Extra, Extra

“Blindsided veterans erupted in anger and indignation Thursday after Senate Republicans suddenly tanked a widely supported bipartisan measure that would have expanded medical coverage for millions of combatants exposed to toxic burn pits during their service.” Crazy, disgusting, un-American. Jon Stewart has been pushing the bill and shared some thoughts on Fox News. “I want to dispel some of the misinformation that has been put out about this bill. No spending that is not related to veterans has been added to this bill … Hunter Biden didn’t sneak in and add in unrelated spending in the middle of the night.”

+ Disappearing Ink: WaPo (Gift Article): “Text messages for President Donald Trump’s acting homeland security secretary Chad Wolf and acting deputy secretary Ken Cuccinelli are missing for a key period leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to four people briefed on the matter and internal emails.” (Puts the Hillary email story into perspective, no?)

+ Appalachian Floods: “Search and rescue teams backed by the National Guard looked Friday for people missing in record floods that wiped out entire communities in some of the poorest places in America.” Appalachian floods kill at least 16 as rescue teams deploy.

+ To the Viktor Go the Spoils? “He was entrepreneurial, not ideological, selling to governments that were fighting rebels, and to rebels who were fighting governments. Separating fact from fiction has often been difficult when documenting Bout’s work, but many reports said he even sold arms to both sides in the same conflict.” Who is Viktor Bout, the prisoner the U.S. may trade for Brittney Griner?

+ Drill Baby, Drill: The least surprising lead of the day. “Oil companies swam in record profits over the last few months at a time when Americans struggled to pay for gasoline, food and other basic necessities.”