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Archive for July, 2011


Summary: In the race for the Republican presidential nomination, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann has surged into second place behind former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, with support from 16 percent of GOP primary voters, according to a new NBC / Wall Street Journal poll. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on July 21, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that the St. Cloud Times — the largest newspaper in Rep. Michele Bachmann’s congressional district — had a letter to the editor in which the letter writer offered a broad-ranging indictment of Bachmann, in which the congresswoman was characterized as self-centered, unresponsive to the needs of her district, meager in her legislative accomplishments, and shirking the hard work of effective governance. Immelman noted, however, that it was not until the end of the letter that the writer touched on the real problem with Bachmann: her delusion-like paranoia, her shameless conspiracy-peddling, and her incessant fear-mongering.



Summary: Remarks from a radio address by President Ronald Reagan delivered on September 26, 1987, discussing the necessity of the United States meeting its obligations with respect to the national debt ceiling. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on July 20, 2010, Aubrey Immelman provided his weekly report of U.S. military deaths in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.



Summary: A U.S. drone has been shot down by Revolutionary Guard soldiers while flying over a nuclear facility in Iran, according to reports in the Iranian media. Ali Aqazadeh Dafsari, a member of the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, told Iran’s Fars news agency that the drone was trying to gather information about the Fordo nuclear enrichment facility for the CIA. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on July 19, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that Independent gubernatorial candidate Tom Horner met his fundraising goal to qualify for public campaign funds and attracted favorable media attention, demonstrating his viability as candidate for governor of Minnesota.


Jul 18th, 2011

Summary: Former South African president and anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela is 93 years old today. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on July 18, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that twin suicide bombings killed nearly 50 people in Iraq as U.S. combat troops prepared to withdraw by the end of August 2010.



Summary: The first half of this year was the deadliest six months for civilians in Afghanistan since the decade-old war began, according to the country’s U.N. mission. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said that civilian deaths hit a record high in the first half of this year, up 15 percent on the first six months of 2010, due to roadside and suicide bombings, increased ground fighting, and more deadly air strikes. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on July 17, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that as concerns grew about the war in Afghanistan, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton headed to South Asia on a mission aimed at refining the goals of the then nearly 9-year-old conflict.



Summary: Michele Bachmann and her husband Marcus have ended their membership of Salem Lutheran Church in Stillwater, Minnesota, a congregation of the fundamentalist Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, apparently because the sect’s doctrine that “the Pope is the very Antichrist” interferes with Bachmann’s presidential ambitions. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on July 16, 2010, Aubrey Immelman commented on a pro-Bachmann letter to the editor in the St. Cloud Times.


Jul 15th, 2011

Summary: Weekly report of U.S. military deaths in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, compiled from U.S. Department of Defense news releases and iCasualties.org. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on July 15, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported the passage of two years since launching his campaign against incumbent U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann for the Republican nomination in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District.


Jul 14th, 2011

Summary: A new Quinnipiac poll shows Tea Party favorites Michele Bachmann (14%), Sarah Palin (12%), and Rick Perry (10%) are collectively running well ahead of Mitt Romney (25%) in the Republican presidential primary. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on July 14, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that eight American troops were killed in a series of attacks in the Kandahar offensive in southern Afghanistan.



Summary: Ahmad Wali Karzai, brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and one of the most powerful men in Afghanistan, has been assassinated by a bodyguard recruited by the Taliban. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on July 13, 2010, Aubrey Immelman provided his weekly report of U.S. military deaths in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.


Jul 12th, 2011

Summary: Undercover video taken from Marcus and Michele Bachmann’s Christian counseling center reveals that therapists are using prayer and Bible scriptures in “reparative therapy” to help cure people of homosexual tendencies. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on July 12, 2010, Aubrey Immelman featured Part 6 of “The Rise of the New Right: A Hardball Documentary with Chris Matthews,” titled “How the New Right Exploits the Media.”