Monday News: “The Afghanistan outcome is ugly. Biden was still right to say: Enough.”; “House Democrats return to advance Biden’s agenda in face of crises”; Rep. Spanberger “brushes off Kabul fallout”; “Nearly 300,000 students are returning to the classroom Monday as four school systems in Virginia reopen”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Monday, August 23.

• Denser cities could be a climate boon – but nimbyism stands in the way (“Drawing people into cities could cut emissions and combat housing crises. But even progressives are hard to convince”)
• Chinese Cities Aren’t Ready for Climate Disasters (By the way, just a note that the climate crisis is a gazillion times more important than you’d guess from how much media airtime it gets relative to many other things.)
• Middle East & Africa Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Market to Exhibit 30.8% CAGR by 2028; Increasing Fuel Demand Globally to Bolster Growth (The urgent need to transition to 100% clean energy is also a gazillion times more important than almost anything else the media is obsessed with.)
• Israel finds COVID-19 vaccine booster significantly lowers infection risk
• Haiti’s earthquake is the latest insult on top of too many injuries
• No One in Europe Is Safe From My Country’s Dictator (“…the struggle goes beyond Belarus: All democratic nations have a stake in the future of the country. Not only is there a moral imperative to support our cause, but there’s a strategic one, too, as an autocratic regime threatens to spread chaos across Europe. For the good of the continent, it must be stopped. And Belarusians, who have already come so far, must be free.”)
• Kamala Harris joins diplomatic charm offensive in South East Asia
• Afghanistan: US decision to withdraw lays bare a not so special relationship (“America acted unilaterally over Afghanistan – actually maybe that should be Joe Biden acted unilaterally. The administration was not much interested in what the UK thought”)
• The Afghanistan outcome is ugly. Biden was still right to say: Enough.
• Biden began to rebut negative story lines about Afghanistan
• Biden says safe zone around Kabul airport to expand, as Pentagon enlists commercial airlines to aid evacuations
• U.S. ‘unwavering’ in Afghanistan evacuations, Biden says; Taliban beat back crowd at airport
• Juan Williams: Biden is right on Afghanistan
• Biden says U.S. may extend Afghanistan withdrawal deadline as evacuations continue
• What We Left Behind in Afghanistan
• 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.” Yep, the Bush administration f’ed it up.)
• What The Exit From Afghanistan Tells Us About How Biden Sees The World (“Nowadays, Biden speaks about the most important global struggle as a battle between autocracies and democracies. And Afghanistan isn’t part of that equation. He’s laser-focused on China. And compared to previous presidents, some say, he also seems to understand the limits of American foreign policy.”)
• Firefight involving Western forces at Kabul airport, Afghan guard killed
• Rush of Afghan evacuees to Qatar leaves many crammed in hot hangar, facing an uncertain future
• GOP congressman places blame on Trump admin for crisis in Afghanistan: ‘They set this up to fail’ (Obviously, this is George W. Bush’s war for the most part, and his administration badly screwed it up, but Trump also did a horrendous job and really laid the immediate groundwork for what just happened in Afghanistan.)
• Why the debate on Afghanistan is so distorted (“We keep hearing from all the same people who created this mess in the first place.” Also: “Do you think the corporations that have been feeding at that trough for 20 years were eager to have U.S. involvement end? And might we be skeptical of the opinions of people who serve on the boards of those companies?”)
• Dozens of US Air Force planes head to Kabul as 20,000 people remain at airport
• Biden: Afghanistan evacuations would always have been ‘hard and painful’ (Correct.)
• All These Simultaneous Disasters Are Messing With Our Brains (“The earthquakes and wildfires and wars keep piling up. When does our empathy run out?”)
• Republicans are already using the Afghan withdrawal to argue for more war (Absolutely NOT.)
• Trump’s Border Wall Torn Apart by Arizona Monsoon Rains
• A month later, let’s check in on the GOP’s (supposed) COVID vaccination messaging 180º turnaround
• House Democrats return to advance Biden’s agenda in face of crises (“The process will kick off Monday night. Under Pelosi’s strategy, Democrats will vote to pass a combined rule that would advance three party priorities: the budget resolution to set up the Democratic-only package to expand the social safety net, the bipartisan infrastructure measure and a voting rights bill named for the late Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.). House Democrats, not wanting to block the voting legislation, are expected to stick together on that procedural roll call. But Tuesday is when the wheels could come off.”)
• Let’s take the win. Let’s do infrastructure first.
• Some Americans No Longer Believe in the Common Good (“They now are thinking only of themselves.”)
• Democrats fret over Trump-district retirements ahead of midterms
• Democrats scramble to reclaim lost ground in statehouse battles
• How the political environment is moving toward Republicans
• Tropical Storm Henri Brings Power Outages and Record Rain to Northeast
• School Covid mask rules have sparked parent-teacher violence. We can’t ignore it. (“The teacher is now viewed by a small, loud contingent not as a public servant but as a public enemy.” Very, very disturbing and dangerous.)
• Trump booed at Alabama rally after telling supporters to get vaccinated
• At least 21 dead, 20 missing after ‘catastrophic’ flooding in central Tennessee, officials say
• In the South, We Are Fighting Covid. And Our Own Elected Officials.
• Stanford Going To 100% Renewable Electricity (100% Solar) — 1st Major University In USA To Do So (Every university should do this. Hello UVA? VA Tech? etc.)
• Donald Trump Encouraged People at His Rally to Get Vaccinated. They Booed Him. (This really demonstrates that it’s not just Trump, it’s the MAGA cultists who are as bad or even worse than he is!)
• When Will Texas Say Enough’s Enough to Greg Abbott?
• Conservative Radio Host Phil Valentine Dies After COVID-19 Illness (“Valentine was an outspoken skeptic of coronavirus vaccines, saying he had a low risk of catching the virus. His message changed once he was hospitalized.”)
• State officials open investigation into whether Larry Elder failed to disclose income sources
• U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz marries girlfriend in California elopement (Why is Gaetz not in prison yet?)
• “Trump Was an Inspiration for Me”: Matt Gaetz Tries to Shift the Narrative With a MAGA Romance
• Hundreds clash in Portland as Proud Boys rally descends into violence
• Rachel Maddow signed a ‘much broader deal’ with NBCUniversal. Here’s what it means (“Maddow will pull back from her daily program at some point, which will allow her to concentrate on other productions.”)
• US music star Don Everly dies aged 84 (R.I.P.)
• Democrat brushes off Kabul fallout (“Axios traveled to Virginia’s 7th District last week, where Rep. Abigail Spanberger is running for re-election in a bellwether district. She focused solely on selling President Biden’s stimulus package and the bipartisan infrastructure deal still working its way through Congress.”)
• Trump-Backed Governor Candidate Walks a MAGA Tightrope in Virginia
• Carlyle Alum’s Governor Run Mixes Trump Backing, MAGA-Lite Style (“As a first-time candidate, Youngkin doesn’t have a policy record, but he has hired pro-Trump economist Stephen Moore. He’s been quoting the former president in interviews with conservative talk radio hosts and on the campaign trail.”)
• The Predictable – and Predicted – VA Redistricting Commission Debacle in Graphics (“On 15 procedural and rule votes so far, Republican members have been more unified than Democrats.”)
• Shame put Virginia on course to stronger tenant protections
• Virginians don’t have to show ID to vote anymore. Data shows almost everyone still does. (“Numbers cut against both parties’ talking points”)
• What will climate change do to Hampton Roads? 10 takeaways from new state report (“Climate change ‘will have an increasingly disruptive effect on people living in Virginia’s coastal areas,’ write the authors, who were ordered by the General Assembly last year to study the far-reaching effects of climate change.”)
• A mysterious sickness blinding birds has disappeared as suddenly as it arrived
• Hampton Roads’ population changed over the past decade. Here’s how it could affect redistricting. (“Most localities in Hampton Roads gained population over the last decade, but Norfolk and Hampton lost people, according to the latest Census Bureau numbers.”)
• The COVID conundrum: Regional school boards getting an earful as the pandemic continues
• Students in Fairfax and Prince William counties start new, very different year (“Nearly 300,000 students are returning to the classroom Monday as four school systems in Virginia reopen, including two of the state’s largest districts.”)
• Search for new RTD Opinions Editor is underway (With Pam Stallsmith as Opinions Editor, the RTD editorial page went from horrendously right wing and godawful to perfectly fine, if not particularly exciting. We’ll see what happens next.)
• Hundreds of Afghans arrive at Northern Virginia Community College, greeted by outpouring of support
• Afghan Interpreters and SIV Holders Face Housing Shortage Upon Arrival (“Finding housing is an issue for many Virginians, but it’s also presenting an issue for the organizations trying to resettle some of the Afghans coming to the U.S. on special immigrant visas, Virginia refugee advocates say.”)
• Construction projects underway on Virginia Tech’s campus
• D.C.-area forecast: Another hot and humid week, but not as stormy as the last