Afghanistan Falling: The US embassy in Afghanistan has ordered staff to destroy sensitive documents and computers, a sure sign that the State Department believes the country will fall to the Taliban.

  Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, a retired admiral, has kept his cool while deflecting questions about what appears to be a certain ending. He told reporters yesterday, “We are certainly concerned by the speed with which the Taliban has been moving,” but he said, “No outcome has to be inevitable here.”

  The Taliban is gathering for a final assault on the capital, Kabul.

  Kirby said, “We’re still supporting the Afghan National Security and Defense Forces. We’re still supporting the Afghan government, the elected government in Kabul, and that’s what we’re going to be focused on doing.”

  He came closest to acknowledging the true situation when he said, “The deteriorating conditions are a factor, a big factor, in why the president has approved this mission to help support our reduction of personnel there in Kabul.” 

  While the US pulls out, Afghan security forces are melting away in the face of the Taliban and the Pentagon is pleading with them to fight. “We will do what we can from the air, but they have the advantage. They have greater numbers. They have an air force,” Kirby said. “They have modern weaponry. It’s time now to use those advantages.”

In the House: Nine House Democrats say they will not vote for a $3.5 trillion social policy budget until the Senate-approved infrastructure bill passes the House and is signed into law. Those nine Democrats can easily block the bill.

  Their letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi says, “With the livelihoods of hard working American families at stake, we simply can’t afford months of unnecessary delays and risk squandering this once-in-a-century, bipartisan infrastructure package. time to get shovels in the ground and people to work.” 

Covid Nation: As Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to fight mask mandates in schools, three teachers  and a teaching assistant from the state’s Broward County died of Covid-19 this week. Three of the four were unvaccinated.

 DeSantis now admits his threat to cut the salaries of school officials who impose mask mandates is toothless because school personnel are not state employees. The governor could, however, cut state funding to the schools by an equivalent amount. Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran actually suggested that school officials cut their own pay so students are not penalized by a state funding cut. 

  It’s just possible that school superintendents are smart enough not to fall for that.

  Florida and Texas, two major anti-masking states, now account for 40 percent of new Covid cases. And the US now leads the world with the highest rate of new Covid cases.

The Obit Page: Grammy-winning folk singer/songwriter Nanci Griffith has died at the age of 68. Her management team gave no cause, saying in a statement, “It was Nanci’s wish that no further formal statement or press release happen for a week following her passing.”

  Griffith had hits with “Love at the Five and Dime,” “Once in a Very Blue Moon,” and “Outbound Plane.” 

 The Spin Rack: July of this year was the hottest month in 142 years of keeping records, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. — The speaker of the New York Assembly says the body will no longer move to impeach Gov. Andrew Cuomo because he has resigned and getting him out office would have been the purpose of impeachment.  — Six people died in a mass shooting in Plymouth, England, an unusual event for that country. The victims included the shooter’s mother and a 3-year-old girl killed beside her father. The 22-year-old gunman killed himself. — Scientists in China say they have found fossilized remains of two previously unknown species of dinosaur, one of them 54 feet long and the other 70 feet. — Mike Lindell’s deadline for Donald Trump to re-ascend to the presidency passed at midnight and Joe Biden is still president, spending the weekend at Camp David. 

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