The war in Afghanistan is over. The political battles continue.
Good evening,
This afternoon — midnight Kabul time — the last American troops left Afghanistan, bringing an official end to the U.S. involvement there that began in 2001. But debate continues over how President Joe Biden managed the withdrawal and whether the U.S. should have stayed longer to evacuate Americans and Afghans who want to flee the country but have not yet left. [Read more from The Associated Press]
Minnesotans at the State Fair sounded off to an MPR reporter on the issue, and those who were willing to share their views were largely critical of how Biden handled the withdrawal. [Read more from Mark Zdechlik]
And/but: Don't put too much weight on this kind of anecdotal data when deciding what people think. This wasn't a random sample of fairgoers. It was people who were willing to share their views with a reporter. This response-rate bias can be a problem with scientific polling, too — there are some suggestions that at least part of Biden's recent decline in the polls could be due to Republicans becoming relatively more likely to talk to pollsters than they used to be. [ Read more from G. Elliott Morris]
Over the weekend, hundreds or thousands of people rallied at the Minnesota State Capitol in opposition to mandatory COVID-19 vaccines and face coverings. Prominent Republicans including gubernatorial candidate Scott Jensen and incumbent lawmakers Jim Abeler and Mary Franson addressed the crowd. [Read more from Tim Nelson]
In his speech, Abeler suggested the Minnesota Senate should fire Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm — a step the Senate has so far refused to take. [Read more from Tim Pugmire and Tim Nelson]
Abeler also alleged that more than 200 Minnesotans had died "from the [COVID] vaccine." That number isn't true; I broke down where he got it and what it really means. [Read more]
A Minnesota judge will decide soon whether to suspend a 2020 law raising the bar on police use of lethal force. At a hearing today, law enforcement groups argued the law was unconstitutional and unworkable, while attorneys for Minnesota said opponents should work to change the law in the Legislature. [Read more from Brian Bakst]
State Rep. Erin Koegel cut off three fingers in a power saw accident over the weekend. Doctors were able to reattach one of the severed fingers. She is currently recovering. [Read more from KSTP's Tommy Wiita]
Longtime DFL lawmaker Jerry Newton, who is about to turn 85, will retire at the end of this term. [ Read more from Brian Bakst]
State Sen. Michelle Benson will make a "statewide campaign announcement" Wednesday — probably launching a long-rumored gubernatorial bid.
Embattled state Rep. John Thompson appeared for a session at the Minnesota House of Representatives' State Fair booth. Thompson, who attracted a large crowd of media, declined to comment on any of his ongoing controversies. [Read more from Dave Orrick of the Pioneer Press]
Former Senate GOP leader David Hann is running for chair of the Minnesota Republican Party. Hann previously ran for the job back in 2017, losing to Jennifer Carnahan, whose resignation created the vacancy he's now running to fill. [Read more from the Star Tribune's Briana Bierschbach]
Gov. Tim Walz joined MPR Friday morning to talk about the pandemic, civil unrest, drought and his reelection prospects. [ Listen]
The Minnesota State Patrol arrested four people Friday in an attempt to clear the Capitol grounds of a protest against the Line 3 oil pipeline. [Read more from Tim Pugmire]
Walz is having difficulty trying to recruit a new pollution control commissioner. His last one was forced out by the Republican-controlled Minnesota Senate, and if Walz loses the 2022 election, any choice now would be out of the job after just one year. [ Read more from the Minnesota Reformer's J. Patrick Coolican]
The U.S. Supreme Court, as expected, blocked President Joe Biden's eviction moratorium Thursday night. [Read more from NPR's Krishnadev Calamur and Chris Arnold]
Local angle: This doesn't affect Minnesota, where a law passed this summer keeps parts of an eviction moratorium in place through next summer.
Minnesota congressional staffers have been scrambling to try to get people out of Afghanistan. [ Read more from MinnPost's Ashley Hackett]
A fascinating look inside the hidden war between the Taliban and ISIS. [Read more from the Wall Street Journal's Alan Cullison]
Why are so many people taking ivermectin, a horse dewormer, in an attempt to treat or prevent COVID-19? It's one of several drugs some people have taken as an ostensible "miracle cure" despite little to no evidence of efficacy, and things have gotten weird. [ Read more from NBC's Ben Collins]
Minnesota is one of a majority of states where all statewide elected officials are members of the same political party. There are six states where all statewide elected officials are the same party with a lone exception. [Read more from Smart Politics' Eric Ostermeier]
Something completely different: Hurricane Ida, which devastated Louisiana over the weekend, was so powerful it caused the Mississippi River to flow backward. It's only the third time in recorded history that this has happened, two of which have been hurricanes this century: Hurricane Isaac in 2012, Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and powerful earthquakes in 1812. [Read more from Charles Fishman]
Listen: With the declared end of the U.S.'s two-decade military involvement in Afghanistan today, this might be a good time to revisit Phil Ochs' bitterly ironic 1968 song, "The War Is Over." [Listen] | |
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