Dem Notes

  • While the military leadership didn’t exactly respect having Donald Trump as commander in chief, the chaotic and humiliating withdrawal from Afghanistan hasn’t made his successor a comrade in arms. Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, seemed to be speaking through gritted teeth when he stated: “In war you do what you must in order to reduce risk to mission and force, not what you necessarily want to do.” That’s about as diplomatic as a general can be in the context of a de facto, CYA retreat.
  • The first two 9/11 hijackers to arrive in the U.S. ahead of the 2001 attack were welcomed and assisted by a Saudi Arabian diplomat. That fact has festered for two decades for victims’ families and helps explain the motivation to push for the declassification of long secret documents related to the attack. As a result, the president, who made a campaign pledge to release more information, has executive-ordered the FBI to complete its declassification review by Sept. 11, 2022. “Information should not remain classified,” said Biden, “when the public interest in disclosure outweighs any damage to national security.”
  • Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., should not be this important. But in the context of $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation spending, he is.
  • “Republicans refusing to support anything on voting rights is not an excuse for Democrats to do nothing.”—Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

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