A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things.
Capitalizing On War Casualties To Own The Libs
Overheated Republican members of Congress are already calling for Biden’s resignation and/or removal from office after the bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul left at least 13 U.S. troops and dozens of Afghan civilians dead.
- Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) said the deaths were “a product of Joe Biden’s catastrophic failure of leadership.”
- Hawley: The President “has neither the will nor the capacity to lead.”
- “He must resign,” the Missouri Republican said in a statement.
- Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) tweeted that Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Milley “should all resign or face impeachment and removal from office.”
- Far-right troll Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) is fundraising over it:
Joe Biden needs to resign. Kamala and Nancy can follow him out the door!
I will be using the powers available to me as United States Congresswoman to bring real leadership back to America.
Support me in this effort today: https://t.co/H1HSfDVu5Q pic.twitter.com/t56fa1uzNz
— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) August 26, 2021
White House press secretary Jen Psaki fired back at the GOP lawmakers in the evening, saying “[t]his is a day where U.S. Service members lost their lives at the hands of terrorists. It’s not a day for politics.”
"This is a day where U.S. service members, 12 of them, lost their lives at the hands of terrorists. It's not a day for politics." — White House press secretary Jen Psaki on two Republican senators calling for President Biden's resignation pic.twitter.com/XZI822r3hZ
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) August 26, 2021
The Police Officer Who Shot Ashli Babbitt Speaks Out
Identifying himself publicly for the first time, Capitol Police officer Michael Byrd told NBC News that he did what he had to do when he fatally shot the Jan. 6 insurrectionist who tried to break into the hallway as members of Congress were fleeing from the violent pro-Trump mob.
- “I know that day I saved countless lives,” he said. “I know members of Congress, as well as my fellow officers and staff, were in jeopardy and in serious danger. And that’s my job.”
Lt. Michael Byrd, who shot Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt during the Capitol riot, says he has been in hiding for months after he received a flood of death threats and racist attacks.
“I believe I showed the utmost courage on Jan. 6 and it's time for me to do that now" pic.twitter.com/2kaAxy8yGc
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) August 26, 2021
A Slap On The Wrist
South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg pleaded no contest to two traffic misdemeanors over a car crash last year in which he fatally struck a pedestrian and claimed not to know he had hit a person until discovering the body the next morning (investigators said they found the victim’s glasses in Ravnsborg’s car).
- Ravnsborg, who didn’t attend the hearing, pleaded no contest through his lawyer to using an electronic device while driving and changing lanes illegally. Prosecutors dropped the third charge of reckless driving.
- Ravnsborg was ordered to pay a fine of $500 for each misdemeanor and court fees.
- He released a self-pitying statement afterward complaining that “partisan opportunists from both sides of the aisle” had “manufactured rumors, conspiracy theories and made statements in direct contradiction to the evidence all sides agreed upon.”
SCOTUS Blocks Biden Eviction Moratorium
The Biden administration’s new extension of the eviction moratorium did not survive its first contact with the Supreme Court.
- The Aug. 3 extension was designed to sidestep the concerns the court had previously voiced obliquely about an extension not authorized by Congress. It didn’t work.
- The unsigned opinion was unusual for its length under the circumstances.
- The court’s three liberal justices dissented.
Breyer Hamlets Over Retirement
The 83-year-old justice talked to the New York Times about the hard decision to retire:
- “I don’t think I’m going to stay there till I die — hope not.”
- In Breyer’s classic roundabout fashion, he summarized opaquely:
“There are a lot of blurred things there, and there are many considerations. They form a whole. I’ll make a decision.”
Scared Of TMac?
State Republicans are trying to get Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe kicked off the ballot on a legal technicality, a tactic that will almost certainly go nowhere.
- The party is suing for McAuliffe’s removal on the basis that the signature area of his “Declaration of Candidacy” form is blank.
- WaPo:
Republicans touted the lawsuit on social media, but a similar suit against McAuliffe argued last week by a pair of Virginia voters failed to persuade a Richmond judge to halt the printing of ballots for the November election.
Must Read
“Vaccine conspiracy theorists become even more desperate after full FDA authorization” – The Washington Post
A Doctor Saw Dollar Signs In The Anti-Mask War
A doctor in Tallahassee, Florida got fired from a hospital for selling mask opt-out notes to anti-mask parents for $50 a pop.
- The guy got caught because he peddled his services on Facebook. “I am a real doctor,” he wrote in one of his posts.
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