7 Things: Afghanistan roils on, Ida drenches the southeast, Brooks still up big in polling but U.S. Senate primary is tightening and more …

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August 30, 2021

7. Charles Barkley came to Alabama to promote the coronavirus vaccine

Former NBA star Charles Barkley traveled to Birmingham’s Legion Field over the weekend to promote the coronavirus vaccine by headlining a vaccine drive. Barkley said, “You don’t get the vaccination just for yourself, you get it for the people around you.”
Barkley went on to say that people “got to stop being selfish, especially for the kids.” There were more than 100 people vaccinated at the event on Saturday afternoon.

6. Barry Moore wants General Milley to understand a different type of rage

U.S. Representative Barry Moore (R-Enterprise) has recently suggested that U.S. Army General Mark Milley needs to understand “red, white and blue rage” due to the American deaths in Afghanistan. Moore was referencing Milley’s previous comments on understanding “white rage.”
Moore said that Americans “are sick of this political correctness, and they’re putting our national security in jeopardy, Americans in harms way and costing American lives. It is troubling for the future of our country. It’s time that these people be held accountable.”

5. Albritton isn’t optimistic about resolving the prison issues in Alabama

In Alabama, there’s a need for new men’s and women’s prisons, but State Senator Greg Albritton (R-Atmore) said that there are still “key things” that have to be resolved. He’s not optimistic on how those could be handled.
According to Albritton, he was previously more optimistic on the issue, but “there continues to be disagreement over key things. We’re still working on it…We’re still having discussions even as we speak.” He added that “it is not an easy path.” Currently, there are about two or three issues that need to be dealt with, but there’s possibly more.

4. Mo Brooks says Biden should be removed from office

In a call that has been echoed by many elected officials, U.S. Representative Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) has called for President Joe Biden to be removed from office through the 25^th Amendment, impeachment or resignation.
Brooks accused Biden of treasonous activity by allowing American weapons to fall into Taliban hands, and he went on to say that “Biden has shown the strength of a marshmallow and the intellectual capacity and judgment of a gnat.” According to Brooks, if Biden won’t resign, he should be removed through the 25^th Amendment. He argued if Vice President Kamala Harris won’t invoke the 25^th Amendment, then he should be removed through the impeachment process.

3. Brooks is ahead, but Britt has gained ground

New polling data from Cygnal on the U.S. Senate race in Alabama has been released, and it shows that U.S. Representative Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) is leading with 40.8%, but Katie Britt is in second at 17.7%, while 31.8% of people remain undecided. A majority of undecided respondents did say that they could support a candidate endorsed by President Donald Trump. Former U.S. Ambassador to Slovenia Lynda Blanchard got 1.6% in the poll, and businesswoman Jessica Taylor got 3%.
Britt’s campaign responded to the new poll saying that there’s a 37-point swing in favor of Britt and that Brooks has “already hit his ceiling.” Brooks reacted to the data by calling Britt a “lobbyist” that helped get former U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) elected. Another pollster’s previous data showed Brooks at 60% and Britt at 9%.

2. Ida has made landfall

Hurricane Ida has made landfall in Louisiana as a Category 4 storm, and federal assistance was already in the area. President Joe Biden has said that assistance will stay “as long as it takes.”
Some of the assistance has been prepared for deepwater recovery and rescue and power restoration. Biden said that he wants “to make sure that we’re ready to surge all the response capacity, capability that we have to deal with whatever comes next, and a lot’s going to be coming.”

1. 11 of the 13 killed in Afghanistan have been returned home

Eleven of the 13 U.S. military members killed in Afghanistan have been returned to the United States at the Dover Air Force Base where President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden received the bodies. The fallen servicemen are Marine Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover, Sgt. Johanny Rosariopichardo, Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, Cpl. Hunter Lopez, Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez, Cpl. Daegan W. Page, Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza, Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz, Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss, and Navy Hospitalman Max Soviak.
Since the attack in Kabul, the U.S. military has responded with an airstrike that took out “multiple suicide bombers” from the ISIS-K terrorist organization that claimed responsibility for the airport bombing. U.S. Navy Captain Bill Urban said they “are confident we successfully hit the target. Significant secondary explosions from the vehicle indicated the presence of a substantial amount of explosive material.”