The President described the evacuation of more than 120,000 people an “extraordinary success” and despite the danger “the women and men of the United States military, our diplomatic corps and intelligence professionals did their job and did it well.”

  Biden nearly skipped over the utter failure of the US-trained Afghan army to defend the country, saying the assumption that they would fight “turned out not to be accurate.”

  What happened was likely inevitable, but Biden has the misfortune of the end coming on his watch.

  The evacuation was complicated by about 5,000 US citizens who had previously said they would stay in the country but suddenly wanted to get out when the collapse came. “The bottom line,” he said, “90 percent of Americans in Afghanistan who wanted to leave were able to leave. And for those remaining Americans, there is no deadline. We remain committed to get them out if they want to come out.”

  Biden said his hands had been tied by the agreement President Trump made with the Taliban. “So we were left with a simple decision,” Biden said, “either follow through on the commitment made by the last administration and leave Afghanistan, or say we weren’t leaving and commit another tens of thousands more troops going back to war.” Biden chose to get out.

After the Storm: In hurricane-devastated Louisiana, the crisis might be just beginning. With temperatures in the 80s, as many as a million people are without power and many will be without it for a month.

  Residents slammed by Hurricane Ida stood in line for food and water yesterday, waiting for some kind of government assistance to come swooping in. Gov. John Bel Edwards admitted that “Many of the life-supporting infrastructure elements are not present, they’re not operating right now.” He said, “The schools are not open. The businesses are not open. The hospitals are slammed. There’s no water and there’s not going to be electricity.”

Limited Access: The Texas legislature gave final passage to its new voting bill, joining 17 other states that imposed tighter voting rules in the wake of unfounded clams that the 2020 general election was rigged for Joe Biden.

   The bill outlaws drive-through and 24-hour voting, which was popular in the largely Democratic Houston area and voters of color. The new law also makes it a felony for election officials to distribute mail ballot applications unless voters ask for them.  It also places restriction on the ability to help other people vote.

  Together, the restriction are expected to reduce voting by minorities.

  Also involving Texas, the Supreme Court decided not to block the state’s new law banning all abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. It has the effect of banning roughly 90 percent of abortions. 

Cancelled: Mike Richards, the television executive briefly named to replace the late Alex Trebek as host of “Jeopardy!” before someone dug up embarrassing things he said on a podcast, is now also out as executive producer of the show as well as EP of “Wheel of Fortune.”

    Sony so far has fumbled replacing the beloved Trebek, who hosted “Jeopardy!”   for 37 years.

  As a Sony executive wrote to the staff, “We had hoped that when Mike stepped down from the host position at ‘Jeopardy!’ it would have minimized the disruption and internal difficulties we have all experienced these last few weeks. That clearly has not happened.”

Thrown for a Loss: In a move that stunned football fans, the New England Patriots released quarterback Cam Newton, a one-time NFL Most Valuable Player, to give the starting job to rookie Mac Jones, who’s fresh out of Alabama.

  Jones took 107 snaps during the pre-season, 36 of 52 passes for 389 yards, with one touchdown and no interceptions. Newton took just 39 snaps, completing  14 of 21 for 162 yards, with one touchdown and one interception.

  Newton previously played nine seasons with the Carolina Panthers and in college had taken Auburn to the national championship.

The Spin Rack: The Navy is looking for survivors after a helicopter from the USS Abraham Lincoln crashed into the Pacific. One person was rescued and at least five are missing. — Seven Black men executed 70 years ago for the rape of a white woman were pardoned yesterday by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, who said the men known as the Martinsville Seven were denied a fair trial because of their race. No white man was ever executed in that state for the single crime of rape. Northam pointed out that all 45 people executed in the electric chair for rape in Virginia from 1908 to 1951 were black. — Reported hate crimes ticked up 6 percent last year, according to the FBI, making it the most in 12 years. — The Social Security fund is projected to be depleted by 2033, a year earlier than previous predictions. — Pop star Britney Spears claims her father is demanding to be paid $2 million to resign control of her conservatorship.

The Baseball Diamond: New York Mets star Javier Baez lost a diamond from an earring somewhere between first and second base near the end of yesterday’s 6-5 win over the Marlins. Or maybe it fell off at home plate. Baez gave up after a post-game search and left it to the grounds crew at Citi Field to hunt for the treasure.

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