memeorandum: Next Up in America: The Liberal Retreat (Walter Russell Mead/The American Interest)

10:45 AM ET, December 21, 2014

Top Items:

2 NYPD cops shot dead ‘execution style’ in Brooklyn — A possible suspect was found shot at the scene and rushed to a nearby hospital. — Two uniformed NYPD officers were shot dead — execution style — as they sat in their marked police car on a Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, street corner.

NY Daily News:

Two NYPD officers dead in ‘ambush’ while sitting in patrol car in Brooklyn by gunman who boasted on Instagram about killing cops for ‘revenge’ (GRAPHIC IMAGES) — Ismaaiyl Brinsley fired at the officers in their squad car outside of the Tompkins Houses in Bedford-Stuyvesant sources said.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Hot Air, Newsmax, Washington Post, Mediaite, Slantpoint, No More Mister Nice Blog, TPNN, National Review, New York Magazine and Hinterland Gazette

New York Times:

Two N.Y.P.D. Officers Are Killed in Brooklyn Ambush; Suspect Commits Suicide — Two police officers sitting in their patrol car in Brooklyn were shot at point-blank range and killed on Saturday afternoon by a man who, officials said, had traveled to the city from Baltimore vowing to kill officers.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, DNAinfo New York, The Week, Raw Story, Outside the Beltway, CBS New York, The Agonist, Patterico's Pontifications, Vox Popoli, Capital New York and WIS-TV

Alyssa Zauderer / New York's PIX11:

VIDEO: NYPD officers turn away from Mayor de Blasio as he enters police presser for murdered cops — PIX11 — Police officers turned their backs on Mayor Bill de Blasio as he walked into the police press conference about the two NYPD officers shot and killed execution-style in Brooklyn.

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News, KTLA, Capital New York, The Huffington Post, Raw Story, CBS New York, Truth Revolt, The Gateway Pundit, Scared Monkeys and fox8.com

Andy Newman / New York Times:

Updates on Fatal Shooting of Two N.Y.P.D. Officers — Updated, 11:17 p.m. Two police officers were fatally shot as they sat in their patrol car in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, on Saturday afternoon. The assailant then killed himself, the police said. Read the full story. — These updates are done for the day.

Discussion: TheBlaze.com, The Huffington Post and Capital New York

Justin Fenton / Baltimore Sun:

Killer of 2 NYPD officers first shot ex-girlfriend in Owings Mills — The shooting of a woman at an Owings Mills apartment complex was the precursor for the ambush killing of two New York City police officers later in the day, law enforcement officials said.

Discussion: NY Daily News, The Gateway Pundit and Business Insider

Fox News:
2 NYPD officers shot, killed in ambush on cop car

Discussion: New York Post, Vox, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, American Spectator, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and The PJ Tatler

CNN:
2 New York police officers shot to death

Discussion: TheBlaze.com, Hinterland Gazette, Balloon Juice and New Jersey 101.5

Rocco Parascandola / NY Daily News:
NYPD cops furious with Bill de Blasio turn their backs on the mayor as he enters hospital where officers died

Discussion: New York's PIX11

Bob McManus / New York Post: There is blood on hands of those who demanded ‘dead cops’

David Mack / BuzzFeed:
Gunman Kills Two NYPD Officers In Brooklyn

Discussion: ThinkProgress and TalkLeft

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
Two NYC Police Officers Assassinated ‘Execution Style’

Discussion: BARE NAKED ISLAM, The Gateway Pundit and TPNN

Alyssa Zauderer / New York's PIX11:
‘They were quite simply assassinated:’ 2 NYPD officers shot and killed execution-style in Brooklyn ambush

Discussion: KTLA, fox8.com and WTVR-TV

Eric Bradner / CNN:

Obama: North Korea's hack not ‘war,’ but ‘cyber vandalism’ — Watch Candy Crowley's interview with President Barack Obama on “State of the Union with Candy Crowley,” Sunday at 9 a.m. ET on CNN — Washington (CNN) — President Barack Obama says he doesn't consider North Korea's Sony hack “an act of war.”

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Outside the Beltway and NPR

Agence France-Presse:

US to review NKorea terror status after Sony hack: Obama — Washington (AFP) - The United States is mulling whether or not to place North Korea back onto its list of state sponsors of terrorism President Barack Obama said Sunday following the communist nation's alleged cyber attack on Sony Pictures.

Discussion: Slantpoint

Lara Jakes / Associated Press:

2014 frustrates US hopes for Israeli-Palestinian peace — WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State John Kerry is ending 2014 much in the same way he started it, frustrated in efforts to push Israel and Palestinians toward peace. — With a diplomatic showdown looming this past week over Arab plans …

Cory Bennett / The Hill: Sony hack reveals threat of ‘psychological’ cyber warfare

Josh Lederman / Associated Press:
US mulls putting NKorea on terrorism sponsor list

Discussion: Associated Press and ABC News

Josh Lederman / Associated Press: Obama: No justification for murder of NYC police

New York Times:
U.S. Asks China to Help Rein In Korean Hackers

Discussion: Fox News, RT and The Verge

Associated Press: GOP to back ‘The Interview’ if it gets to theaters

Josh Lederman / Associated Press: AP source: US seeks China's help after cyberattack

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

Rudy Giuliani: 2 NYC Cops Were Killed Because Obama Told Everyone To ‘Hate The Police’ — Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani attributed the execution-style assassination of two police officers on Saturday afternoon to the protests that broke out across the city following a grand jury's failure …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Hinterland Gazette

Cameron Joseph / The Hill:

Will Jeb stumble in Iowa? — With no love lost for Jeb Bush among the Republican base, the Iowa caucuses could be an early stumbling block in his 2016 quest. — The former Florida governor's business-friendly stances and willingness to criticize GOP hard-liners make him popular with the donor class.

Discussion: Political Wire

Associated Press:

Greek prime minister open to 2015 early elections — Associated Press 1 hr ago — ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece's prime minister says early general elections could be called by the end of 2015 if the current legislature can elect a president and if negotiations with the country's creditors on post-bailout aid are completed.