President Biden grapples with criticism from Republicans like Donald Trump, journalists, pundits, and fellow Democrats over the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan. Then, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy talks with Jon Favreau about the Administration’s announcement that Americans will be offered Covid-19 booster shots starting in late September.

Show Notes

AFGHANISTAN

• NYT: Taliban Takeover in Afghanistan
• USA Today: Afghanistan updates: Ghani accused of stealing $169M, calls to veterans crisis line soar
• Aljazeera: Anti-Taliban protests spread beyond Jalalabad over Afghan flag
• Intelligencer: Supposedly Gentler Taliban Fires Into a Protest Crowd: Updates
• ForeignPolicy: Departure of Private Contractors Was a Turning Point in Afghan Military’s Collapse
• WaPo: He spent his adult life helping U.S. soldiers. Now, he’s desperately fleeing Afghanistan. 
• USA Today: Veterans wanted out of Afghanistan, but sudden collapse brings mental health to light
• ABC: ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos to interview Biden Wednesday
• ABC: Biden says he did not see a way to withdraw from Afghanistan without ‘chaos ensuing’ 
• NYT: Read the Full Transcript of President Biden’s Remarks on Afghanistan
• NYT: Biden stands behind Afghan withdrawal, despite ‘hard and messy’ final days.
• The Guardian: Biden’s speech on Afghanistan was resolute, but lacked contrition or humility 
• NBC: Biden defends Afghanistan policy amid mounting criticism of withdrawal
• Newsweek: 46 Senators Urge Biden Officials to Prioritize Evacuating Afghan Women Leaders to U.S.
• TIME: What Joe Biden Didn’t Say About the Chaos in Afghanistan
• BBC: Biden’s speech on Afghanistan fact-checked
• Yahoo!: Jake Tapper critiques Biden’s ‘finger-pointing’ speech on Taliban takeover in Afghanistan
• CNN: The big hole in Biden’s Afghan speech
• NYT LTE’s: Exit From Afghanistan: The Fallout 
• NowThis: ‘I was appalled’ — Afghanistan war vet Matt Zeller held nothing back after watching Biden’s speech on U.S. withdrawal
• WSJ Editorial Board: Biden to Afghanistan: Drop Dead 
• Playbook: Biden’s big bet on Afghanistan
• NBC News: The coming U.S. political fight over accepting refugees from Afghanistan
• Playbook: The Biden admin’s cold logic on boosters and Afghanistan
• Reuters: Biden approval drops to lowest of 7-month presidency after Taliban takeover 
• FiveThirtyEight: What’s Behind Biden’s Declining Approval Rating 
• FiveThirtyEight: What Americans Think About Ending The War In Afghanistan 
• FiveThirtyEight: Afghanistan Has Fallen To The Taliban. How Will Americans Judge Biden’s Decision To Withdraw? 
• Politico: Biden was barreling toward perilous political waters. Then Afghanistan happened. 
• Morning Consult + Politico (8/13 – 8/16) 
• MSNBC: Afghan women’s rights are threatened — but the GOP isn’t their champion 
• Slate: How the Right Wing Is Using Biden’s Afghanistan Withdrawal to Start a New Culture War 
• Bloomberg: Trump Calls Biden’s Afghanistan Exit the ‘Greatest Embarrassment’
• Reuters: U.S. lawmakers to probe Biden administration over Afghanistan
• FactCheck.org: Timeline of U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan 
• HuffPost: Sean Hannity Turns Criticism Of Biden’s Afghanistan Withdrawal Into MyPillow Ad
• WaPo: Republicans cast aside tensions within the party over Afghanistan to attack Biden’s handling of troop withdrawal
• Vanity Fair: TRUMP HOPES NO ONE REMEMBERS HE PUSHED FOR A FULL AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL IN JUNE
• Politico: Republicans trash Afghanistan ’embarrassment’ in closed-door briefing 
• Slate: Trump’s New Big Lie: Afghanistan 
• Poynter: The good, bad and ugly of the media coverage of Afghanistan
• The Atlantic: Afghanistan Is Your Fault
• WaPo: The Afghan debacle lasted two decades. The media spent two hours deciding whom to blame.
• WaPo: Ted Cruz, and the ugly attacks on CNN’s Clarissa Ward

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