memeorandum: DOJ to look into N.Y. police case (Jennifer Epstein/Politico)

9:10 PM ET, December 3, 2014

Top Items:

No Indictment in Eric Garner Chokehold Case for N.Y.P.D. Officer — A Staten Island grand jury voted on Wednesday not to bring criminal charges in the death of Eric Garner, a black man who died after being placed in a chokehold by a white police officer. — The decision was reached …

Discussion: The Federalist, JustOneMinute, New York Magazine, NOLA River, Liberal Values, Philly.com, The Intercept, Taylor Marsh, Balloon Juice, Outside the Beltway, Bloomberg View, Shakesville, Gothamist, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Unfogged

Jennifer Epstein / Politico:

DOJ to look into N.Y. police case — For the second time in ten days, the Obama administration is scrambling to contain tensions and anger unleashed by a local grand jury's decision not to charge a white police officer in connection with the death of a black suspect.

Discussion: ABC News, The Moderate Voice, Hinterland Gazette and White House.gov Blog

New York Post:

Cop cleared in chokehold death of Eric Garner — Eric Garner seen during his arrest last August. — A Staten Island grand jury cleared an NYPD cop Wednesday in the chokehold death of Eric Garner during his caught-on-video arrest for peddling loose cigarettes, The Post has learned.

Discussion: Gothamist, theGrio, The PJ Tatler, ThinkProgress, Hit & Run, FOX News Radio, Poynter, PoliticusUSA and Raw Story

ABC News:

Watch: Obama After Eric Garner Decision: ??? This Is an American Problem??? — Some of you may have heard there was a decision that came out today by a grand jury not to indict. Police officers who had. Interacted with the an individual named Eric garner in New York City.

Jesse Byrnes / The Hill:

Former RNC chairman: 'Black man's life not worth a ham sandwich' — Former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele on Wednesday criticized grand jury decisions to not indict white police officers in the deaths of black men in New York and Ferguson, Mo.

Discussion: ABC News, Hinterland Gazette and Political Wire

New York Times:

Grand Jury Said to Bring No Charges in Staten Island Chokehold Death of Eric Garner — A Staten Island grand jury has voted not to bring criminal charges against the white New York City police officer at the center of the Eric Garner case, a person briefed on the matter said Wednesday.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Gothamist, The Dish, Hot Air, Little Green Footballs and Booman Tribune

Daniel Strauss / Talking Points Memo:
Dem Sen. Gillibrand: I Will Ask Justice Department To Investigate Chokehold Death

Discussion: Bloomberg Politics

Washington Post:
No charges for New York officer in chokehold death of Eric Garner

Discussion: Daily Kos, Gawker, New York Times, ABC News and CBS New York

CNN:
N.Y. cop not indicted in chokehold death

Discussion: Christian Science Monitor, Addicting Info, No More Mister Nice Blog and Washington Times

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

ObamaCare author: Health law is ‘really complicated’ — Sen. Tom Harkin, one of the coauthors of the Affordable Care Act, now thinks Democrats may have been better off not passing it at all and holding out for a better bill. — The Iowa Democrat who chairs the Senate Health, Education …

Discussion: Hot Air, Talking Points Memo, Firedoglake, The Daily Caller, Rush Limbaugh, Truthout Stories, Hit & Run, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Taylor Marsh, The PJ Tatler, Ed Driscoll, Weekly Standard, Balloon Juice and Bankrate.com

Thomas B. Edsall / New York Times:

Is Obamacare Destroying the Democratic Party? — Charles Schumer, the third-ranking Democrat in the Senate, has forced a debate over fundamental party priorities out into the open. Should Democrats focus primarily on the problems of the poor or should they first address the economic struggles of the working and middle classes?

Discussion: Hot Air, Washington Monthly, No More Mister Nice Blog, Democratic Strategist and EconoSpeak

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Return of Focus Hocus Pocus — I've been getting correspondence from people saying that I need to respond to Tom Edsall channeling Chuck Schumer on how health reform was a mistake, Obama should have focused on the economy. — The thing is, I responded to this argument four years ago, and everything I said then still applies.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Eschaton

Joe Romm / ThinkProgress:

2014 Headed Toward Hottest Year On Record — Here's Why That's Remarkable — 2014 is currently on track to be hottest year on record, according to new reports from both the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the U.K.'s Met Office Wednesday. Similarly, NOAA reported two weeks ago …

Discussion: Met Office

World Meteorological Organization News:
2014 on course to be one of hottest, possibly hottest, on record

Discussion: bom.gov.au, Mashable, ThinkProgress and Grist

Mollie Hemingway / The Federalist:

Dear Media: This Elizabeth Lauten Nonsense Is Why Everybody Hates You — Last week, President Barack Obama pardoned a turkey prior to Thanksgiving Day, as is tradition. And as in previous years, his teenage daughters Malia and Sasha stood by his side. The daughters are cute as can be …

Discussion: National Review, Hot Air, Fox News, Washington Free Beacon, Patterico's Pontifications, The Daily Caller and Washington Post

Lauren Fox / National Journal:

Ted Cruz Pushes the House to Have All-Out Spending Fight on Obama Immigration Action — Conservatives in the House look to Cruz once again for solutions to stop Obama. — Sen. Ted Cruz is playing de facto House conservatives leader once again. — Taking the podium Wednesday …

Discussion: New York Times, Hot Air and PoliticusUSA

Politico:
Conservatives scoff at Boehner deal

Discussion: Daily Kos, Weekly Standard, The Dish, Outside the Beltway, The PJ Tatler and New York Times

The Hill:
Reid backs Boehner on deal to avoid government shutdown

Discussion: Politico, Hot Air and RedState

Plain Dealer:

Cleveland officer who shot Tamir Rice had ‘dismal’ handgun performance for Independence police — Adam Ferrise, Northeast Ohio Media Group By Adam Ferrise, Northeast Ohio Media Group — CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Cleveland police officer who shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice had issues …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Gawker, The Daily Caller and Mediaite

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:

Mike Huckabee: Brown Could Have Avoided Death “If He Behaved Like Something Other Than A Thug” — “I'm gonna tell you something âÂ” what gets you shot is when you grab a police officer's gun, and you lunge at him, and you try to hit him in the face. View Video ›

Discussion: Mediaite and Washington Monthly

Associated Press:

Watchdog reveals thousands of docs relating to disclosure of taxpayer data to White House — A woman walks out of the Internal Revenue Service building in New York. — An IRS watchdog is acknowledging that thousands of documents related to requests between the White House and the tax agency for unauthorized tax information exist —

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, Washington Free Beacon, Hot Air and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Barbara Starr / CNN:
Hagel refused to hold off resignation announcement in spite of White House wishes

Discussion: American Spectator, Hot Air, Fox News, The Daily Caller, Politico, Bloomberg View and Reuters

Alexandra Jaffe / CNN:

Ben Carson stands by comparison of U.S. to Nazi Germany — Washington (CNN) — Neurosurgeon Ben Carson stood by his controversial comparison of the United States to Nazi Germany in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Wednesday. — Asked by Blitzer whether he would amend or take back his comments, Carson said “Absolutely not.”

Discussion: Daily Kos, National Review, Bloomberg Politics and Wall Street Journal

Dan Cahill / Chicago Sun Times:

4 Downs with Mike Ditka: Ferguson, Forte and is Briggs a HOFer? — Before Sunday's game, five St. Louis Rams players took the field in a “hands up, don't shoot” solidarity protest for Ferguson and Michael Brown. — Neither the NFL nor the Rams penalized the players for their actions.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, TPNN, Mediaite and USA Today

Steve Almasy / CNN:

Charles Barkley: We never talk about race until something bad happens — Watch Brooke Baldwin's full interview with Charles Barkley on CNN on Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET — (CNN) — Charles Barkley — who once said he doesn't create controversies, he just brings them to our attention — is at it again.

Discussion: Liberaland, SBNation.com, theGrio and CBS St. Louis

Jason Hanna / CNN:
Michael Brown's stepfather sorry for outburst

Discussion: BizPac Review, New York Times and The Gateway Pundit

Ashe Schow / Washington Examiner:

If false, Rolling Stone story could set rape victims back decades — If the Rolling Stone story regarding the account of “Jackie,” a University of Virginia student allegedly gang raped as part of a fraternity initiation didn't happen the way it was described, rape victims and advocates trying …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Los Angeles Times, Gawker, Washington Post, JustOneMinute and The Daily Caller

Maggie Haberman / Politico:

Clinton in the void — She faces a challenge in how to spend her time before a 2016 decision — She's not going to announce her 2016 plans for at least another six weeks — possibly longer. — So the question for Hillary Clinton has become how to fill the space between the midterms …