Why Was Al Qaeda In Afghanistan? – The Joe Cunningham Show

The Joe Cunningham Show airs 3-4 p.m. every weekday on NewsTalk 96.5 KPEL. The daily show notes offer you a look into the topics of the day and the links to the top stories and Joe's own writings on the state of politics in Louisiana and around the country. Follow Joe on Twitter at @JoePCunningham and Like the Joe Cunningham Show on Facebook. You can also subscribe to the Joe Cunningham Show podcast on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, or Amazon.

Biden's Afghanistan Failure Spotlighted Again

Last night, the Biden administration began touting that they had killed the late Osama bin Laden's right hand man and current head of al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri. It's always good when one of the mastermind's of 9/11 is brought to justice, but the details surrounding the assassination are raising some eyebrows among the GOP.

Details surrounding the United State's killing of of al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri raises new questions, Rep. Mike Waltz, a former Special Forces officer who served in Afghanistan, told Fox News.

The U.S. killed Zawahiri in a drone strike in Afghanistan over the weekend, President Biden announced Monday night. al-Zawahiri took control over al Qaeda after Usama bin Laden was killed.

"Number one, what was the leader of al-Qaeda doing in Kabul?" Waltz asked. "And from what I'm hearing from a number of folks, both in Afghanistan and in the intelligence community, he's been there for some time. So, what did the Taliban promise him?"

Al-Zawahiri wasn't just in Afghanistan. He was apparently living in a rich neighborhood in Kabul usually designated for high-ranking members of government. You'll note that very few mainstream outlets are asking about this. They are more than happy to cheer on Joe Biden's "victory" here.

Keep in mind that Biden opposed the mission to get Osama bin Laden when Barack Obama was president.

The Advocate Attacks John Kennedy For The Right Vote

Tyler Bridges is going after John Kennedy and propping up Kennedy's longshot Senate opponents in a recent piece about the CHIPS bill. The entire point of the piece seems to be to give a platform to those opponents.

“The CHIPS Act gave Sen. Kennedy an opportunity to side with China or the American people on national security, jobs, and the spiraling cost of necessities like the family car. Kennedy picked China,” Gary Chambers Jr., a social justice activist from Baton Rouge, said in a statement. “My opponent said NO to this bipartisan investment in domestic chip manufacturing that will lower the cost of goods for hard working Americans, create thousands of manufacturing jobs here in the U.S., and strengthen America’s position as a leader in technological advancement. That’s no surprise. “

[...]

“Senator Kennedy talks a lot, but he doesn’t get anything done,” said Luke Mixon, a former Navy fighter pilot who now lives in Baton Rouge and flies for Delta Air Lines. “He had the opportunity to lower costs for Louisiana families, create good American jobs, lessen our dependence upon foreign countries, and strengthen our national security. But once again, he chose party politics over the good of our state and our nation. I would have proudly joined Sen. Cassidy in voting to pass the CHIPS Act.”

Bridges does not go into the bill itself, only accepting the Democrats' talking points here. What they fail to talk about are two top issues: The spending (which Kennedy addressed in a quote in Bridges' story), and how it doesn't really do what it's supposed to.

The $76 billion Chips version is wasteful enough since the pandemic computer-chip shortage is already easing amid slowing demand and new investments in capacity—including new factories in the U.S.
But politicians always want more, and the $250 billion version will help the U.S. compete against China only if you believe that the key to success is a larger federal bureaucracy and more political allocation of capital.
The National Science Foundation will get $81 billion over five years—nearly double its current budget. A Senate Commerce Committee backgrounder says some $20 billion of this will go for a new Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, with the rest earmarked for vague promises to “grow basic research” and “build the STEM workforce” and create “broad-based research opportunities.” When politicians say “partnerships,” they mean big government collaborating with big business.

"Like A Fire Through Dry Grass"

One of the most infuriating stories of the day is the revelation that Andrew Cuomo allegedly knew full-well what would happen if COVID-19 got into nursing homes. But that didn't stop him from ordering nursing homes to take COVID-19 patients.

In the March 15 call, Cuomo allegedly told Kushner, “For nursing homes, this could be like fire through dry grass.”

Cuomo’s subsequent March 25 order said nursing homes weren’t allowed to turn away patients “solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19,” which the families of victims said was a death sentence for vulnerable elderly residents.

Cuomo will never be held responsible for this scandal. He was held accountable for sexual harassment and resigned from office, but thousands of New York families were devastated by a policy he pushed and then tried to cover up.

Headlines Of The Day

• Gary Chambers And James Carville? By All Means, LET THEM FIGHT (The Hayride)
• Pelosi lands in Taiwan, defying Chinese warnings of forceful response (Washington Post)
• U.S. Hits Russian Oligarchs and Companies With New Sanctions (New York Times)
• 'Higher fine' signs going up on Atchafalaya Basin Bridge; see timeline for new changes (The Advocate)
• Airbnb apologizes after Miss. ‘slave cabin’ is listed as luxury getaway (MSN)

Tweet Of The Day

Everything wrong with journalism in one tweet.