- policies, we may add, that were clear to everyone when 62% of voters chose Newsom in the 2018 election."
The New York Times' live updates of developments in Haiti Sunday are here: "Haitians trying to evacuate the injured packed the main airport of the earthquake-devastated town of Les Cayes on Sunday, as patients overwhelmed local hospitals and officials raised the death toll to more than 700. A magnitude 7.2 earthquake shook Haiti on Saturday morning, a devastating blow to a country that is still reeling from a presidential assassination last month and that never recovered from a disastrous quake more than 11 years ago."
Amanda Coletta of the Washington Post: "Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, betting that his standing has been improved by his government's response to the coronavirus pandemic while his main opponent has failed to gain traction with voters, on Sunday called a snap federal election for Sept. 20 in a bid to regain a majority in the House of Commons. Trudeau, first elected prime minister in 2015, has led the country for the past 21 months with a minority government. Winning a majority would mean he would no longer need to rely on opposition parties to advance his agenda and stay in power."
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Susannah George & Bryan Pietsch of the Washington Post: "Taliban forces entered Kabul through the city's four main gates Sunday morning, according to two Afghan security officials and civilian eyewitness accounts, in a move that could trigger the collapse of the national government and signal a return to power for the Islamist group two decades after the United States invaded Afghanistan. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement that the group's fighters had been instructed not to push further into the city with force. The militants had made recent gains after negotiating with local leaders. 'We want to enter Kabul with peace, and talks are underway' with the government, he said. There is an agreement that there will be a transitional administration for orderly transfer of power,' said acting Interior Minister Abdul Satar Mirzakwal on Sunday. He added that security forces were being deployed across Kabul to ensure order. The Taliban's lightning quick advance to the Afghan capital came as helicopters landed at the U.S. Embassy early Sunday and armored diplomatic vehicles were seen leaving the area around the compound, the Associated Press reported. Diplomats scrambled to destroy sensitive documents, sending smoke from the embassy's roof, the AP said, citing anonymous U.S. military officials."
Missy Ryan, et al., of the Washington Post: "The lightning collapse [of the Afghan government] is rooted in misplaced assumptions -- including a failure to account for how the U.S. departure would catalyze a crisis of confidence in Afghan leaders and security forces, enabling the Taliban blitz -- from the moment [President] Biden announced the withdrawal this spring. It is equally the product of two decades of miscalculations about transforming Afghanistan and overly optimistic assessments of progress that have plagued the war from its start.... The disintegration of the hoped-for [orderly] withdrawal scenario has left the administration racing to protect U.S. diplomats and struggling to respond to criticism from Republicans and advocates alike. It has also deepened questions about how Biden will reconcile his realpolitik, including the abandonment of women and human rights defenders, with promises to restore core values to U.S. foreign policy." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Assuming this analysis is correct, there was no path for a graceful U.S. exit from Afghanistan, assuming it's not possible to remove tens of thousands of Americans, allies, and Afghan aides from the country in the dead of a single night. So Republicans can play the "shoulda, coulda, woulda" game to their heart's content, the exit Trump precipitated was destined to end in a U.S. embarrassment.
The New York Times' live updates of developments in Afghanistan Sunday are here: "The Taliban's relentless, rapid advance across Afghanistan brought them on Sunday to the outskirts of the capital, Kabul, the last major city controlled by the government.... The U.S. military, meanwhile, has arrived in force to evacuate American diplomatic and civilian staff."
** The End of the Longest War. David Sanger & Helene Cooper of the New York Times: "In the end, an Afghan force that did not believe in itself and a U.S. effort that Mr. Biden, and most Americans, no longer believed would alter the course of events combined to bring an ignoble close to America's longest war. The United States kept forces in Afghanistan far longer than the British did in the 19th century, and twice as long as the Soviets -- with roughly the same results." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
** President Biden's statement on Afghanistan. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Karen DeYoung, et al., of the Washington Post: "With the Afghan capital among the few areas left to conquer, President Biden warned that any moves to threaten American personnel or interests there would be met with a 'swift and strong' U.S. military response from thousands of American troops flooding into the city. Biden, in his first public statement since the administration on Thursday announced the deployment of 3,000 troops to aid in the evacuation of American diplomats and civilians and Afghans who have aided the U.S. government, said the force being dispatched to Kabul would grow to 5,000."
Rachel Pannett, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Taliban's blitz across Afghanistan pushed closer to Kabul on Saturday, as U.S. diplomats appealed to the militants to stop the advance or risk conflict with thousands of U.S. troops flooding into the capital to evacuate U.S. diplomats and other personnel. But in Qatar's capital, Doha, U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad met with Taliban political leaders who had a message of their own: calling for an end to escalating U.S. airstrikes trying to hold the fast-moving push by Taliban forces to gain territory, occupy provincial capitals and hold key roadways. With Kabul in the Taliban crosshairs, the fate of the country's Western-allied government also hung in the balance. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, in his first public appearance since the Taliban's stunning sweep of provincial capitals over the past week, said he was turning to the international community for help even as events appeared to be overtaking him and his administration." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
** Eyal Press in a New York Times op-ed: "Contemporary America runs on dirty work," work done -- usually by low-paid workers -- in penal & mental institutions, immigrations centers, slaughterhouses, overseas sweatshops, & drone-war facilities.... This work sustains our lifestyles and undergirds the prevailing social order, but privileged people are generally spared from having to think about it.... Though more difficult to quantify, the moral and emotional wounds that many dirty workers experience can be as debilitating as material disadvantage.... Pinning the blame for dirty work solely on the people who carry it out can be a useful way to obscure the power dynamics and the layers of complicity that perpetuate their conduct." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
The Pandemic, Ctd.
Aya Elamroussi of CNN: "The US remains among nations with the highest rate of new Covid-19 cases, driven mostly by a surge in the South, where many states are lagging in getting people vaccinated against the coronavirus."
Sharon LaFraniere of the New York Times: "With a stockpile of at least 100 million doses at the ready, Biden administration officials are developing a plan to start offering coronavirus booster shots to some Americans as early as this fall even as researchers continue to hotly debate whether extra shots are needed, according to people familiar with the effort. The first boosters are likely to go to nursing home residents and health care workers, followed by other older people who were near the front of the line when vaccinations began late last year. Officials envision giving people the same vaccine they originally received. They have discussed starting the effort in October but have not settled on a timetable."
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Saturday are here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
California. Lexi Lonas of the Hill: "One person has been hospitalized with a stab wound after fights broke out at an anti-vaccination and anti-mask rally between demonstrators and counter-protestors in Los Angeles on Saturday.... A video of an altercation posted by television producer Alex Kimmel showed a man in camouflage punching a man in yellow shirt before he took a swing at another man with an American flag face covering. Other men can be seen pushing each other and throwing errant punches. One person can be heard in the background yelling 'unmask them all.'"
Mississippi. Nick Judin of the Mississippi Free Press: "Hours after the worst report of new COVID-19 cases in the pandemic thus far, Gov. Tate Reeves gave Mississippi a full-throated endorsement of vaccinations -- but offered inconsistent and hostile messaging on the subject of masks. 'I want to be clear,' the governor said at a press event Friday afternoon, 'I have been vaccinated. My mom's been vaccinated. My dad's been vaccinated. My grandma has been vaccinated. I believe the vaccines are safe, effective and the best tool to beat the virus.'... The governor questioned the value of masks for the vaccinated entirely Friday.... 'If you really want to virtue signal, why are you in this room? Why don't you go to your house and lock yourself up?' Reeves asked Mississippi Today's Bobby Harrison, after Harrison questioned him on his position on masking.... The governor has no training in medicine or health care; he has a bachelor's degree in economics from Millsaps College." ~~~
~~~ Ashton Pittman of the Mississippi Free Press: "An eighth-grade girl died [Saturday] morning in Raleigh, Miss., mere hours after testing positive for COVID-19. Multiple sources told the Mississippi Free Press that the student attended classes at the school most of the week, including Wednesday, before testing positive for COVID-19 at week's end.... The Raleigh student's passing came the morning after a press conference on Friday in which Gov. Tate Reeves reiterated that, unlike last year, he will not mandate masks in schools this fall.... 'If you look at those individuals under the age of 12, what you find is that it is very rare that kids under the age of 12 have anything other than the sniffles [as the result of the coronavirus],' the governor said."
North Carolina. Robert Romero, et al., of WNCT-Greenville: "NC Rep. Keith Kidwell, who serves District 79 and Beaufort County, announced on Friday that he is in the hospital after his wife was diagnosed with COVID-19. It has since been learned both have been diagnosed with the coronavirus.... Kidwell has been vocal about not wearing a mask. He is the chief sponsor of House Bill 572, which would not allow Gov. Roy Cooper to issue an executive order to require vaccination. The bill passed the NC House in May but has not moved further in the NC Senate." MB: Kidwell looks just like a GOP poohbah, with all of the quirks & biases that go with the stereotype.
Washington, D.C. Anne Tate of the Washingtonian: "Unvaccinated DC residents can now get the Covid-19 vaccine brought to them at home. Previously, only homebound residents qualified for the program, but it's now open to anyone. Both the vaccine and the delivery service are free." The article tells you what-all is involved & how you can make an appointment.
News Lede
New York Times: "Tropical Storm Grace formed in the eastern Caribbean on Saturday morning, generating tropical storm warnings for Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and other parts of the Caribbean, and is now expected to bring heavy rain and potential mudslides to Haiti, which was hit by a 7.2-magnitude earthquake on Saturday, the National Hurricane Center said."
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Reader Comments (13)
The real census numbers…
As white supremacists like TuKKKer KKKarlson take up permanent residency on the fainting couch, America begins to parse the new census data that shows a decline in the numbers of white people. KKKarlson whines that Democrats, blahs, and others among the undeserving rabble are cheering the “extinction” of white people.
(These must be the same people Fatty saw dancing in New Jersey on 9/11.)
Because of course, a reduction in the numbers means extinction is imminent. If white supremacy causes this kind of brain dead idiocy, maybe extinction isn’t such a bad idea.
Over on CNN, Bakari Sellers tells Don Lemon that Trump and Obergruppenführer Stephen Miller are at Marred a Lardo “throwing up” over the new census results.
Which makes me wonder what the real numbers are. Fatty and his Bund buddies worked overtime to jimmy the numbers, to scare the crap out of non-whites who even thought about sending in their census reports. Trump’s attempts to hijack the census didn’t play out exactly as he and his racist prick pals might have wished, but I’m betting a more accurate count would have Miller and KKKarlson standing on a ledge.
Nonetheless, the GQP disenfranchisement machine is in overdrive and it remains to be seen if these new numbers will have any real effect. The Party of Traitors is rife with past masters of gerrymandering and white supremacy dirty tricks, so we shall have to see.
It could be that the Fat Fascist and his bigoted horde will have the last laugh, at least for the next ten years.
Regarding the Eyal Press article: Waste collection companies in North Florida are having problems filling truck crews. It's hard, dirty, low paid work, and attempts to automate the salad crews haven't worked well in smaller towns. The result is a reduction or cancellation of yard waste and recycle pickup.
@Akhilleus: The ideal would be that race becomes moot as people of different races "get together" to such an extent that it's hard to tell what race(s) a person might be without doing a DNA test. This won't happen, of course; there are still blond, blue-eyed Sicilians, descendants of Normans who ruled Sicily a thousand years ago.
The Afghan situation is a terrible tragedy directly precipitated by the hubris of Cheney + W. Made more terrible by the former guy of course. In a rational world the good folks of Afghanistan would have read the tea leaves and orchestrated their departure last year or earlier. A silver lining, if any, would be the absolute learning of lesson one: democracy cannot be imposed on top of years of dysfunction. Mea culpa--
Marie,
Or Black Irish, supposedly the descendants of Spanish sailors who washed up on Ireland’s beaches after the destruction of the Spanish Armada, about 500 years ago.
Human genetics and evolution are endlessly fascinating subjects. One reason confederates hate science so much is likely the fact that the study of these subjects has determined that humans evolved in Africa. Just think how much it must gall racists to hear that they carry African DNA, or as Fatty might put it, shithole DNA, although with him, it has mutated to shithead DNA.
Climate change is real! At least in West Michigan. Three days of
storms last week left a third of a million households and
businesses without power and internet. And it was hotter than
hell all week, no air conditioning.
Fortunately our neighbor had a generator installed last spring so
we spent the week running 50 ft extension cords all through the
house and moving them around from coffee pot to freezer to sump
pump to hot plate. Good excercise for six days, but not much sleep.
It's nap time now until lunch.
Events unfolding in Afghanistan demonstrate that American power is limited. The confederates blaming Biden for the current mess were the same ones who lustily cheered on The Decider’s wars based on lies, the invasions that started this whole thing. In both Iraq and Afghanistan, they decided to install Vichy-like governments and filled vital roles with flunkies and stooges, “policy” that was a lead pipe cinch to alienate the population, destroy their belief in the possibility of effective government, and open the door to terrorist insurgents.
After Saddam, Bush installed a guy as leader in Iraq who hadn’t been in the country since the 1950’s! Bush and Cheney sent 20 something evangelicals to run major operations from the Green Zone who knew nothing about Iraq, the history, the politics, the culture, or the language. If anyone deserves blame for the madness over there, it’s that famous painter of piggy toes in the bath.
So Biden inherited a bloody mess. There was no way this was going to end well. Could he have managed the withdrawal better? Sure. But to beat him over the head for trying to deal with an impossible situation created by Republican lies and mismanagement is classic confederate trollery.
Forrest,
In the pantheon of great everyday inventions (up there with duct tape and batteries), we must surely include extension cords, especially those 50 ft. plus orange ones that can be used in or out of doors.
Been a long time since my first computer class.
Remember the arduous and frustrating process of keypunching that stack of cards correctly and of never fully succeeding in eliminating all of the errors that my uncooperative fingers left behind.
Had the program I created so balled up that even the teacher who kindly went through the long pages of printed results couldn't determined why it didn't work the way it should have. As with my German instruction of an earlier period, I had probably attempted something too complicated for the novice I was and have remained.
But the image of those punch cards did leave a mark. The idea of sorting things by pushing a pin or a beam of light through holes to sort one data set from another has stayed with me and comes to mind these days every time I see a masked or maskless face.
As we all know, people sort themselves, too. In our complicated political history, it's just seldom we've done it so neatly. Not just geographically and not just with a flag pin on a lapel, a flag in our yard or on a front porch, or a church we attend or don't, but now with a mask on our face. That mask or its absence has reduced us to mostly identifiable us-es and thems, everywhere.
BTW, outside of the Anchorage airport, I saw very few masks in Alaska, most didn't wear them even in stores, and only one B &B was insistent that social distancing rules were observed.
Missed the news for two weeks but didn't miss the strange times we're apparently still in.
The Taliban enter Kabul to “prevent looting”. Is that like confederates attacking the Capitol to “save democracy” by overturning a fair and legitimate election?
Ken,
Confederate anti-vaxxers are constantly screaming that it’s their “choice” not to mask or get the vaccination. Choice is their watchword, except they’re the only ones who get the choice. If your choice is to wear a mask, they’ll try to rip it off, or more effectively, I guess, stab you.
Btw, while in Alaska, did you stop by Sarah Palin’s front porch to check out what’s happening in Russia, maybe catch some semaphore signals from Putin letting Republicans know how else they can help him shiv democracy and screw America? I guess they don’t need his hints anymore. They’re doing just fine on their own. Maybe he’s sending them a great big KGB thank you!
I'm 100% sure that Sarah can see "The Deplorables" from her front porch; she just needs to stand in front of her mirror. One of the first things they did in Alaska with the oil money was rebuild all the public libraries; it seems like a long time ago since books were read there. The oil biz is one big pustule on the face of Alaska, Texas and money men everywhere.
Akhilleus,
Did drive by Wasilla on the way to Denali. Asked my wife to keep a lookout to see if Russia was visible as we passed by (I was driving the world's largest Mercedes diesel van, which was also Alaska's largest rattletrap so had my full attention on the road) but the week we'd just spent camping and canoeing with the young grandkids and their family had her plumb tuckered out and she fell asleep.
So, sorry. I cannot answer your question.
Did note, however, a lot of big, I mean real big beards on the men, much longer than mine. Maybe that explains the near universal mask absence.