memeorandum: Ferguson Library Sees ‘Staggering’ Spike In Donations After Grand Jury Decision (Catherine Thompson/Talking Points Memo)

4:00 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 …

Wbastone / The Smoking Gun:

Michael Brown's Stepfather Urged Protesters To “Burn This Bitch Down” After Grand Jury Announcement — Buster — Michael Brown's stepfather last night repeatedly urged protesters to “Burn this bitch down” after a prosecutor announced that no criminal charges would be filed against the Ferguson …

Discussion: Liberaland, Mediaite, FOX News Radio and National Review

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, PoliticusUSA, New York Times, Reuters, Guardian, 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: Firedoglake, Yahoo! News, Time, ABC News, Hit & Run, Above the Law and Raw Story

Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic Online:

Witnesses Saw Michael Brown Attacking-and Others Saw Him Giving Up — A grand jury in St. Louis County, Missouri, has ruled that there is no probable cause to believe Officer Darren Wilson committed a crime when he killed Michael Brown. Put another way, in their estimation …

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

Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo:

Ferguson Library Sees ‘Staggering’ Spike In Donations After Grand Jury Decision — The Ferguson, Mo. Public Library saw a “staggering” spike in donations Tuesday in the wake of widespread unrest in the St. Louis suburb. — While area schools cancelled classes for the day following …

Discussion: Time, KSDK-TV and Mediaite

Ron Christie / The Daily Beast:
Justice Was Served in Ferguson—This Isn't Jim Crow America

Discussion: Hot Air, Betsy's Page and Conservatives4Palin

KSDK-TV:
Last Slide — He said gas lines were another challenge faced …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, MichelleMalkin.com, Washington Post, Weekly Standard, CBS St. Louis, Reuters, NOLA River, CNN, The Daily Caller, Daily Signal, susiemadrak.com, Gawker, Scared Monkeys and Time

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

Discussion: Yahoo! News, Washington Post, Fox News, New York Times, Hit & Run, Scared Monkeys and Christian Science Monitor

Lee Enterprises / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Darren Wilson issues statement reacting to grand jury decision

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, 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

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

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

New York Times:
After Violent Night in Ferguson, State Acts to Protect People and Property

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

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

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

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

Discussion: The Dish, Balloon Juice, Fox News Insider and Mashable

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

Discussion: Conservatives4Palin

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

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

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

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

Discussion: Raw Story, The Daily Banter, Daily Kos, The Dish, Firedoglake and Daily Signal

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, Josh Blackman's Blog and Weekly Standard

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

Discussion: Hot Air

Sen. Rand Paul / TIME:

Rand Paul: The Politicians Are To Blame in Ferguson — The failure of the War on Poverty has created a culture of violence and put police in a nearly impossible situation. — We are witnessing a tragedy in Ferguson. This city in Missouri has become a focal point for so much.

Discussion: Bloomberg Politics

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

Discussion: Hit & Run

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, ABC News, National Review, Wall Street Journal, ABC News and New York Times

Yascha Mounk / New York Times:

Is Harvard Unfair to Asian-Americans? — CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — NEARLY a century ago, Harvard had a big problem: Too many Jews. By 1922, Jews accounted for 21.5 percent of freshmen, up from 7 percent in 1900 and vastly more than at Yale or Princeton. In the Ivy League, only Columbia …

Discussion: National Review and The Dish

Ken Kurson / The New York Observer:

Sen. Ted Cruz, '16 Presidential Hopeful, Woos New York Jewish Donors — 'I don't think I'm all that conservative'; If not a love match, at least some serious flirting — Ted Cruz addresses a small lunch group, including from left Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, Michael Steinhardt, Ken Abramowitz and Mort Klein.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, US News and The PJ Tatler

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

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, Mediaite, FOX News Radio and New York's PIX11

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

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

Discussion: Reuters, Hit & Run 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.