memeorandum: GOP leaders uniting around plan to avoid shutdown (Politico)

2:30 PM ET, November 25, 2014

Top Items:

It's Incredibly Rare For A Grand Jury To Do What Ferguson's Just Did — A St. Louis County grand jury on Monday decided not to indict Ferguson, Missouri, police Officer Darren Wilson in the August killing of teenager Michael Brown. The decision wasn't a surprise — leaks from the grand jury …

Jamelle Bouie / Slate:

Why Darren Wilson was never going to be indicted for killing Michael Brown. — The first Ferguson protests had two slogans: “Hands up, don't shoot”—referring to Michael Brown's final actions before he was killed—and “Justice for Michael Brown.” And when you asked protesters what they meant by …

Discussion: The Federalist, New York Times, Reuters, The Dish and Talking Points Memo

Alana Horowitz / The Huffington Post:

Ferguson Prosecutor Robert McCulloch Gives Bizarre Press Conference — St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch announced on Monday night that Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson would not be indicted for the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown in a press conference that many found baffling, unwieldy and inflammatory.

Discussion: ABC News, Hit & Run, Time, Above the Law and Raw Story

Ron Christie / The Daily Beast:

Justice Was Served in Ferguson—This Isn't Jim Crow America — “Civil rights” figures decided long ago that the only fair outcome would be indictment. But that was driven by ideology, not facts. — The day of reckoning has arrived not just in Ferguson, Missouri but also across America.

Discussion: Hot Air, Betsy's Page and Conservatives4Palin

Lee Enterprises / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Darren Wilson issues statement reacting to grand jury decision — • By Christine Byers cbyers@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8087 — FERGUSON • Lawyers for Darren Wilson issued a public statement Monday night after learning he would not be indicted, saying, in part, that Wilson …

Discussion: CNN, Washington Post, Raw Story, The Huffington Post, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Colorlines, Talking Points Memo, Outside the Beltway, The Gateway Pundit, Time, The PJ Tatler and USA Today

KSDK-TV:

Last Slide — He said gas lines were another challenge faced by firefighters throughout the night. Laclede Gas had to come out to the scenes of the fires to shut off service. — “What I've seen tonight is probably much worse than the worst night we saw a couple of months ago,” St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said.

Discussion: MichelleMalkin.com, Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, Weekly Standard, CBS St. Louis, NOLA River, Reuters, CNN, The Daily Caller, Daily Signal, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, ABC News, Gawker, Scared Monkeys and Time

Tony Romm / Politico:
Rand Paul on Ferguson: Criminal justice reforms part of answer

Discussion: TIME and Hit & Run

Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:
Legal Experts Explain Why The Ferguson Grand Jury Was Set Up For Failure

Discussion: The New Republic, Hot Air, National Review and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo:
Darren Wilson Told Grand Jury That Michael Brown Looked Like A ‘Demon’

Discussion: Fox News Insider, Balloon Juice and Mashable

New York Times:
Protests Flare After Ferguson Police Officer Is Not Indicted

Discussion: Questions and Observations, Hit & Run, Bloomberg Politics, Outside the Beltway, Gawker, Open Culture, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Gateway Pundit, LiberalAmerica.org, CBS St. Louis, ABC News, Scared Monkeys, Riehl World News, New York Magazine and Washington Post

New York Times:
More Troops Sent to Ferguson After Night of Chaos

Discussion: Hot Air, BuzzFeed, Fox News Insider, New York Magazine, Daily Kos, The Other McCain, Ed Driscoll and Twitchy

Brian Beutler / The New Republic:
Go to Ferguson Right Now, President Obama, and Give Your Biggest Race Speech Yet

Discussion: Washington Post, Fox News, Hit & Run, New York Times and Scared Monkeys

Jonathan Capehart / Washington Post:
The crisis of leadership and confidence in Ferguson, Mo.

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Daily Banter, The Dish, Daily Kos, Daily Signal and The Moderate Voice

Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic Online:
Witnesses Saw Michael Brown Attacking-and Others Saw Him Giving Up

Discussion: CNN, Gawker, Talking Points Memo, Outside the Beltway, New York Magazine, Mashable and The Daily Caller

Maria L. La Ganga / Los Angeles Times:
Darren Wilson, recalling shooting, said Michael Brown looked like a demon

Discussion: Conservatives4Palin

CNN:
Streets of Ferguson smolder after grand jury decides not to indict officer

Discussion: Washington Post, FOX2now.com, susiemadrak.com and The PJ Tatler

Syreeta McFadden / Guardian:
Ferguson, goddamn: No indictment for Darren Wilson is no surprise. This is why we protest

Discussion: The Crunk Feminist Collective, Washington Post, Mashable, Slate and New York Times

New York Times:
After Ferguson Decision, Fury Boils Over, From Plains to Both Coasts

Discussion: Althouse

Lee Enterprises / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
IN FERGUSON: Police cars, businesses on fire, “much worse than the worst night” in August, police chief says

Discussion: CBS St. Louis, Reuters, Gawker, Los Angeles Times and Associated Press

Kathleen Hunter / Bloomberg.com:

Democrats Erred by Acting on Health Care in 2010, Schumer Says — Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) — Democrats made a mistake by passing President Barack Obama's health-care law in 2010 instead of focusing more directly on helping the middle class, third-ranking U.S. Senate Democrat Charles Schumer said today.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Political Wire, Weekly Standard and Josh Blackman's Blog

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:

Schumer: Democrats Screwed Up By Passing Obamacare In 2010 — New York Sen. Chuck Schumer said Tuesday that Democrats made a mistake by setting their sights on health care reform early in President Barack Obama's first term, arguing that his party should have focused on fixing the economy first.

Discussion: Balloon Juice and Mediaite

Burgess Everett / Politico:

Schumer slams ‘sensationalist’ press — Government's “failure to deliver” contributed to Democrats' catastrophic losses this fall, but Sen. Chuck Schumer did not blame the Obama administration. Enthusiasm for his own populist Fair Shot Agenda was muted on the campaign trail …

The Hill:

How Obama and Chuck Hagel reached the end of the line — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel's exit from the Obama administration came after weeks of discussion with President Obama over what role he would play in shaping defense policy over the last two years of his term.

Discussion: Scared Monkeys and RealClearPolitics Videos

Glenn Thrush / Politico:
How Obama Dumped Hagel

Discussion: Lawfare, National Review, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, ABC News and Foreign Policy

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
With Chuck Hagel's departure, Obama is turning into George W. Bush

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, RedState, The Week, Fox News, Hot Air, Instapundit, The Moderate Voice and ThinkProgress

Sarah Ferris / The Hill:

‘Stupidity’ consultant agrees to testify — Jonathan Gruber, the former ObamaCare adviser in hot water for his comments about the “stupidity of the American voter,” has agreed to testify at a House panel next month, setting up a healthcare showdown in what could be the final week of this Congress.

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, Washington Times, Mediaite, Liberaland and National Review

New York Times:

F.D.A. to Require Calorie Count, Even for Popcorn at the Movies — WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration will announce sweeping rules on Tuesday that will require chain restaurants, movie theaters and pizza parlors across the country to post calorie counts on their menus.

Discussion: Gothamist, The Incidental Economist, Fitness & Nutrition, New York Magazine, The Verge and Time

Food and Drug Administration:
FDA finalizes menu and vending machine calorie labeling rules

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Reuters and Hit & Run

Joe Millitzer / FOX2now.com:

Body found in Ferguson neighborhood — FERGUSON, MO (KTVI) - A body was found in a Ferguson neighborhood just east of the Canfield apartments in the 9400 block of Glen Owen drive. The body was found in a white Pontiac car parked in a driveway at around 9am. — The driver's side window is shot out.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, New York's PIX11 and Mediaite

Politico:

GOP leaders uniting around plan to avoid shutdown — House Republican leaders are beginning to coalesce around a strategy to avoid a government shutdown in less than a month. — The likely proposal would fund nearly the entire government through September 2015, but immigration enforcement related funding …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Bloomberg Politics and PoliticusUSA

Jason Plautz / National Journal:

Is This Congressman Trying to Name a Climate Denial Theory After Himself? — Sam Rayburn and Philip Hart got office buildings. John McCain and Russ Feingold had the campaign finance reform law. Kennedy and Reagan have airports. — And in his last days in office, Texas Republican Steve Stockman appears …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Political Wire