Anywhere between 10,000 and 40,000 American lives are now held hostage by resurging Taliban rule in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has gone into hiding.

Last Friday, as the Taliban took four more capital cities and advanced upon Kabul, the president headed to Camp David on vacation. In the week that followed, Biden emerged only to give 20 minutes of petulant remarks on Monday and then to sit with George Stephanopoulos, the former Clinton communications director-turned-ABC News anchor, for a solo interview.