memeorandum: Obama Briefed on Violence in St. Louis Suburb (Julie Pace/ABC News)

4:20 PM ET, August 14, 2014

Top Items:

Sen. Rand Paul / TIME:

Rand Paul: We Must Demilitarize the Police — Anyone who thinks that race does not skew the application of criminal justice in this country is just not paying close enough attention. And the root of the problem is big government. — The shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown is an awful tragedy …

Bloomberg:

St. Louis County Police to Be Removed From Ferguson: Clay — Missouri Governor Jay Nixon will announce that St. Louis County law enforcement will be relieved of duty in Ferguson, which has been roiled by protests after the shooting death by police of an unarmed teenager, according to Representative William Lacy Clay.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Bloomberg View, Featured stories, UPROXX, Hot Air, addictinginfo.org, The Huffington Post, ABC News and CNN

Karoli / Latest from Crooks and Liars:

Ferguson Police Chief Turns To Hannity To Handle His PR — After a long day of crowd control and reporter arrests, the chief made an appearance on Sean Hannity's show to reassure everyone he had things under control. — Police Chief Thomas Jackson took a breather from all of his responsibilities …

Discussion: Balloon Juice and Slate

Adam Serwer / msnbc.com:

In Ferguson, the blurred line between law enforcement and combat — The photograph shows a man with his hands raised in surrender or protest, and a clutch of police, clad in camouflage and body armor brandishing assault rifles. The patches on their shoulders read “police,” but they look like soldiers.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Raw Story, Gawker, Daily Kos, Colorlines, Independent Journal Review, Jezebel and Bloomberg View

Burgess Everett / Politico:
Claire McCaskill: ‘We need to demilitarize’

Discussion: New York Times

Julie Pace / ABC News:
Obama Briefed on Violence in St. Louis Suburb

Discussion: Politico and WANE-TV

KSDK-TV:
Nine charged for alleged Ferguson looting

Discussion: National Review and Daily Kos

Mary Katharine Ham / Hot Air:
Free societies require more of police than turning tough situations into militarized zones

Discussion: RedState and Mediaite

Dylan Scott / Talking Points Memo:
Ferguson's Police Got Free Military Gear Straight From The Pentagon

Discussion: Fox News, Newsweek, The Raw Story and lehighvalleylive.com

Washington Post:
Even before Michael Brown's slaying in Ferguson, racial questions hung over police

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Huffington Post, National Review, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Verge, Washington Post, Mediaite, Outside the Beltway, The Raw Story, Vox, Colorlines, susiemadrak.com, Booman Tribune and Hit & Run, more at Mediagazer »

Ross Kaminsky / American Spectator:
Ferguson on Fire — As the suicide of Robin Williams …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, CNN, Colorlines and Washington Post

Catalina Camia / OnPolitics:
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon criticized for slow Ferguson response

Discussion: Washington Post, Colorlines, msnbc.com, Mashable and ThinkProgress

USA Today:
Pentagon fueled Ferguson confrontation: Column

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The New Republic, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, KSDK-TV, The Hill, Washington Post, RedState, The Raw Story, Crooked Timber, BillMoyers.com, ABC News, The Lead with Jake Tapper and Business Insider

Stephanie Baumer / KMOV-TV:
Alderman Antonio French released from police custody in Ferguson

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Huffington Post, ABC News and Latest from Crooks and Liars

Matt Pearce / Los Angeles Times:
Two reporters briefly detained near protest in Ferguson, Mo.

Discussion: CNN, Business Insider, Firedoglake, KTLA, UPROXX and The Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »

Mark Berman / Washington Post:
Washington Post reporter arrested in Ferguson

Discussion: The Huffington Post, USA Today, msnbc.com, The Intercept, Firedoglake, Taylor Marsh, ThinkProgress, Politico, Hit & Run, The Raw Story, alicublog and Right Wing News, more at Mediagazer »

Casey Nolen / KSDK-TV:

TV crews hit by bean bags, tear gas — AL JAZEERA AMERICA TV crews were overcome with tear gas fired near their vehicle in Ferguson, Missouri, Wednesday night. Minutes later, police took down the crew's light kit, and pointed their camera at the ground. KSDK — CONNECT

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, New York Times, PoliticusUSA, The Raw Story, Poynter and TwitLonger, more at Mediagazer »

Jelani Cobb / New Yorker:

What I Saw in Ferguson — Nothing that happened in Ferguson, Missouri, on the fourth night since Michael Brown died at the hands of a police officer there, dispelled the notion that this is a place where law enforcement is capable of gross overreaction. Just after sundown on Wednesday …

Discussion: Washington Post, Prairie Weather, ABC News, KMOV-TV, The Huffington Post, Deadline, Here & Now, The Daily Caller and ThinkProgress, more at Mediagazer »

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Losing perspective in Ferguson — The popular line on Ferguson, Missouri — the site of ongoing protests over the police shooting of an 18-year-old African-American — is that it's become an American Iraq. The Huffington Post banner reads “Baghdad USA.” Lydia Polgreen, deputy International editor …

Discussion: The Daily Banter, Mediaite, Washington Post, Poynter, National Review, Here & Now, Talking Points Memo and No More Mister Nice Blog

Ashley Alman / The Huffington Post:

Huffington Post Reporter Arrested In Ferguson — The Huffington Post's Ryan J. Reilly and the Washington Post's Wesley Lowery were arrested Wednesday evening while covering the protests in Ferguson, Missouri after the death of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown, who was shot by a police officer last week.

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:
Politico's Media Reporter Says Arrested Journalists 'Aren't Heroes'

Discussion: Washington Post and Politico, more at Mediagazer »

Allie Jones / Gawker:
Joe Scarborough: Reporters Arrested in Ferguson Just Want Attention

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, UPROXX and Hullabaloo

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney.com:

“Meet the Press:” Gregory out, Todd in — NBC will name Chuck Todd the new host of “Meet the Press” as soon as Thursday afternoon, according to people with direct knowledge of the network's plans. — The sources confirmed widespread speculation that David Gregory, who moderated the show …

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, Booman Tribune, Outside the Beltway, TVNewser, The Huffington Post and FishbowlDC, more at Mediagazer »

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:

Did MSNBC's Ticker Just Confirm That Chuck Todd Is Taking Over ‘Meet The Press’? — CNN's Brian Stelter reported that NBC could officially name Chuck Todd as the new host of “Meet the Press” as early as Thursday afternoon. But confirmation of the change may have gone largely unnoticed.

Discussion: TVNewser

Brent Budowsky / The Hill:

Clinton hurt 2014 Dems — Democrats face potentially catastrophic midterm elections that could leave Republicans and conservatives in control of the House, the Senate and the Supreme Court. Yet while Democrats face a political state of emergency, Hillary Clinton this week launched …

Discussion: Politico, Liberal Values, Outside the Beltway, Taylor Marsh, Washington Post and New York Times

William Douglas / News, sports and weather …:
Clinton's lead over GOP candidates shrinking

Discussion: CNN and Politico

Politico:
Democrats to White House: Immigration's your call

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill and National Review

Peter Beinart / The Atlantic Online:
How Money Warps U.S. Foreign Policy

Discussion: The Federalist, LewRockwell, Conservatives4Palin and The Boston Globe

Kyle Mantyla / Right Wing Watch:

Steve King: Since Ferguson Rioters Are All Of The Same ‘Continental Origin,’ Racial Profiling Is Not A Concern — Rep. Steve King appeared on Newsmax TV yesterday, where host J.D. Hayworth asked him about the rising tensions in Ferguson, Missouri and the call by members of the Congressional Black Caucus …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, CNN, BuzzFeed, Roll Call, The Moderate Voice, Washington Monthly, Hinterland Gazette, Mediaite and Daily Kos

Ahiza Garcia / Talking Points Memo:
Rep. Steve King: Ferguson Protestors Are Of A Single ‘Continental Origin’ (VIDEO)

Discussion: Daily Kos

Washington Post:

Transcript: Obama's remarks on unrest in Ferguson, Mo., and Iraq — President Obama delivered the following remarks Thursday in Edgartown, Mass., on the unrest that has followed the police shooting of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Mo., on Saturday. — PRESIDENT OBAMA: Good afternoon, everybody.

Discussion: TalkLeft and Shakesville

Washington Post:
Obama administration shows little urgency for stemming Islamic State violence

Discussion: Power Line and Booman Tribune

New York Times:
Militants' Siege on Mountain in Iraq Is Over, Pentagon Says

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Guardian, BillMoyers.com, Hot Air and The Hugh Hewitt Show

New York Times:

Where We Came From, State by State — We charted how Americans have moved between states since 1900. See how your state has changed: — These charts were compiled using Census microdata obtained from ipums.org at the University of Minnesota Population Center.

Discussion: City Desk, Here & Now, Washington Center … and ImmigrationProf Blog

Wall Street Journal:

Israel Outflanks White House Over Gaza — The Obama administration has tightened control on arms transfers to Israel since learning last month that the Israeli military had been securing supplies of ammunition from the Pentagon without its approval.

Discussion: The Times of Israel, Guardian, Hot Air, Mondoweiss, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Israel Matzav, Fox News and Washington Free Beacon

Jodi Kantor / New York Times:

As Work Shifts Vary, Family's Only Constant Is Chaos — Like increasing numbers of low-income mothers and fathers, Ms. Navarro is at the center of a new collision that pits sophisticated workplace technology against some fundamental requirements of parenting, with particularly harsh consequences for poor single mothers.

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Balloon Juice