•President Biden will address the nation 1 p.m. Eastern time today on the crisis in Afghanistan. The Pentagon says it has evacuated more than 7,000 Afghans so far, and expects to evacuate another 6,000 shortly (NPR), but multiple reports say approaching Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul continues to be dangerous for Afghans, with Taliban checkpoints on the periphery (AP).
•Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency says the death count from last weekend’s earthquake is at nearly 2,200 (AP).
Three More Senators have Contracted COVID-19 – Sens. Roger Wicker, R-MS, John Hickenlooper, D-CO and Angus King, I-ME, announced Thursday they have tested positive for COVID-19, The Washington Post reports. All three are vaccinated and have reported mild symptoms. Earlier in August, Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-SC, announced he had tested positive for the coronavirus.
•••
Man Arrested for Threatening Attack on Washington, DC, Taken into Custody -- A man from North Carolina who U.S. Capitol Police say claimed to have an explosive device in this truck that could destroy two blocks of Washington, D.C., was taken into custody Thursday, The Washington Post reports. The man, identified as Floyd Ray Roseberry, 49, of North Carolina, held off police for approximately five hours before surrendering. Homes and congressional office buildings in the area were evacuated, although it should be noted that neither the House of Representatives nor the Senate were in session this week.
Prior to that he was posting to Facebook Live, railing against the Biden administration and other Democrats. There was no bomb in his vehicle, although authorities say there were materials that could be used to build one on board.
Note: The man parked his vehicle near the Library of Congress, the nation’s oldest cultural institution and the largest library in the world. Books. Coincidence that the man parked there? What is more damning is that Rep. Mo Brooks, R-AL, released a statement that is interpreted as being supportive, as in: “Although this [alleged*] terrorist’s motivation is not yet publicly known, and generally speaking, I understand citizenry anger directed at dictatorial Socialism (sic) and its threat to liberty, freedom and the very fabric of American society. The way to stop Socialism’s (sic) march is for patriotic Americans to fight back in the 2022 and 2024 elections. I strongly encourage patriotic Americans to do exactly that more so than ever before.” When did voting become equated with fighting?
(*: We add “alleged” to Brooks’ statement, as the man in custody has yet to face trial. –Ed.)
•••
Texas Has a Quorum for Voter Bill – Almost six weeks after Democrats in the Texas state legislature hightailed to Washington, D.C., to avoid a quorum for a controversial Republican bill that would regulate voting rights in the name of voting “security,” a sufficient number of legislators has returned to Austin for a quorum, The Texas Tribune reports. State officials counted 99 members present (including Rep. Steve Arison, a Republican from San Antonio, isolated in a side room of the Capitol after he had tested positive for COVID-19), and 49 absent.
Note: Amid reports that Republicans quietly began negotiating with some Democrats on the voting regulations, the Texas Democrats fractured in their positions regarding the legislative situation in their and some remain in Washington, according to the Tribune, where House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, plans to conduct a procedural vote involving the John Lewis Voting Right Advancement Act. Meanwhile, Attorney General Merrick Garland has indicated that the Justice Department will aggressively challenge what it determines are states’ voting regulations that are meant to suppress voting rights. It’s far from over for the Texas legislature.
--Edited by Todd Lassa and Gary S. Vasilash