memeorandum: GOP plotting to block DC's new pot law (Mike Lillis/The Hill)

8:40 PM ET, November 24, 2014

Top Items:

Helene Cooper / New York Times:

Hagel Said to Be Stepping Down as Defense Chief Under Pressure — WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is stepping down under pressure, the first cabinet-level casualty of the collapse of President Obama's Democratic majority in the Senate and a beleaguered national security team …

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

With Chuck Hagel's departure, Obama is turning into George W. Bush — When Barack Obama looks in the mirror these days, he must see a terrifying visage staring back at him: that of George W. Bush. — In a cruel echo of history, Obama is morphing into the president whose foreign policy he campaigned to overturn.

Discussion: Hot Air and The Moderate Voice

David Weigel / Bloomberg Politics:

John McCain: Chuck Hagel ‘Was Up to the Job’ — John McCain wasn't going to let the administration get away with its spin. Early Monday morning, before daylight in Arizona, Helene Cooper reported that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel would be stepping down, and that he was pushed.

Discussion: US News, No More Mister Nice Blog, Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, Time, Mashable, The PJ Tatler, Washington Free Beacon and The Agonist

Jim Miklaszewski / NBC News:

Forced Out: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to Step Down — According to one senior official, “He wasn't up to the job.”

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Time, National Review, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, American Spectator, BillMoyers.com and Betsy's Page

Kevin Lamarque / The Daily Beast:
Hagel Takes a Bullet for Obama: Inside the Defense Secretary's Sudden Firing

Discussion: Liberaland

Max Boot / Commentary Magazine:
Is a National-Security Shakeup Coming?

Discussion: New York Times, Hot Air, CNN, BuzzFeed and National Review

William Kristol / Weekly Standard:
How Do You Spell Scapegoat? H-A-G-E-L

Discussion: NBC News, US News and New York Times

ABC News:
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to Step Down

Discussion: Politico, Associated Press and abc7news.com

Washington Post:

Grand jury reaches decision in case of Ferguson officer — A grand jury has reached a decision on whether to indict Darren Wilson, the white Ferguson, Mo. police officer whose fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager sparked days of turbulent protests, sources close to the process said.

Discussion: Raw Story, AMERICAblog News, Daily Kos, The Daily Caller, The Daily Banter, American Spectator, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Mediaite

CNN:

Ferguson grand jury announcement expected Monday — Ferguson, Missouri (CNN) — Law enforcement authorities in Ferguson are prepared for a wide range of public reaction expected to follow the announcement of the grand jury decision in the Michael Brown shooting, Missouri Public Safety Director Daniel Isom said Monday on CNN.

Discussion: New York Times, The Lead with Jake Tapper, Q13 FOX News, naked capitalism, The PJ Tatler, Washington Post, New York Magazine, Hot Air, FOX News Radio and Scared Monkeys

Manny Fernandez / New York Times:

Live Updates From Ferguson on the Grand Jury Decision in Michael Brown Shooting — Journalists with The New York Times in Ferguson, Mo., and around the country are following the work of the grand jury in the shooting death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager who was fatally shot Aug. 9 by Darren Wilson, a white police officer.

Discussion: Riehl World News

Lee Enterprises / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Darren Wilson has married his girlfriend

Discussion: Gawker, Philly.com and New York's PIX11

Eric Bradner / CNN:
Poll finds racial divide over Wilson charges

Discussion: Hot Air

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney.com:
Exclusive: Why TV anchors met secretly with Ferguson officer who shot Michael Brown

Discussion: theGrio, New York Magazine, Politico and Mediaite

Kevin Cirilli / The Hill:
Giuliani: Ferguson debate misdirected

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Daily Kos

USA Today:
Reports: Ferguson grand jury has made decision

Discussion: National Review

Katie Glueck / Politico:

Al Sharpton: Rand Paul's outreach to blacks could hurt Democrats in 2016 — The Rev. Al Sharpton says Rand Paul's efforts to engage black voters could present a strategic challenge for Democrats: If the Republican senator runs for president, fewer African Americans may be motivated to show up and vote against him.

Discussion: Mediaite

Olivia Nuzzi / The Daily Beast:
Rand Paul Declares War on ISIS—and Allows Boots on the Ground

Discussion: Hit & Run, FOX News Radio and Political Wire

John McCormick / Bloomberg Politics:
Rand Paul Shows Early Strength in New Hampshire Poll

Discussion: NOLA River, Yahoo! News, OnPolitics, Washington Post and Political Wire

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:
Rand Paul Calls for a Formal Declaration of War Against ISIS

Discussion: Bloomberg Politics, New York Magazine, The Dish, Hot Air, Time, CNN and National Review

Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo:

Police: Woman Saying She's ‘Ready For Ferguson’ Shoots, Kills Self By Accident — St. Louis police were investigating an incident in which a woman waving a gun inside a vehicle and saying she was “ready for Ferguson” apparently shot herself in the head by accident, CNN reported Sunday.

Discussion: Mediaite and Booman Tribune

Shimon Prokupecz / CNN:
Police: Woman allegedly kills herself with gun bought to prepare for Ferguson unrest

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, Gawker, Time, Liberaland and Raw Story

David Carr / New York Times:

Calling Out Bill Cosby's Media Enablers, Including Myself — Amid the public revulsion at the news that Bill Cosby, a trailblazing black entertainer, allegedly victimized women in serial fashion throughout his career, the response from those in the know has been: What took so long?

Discussion: Mediaite, Bloomberg View, Colorlines and NY Daily News, more at Mediagazer »

Erin Alberty / Salt Lake Tribune:

Killings by Utah police outpacing gang, drug, child-abuse homicides — 1. Officer Bron Cruz' body camera shows him beginning to raise his gun toward Dillon Taylor as Taylor walks away. 2. Taylor continues to face away from Cruz. Cruz can be heard ordering Taylor, “Get your hands out, now.”

Discussion: Raw Story, Gawker, Talking Points Memo, Balloon Juice and Colorlines

BBC:

Turkey president Erdogan: Women are not equal to men — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said women cannot be treated as equal to men, and has accused feminists of rejecting motherhood. — “You cannot put women and men on an equal footing,” he told a meeting in Istanbul. “It is against nature.”

Discussion: Political Wire and New York Magazine

George Packer / New Yorker:

The Quiet German — The astonishing rise of Angela Merkel, the most powerful woman in the world. … “We're finding that the ones we tested perfume and makeup on are extremely attractive to me.” — BUY OR LICENSE » … “All right, buddy, that'll be a ten-dollar corkage fee.”

Discussion: The Dish

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:

LEAKED>>> Prosecutor's Office: NO INDICTMENT in #MikeBrown Case — NO INDICTMENT IN MIKE BROWN CASE— From a source inside the Prosecutor's Office - NO INDICTMENT in the Michael Brown case. — Heard from a SEPARATE NEWS SOURCE same news - No Indictment.

Discussion: Mediaite, Viking Pundit and Vox Popoli

William H. Frey / The New Republic:

The Suburbs: Not Just for White People Anymore — The new racial dynamics of the American dream, in three eye-opening graphics — The classic image of an American metropolis was that of a polyglot city surrounded by mostly white suburbs—the “chocolate city/vanilla suburbs” of the 1950s and 1960s …

Discussion: Booman Tribune

Robert Barnes / Washington Post:

Supreme Court case tests the limits of free speech on Facebook and other social media — The Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg) — About a week after Tara Elonis persuaded a judge to issue a protective order against her estranged husband, Anthony, her soon-to-be ex had this to say:

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Hot Air and US News