memeorandum: US to keep 1,000 more troops than planned in Afghanistan (Bernie Becker/The Hill)

9:05 AM ET, December 7, 2014

Top Items:

James Hohmann / Politico:

Dems' final insult: Landrieu crushed — Cassidy trounces incumbent with Republicans set to control 54 Senate seats in the next Congress. — AP Photo — In the final insult of a devastating 2014 election for Democrats, Sen. Mary Landrieu, the party's last remaining statewide officeholder …

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, Fox News, Outside the Beltway, Power Line and Twitchy

Alexandra Jaffe / CNN:

New Orleans, Louisiana (CNN) — Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu lost her Senate runoff race Saturday night, felled by the red tide that's swept the South and ties to an unpopular President that she couldn't shake. — CNN called the race for her Republican opponent Rep. Bill Cassidy a little over a half hour after the polls closed.

Discussion: Raw Story

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

GOP group seizes on Landrieu's ‘I did not vote for Obama’ remark — Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) slipped and told a conservative radio host on Friday that she did not vote for President Obama. — It was a heated exchange and a source close to the Landrieu campaign said the Louisiana Democrat meant …

Discussion: WGSO and ABC News

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

GOP Senate majority grows as Cassidy crushes Landrieu — Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) easily ousted incumbent Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) in their Senate runoff on Saturday, capping off a dominating midterm election for Republicans. — The GOP's victory in the final race of the 2014 cycle cements …

Discussion: CNN and Washington Free Beacon

Associated Press:

LAST OF SENATE'S DEEP SOUTH DEMOCRATS DEFEATED — BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy has denied Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana a fourth term, calling his Senate victory “the exclamation point” on midterm elections that put Republicans in charge on Capitol Hill …

Discussion: MichelleMalkin.com and Scared Monkeys

Melinda Deslatte / Associated Press:
Louisiana's Senate Race Down to Runoff Saturday

Discussion: Politico

Harry Enten / FiveThirtyEight:
Senate Forecast: Landrieu Headed Toward Historic Defeat In Louisiana Runoff

Discussion: Scared Monkeys and Power Line

Bernie Becker / The Hill:

US to keep 1,000 more troops than planned in Afghanistan — The U.S. will keep as many as a 1,000 extra troops in Afghanistan early next year, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Saturday. — Speaking in Kabul, Hagel said as many as 10,800 troops would be in Afghanistan for the first part of 2015, according to the Associated Press.

Phil Stewart / Reuters:
U.S. to keep more troops in Afghanistan as violence spikes

Discussion: FOX News Radio

Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:

NYTimes Fails to Disclose Clinton Paid for Interviews About Administration — In a five year span, the William J Clinton Foundation gave five grants totaling $851,250 to the University of Virginia's Miller Center. One year in particular, 2007, the Clinton gift was specifically marked: “Oral history project of Clinton presidency.”

New York Times:
Hillary Clinton's History as First Lady: Powerful, but Not Always Deft

Discussion: National Review

Cassandra Rules / The Free Thought Project:

Arizona Cop Caught on Cam Brutally Attacking Teen Girl While Mother Begs Them to Stop — Mesa, AZ- A video was uploaded to Facebook on Friday of a Mesa, Arizona police officer repeatedly punching and attacking a 15 year old girl as her mother begged them to stop.

Discussion: Raw Story and Addicting Info

The White House:

Statement by the President on the Death of Luke Somers — The United States strongly condemns the barbaric murder of Luke Somers at the hands of Al-Qa'ida terrorists during a rescue operation conducted by U.S. forces in Yemen in partnership with the Yemeni government.

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Monthly, American Spectator and BBC

New York Times:
2 Hostages Killed in Yemen as U.S. Rescue Effort Fails

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Addicting Info, New York Magazine, Gawker, The Daily Caller, Business Insider, Althouse and FOX News Radio, more at Mediagazer »

Washington Post:
Hagel: U.S. hostage ‘murdered’ in Yemen

Discussion: New York Times, Mashable and Booman Tribune

Mohammed Ghobari / Reuters:
U.S., South African hostages in Yemen killed in rescue attempt

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, Hot Air and NO QUARTER USA NET

Alan Pyke / ThinkProgress:

Los Angeles Police Shoot, Kill Man Amid Crowd Of Tourists On Hollywood Walk Of Fame — Police taped off the scene of a fatal shooting on Los Angeles' Walk of Fame on Friday night. — CREDIT: KTLA — Los Angeles police officers shot and killed a man Friday night at a busy intersection …

Discussion: Liberal Values and KTLA

Jim Dalrymple II / BuzzFeed:
Police Shoot Man In Front Of Tourists On Busy Hollywood Street Corner

Discussion: Los Angeles Times and Raw Story

Julia Horowitz / Politico:

Why we believed Jackie's rape story — Because it rang true for so many of us on the University of Virginia campus. — CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.— It was a near-unanimous reaction: shock, but not surprise. Disgust, but not doubt. Those were the feelings that characterized the endless conversations …

Discussion: The College Fix

Darlene Superville / Associated Press:

Acid reflux causing Obama's sore throat — 2 photos — BETHESDA, Md. (AP) — Acid reflux is responsible for the sore throat President Barack Obama has complained about for the past couple of weeks, the White House said Saturday, shortly after the president returned from undergoing diagnostic tests at a nearby military hospital.

Discussion: ABC News, The Gateway Pundit, Gawker, CNN, Washington Times and New York Magazine

Associated Press:

Arizona county mulls not hiring smokers — Associated Press 3 hrs ago — TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Pima County will consider later this month whether to no longer hire smokers and put a price on workers who do smoke. — The Pima County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote Dec. 16 …

Associated Press:

Funeral held for man shot by cop in NYC stairwell — Associated Press 6 hrs ago — NEW YORK (AP) — Friends and family members of a man shot by police in a New York City housing project stairwell have recited poems and said prayers at his funeral. — Akai (uh-KY') Gurley's loved ones …

Discussion: Liberaland