Summary: The Center for Public Integrity reports that Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) wrote behind-the-scenes letters requesting stimulus funds from the federal government. “Porkulus” Bachmann repeatedly badmouths “the failed Pelosi trillion-dollar stimulus,” yet slinks back when she thinks no one is watching to grovel for pork. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on October 19, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that the father of Army Spc. Stephan Mace, killed in action near Kamdesh, Afghanistan, when several hundred Taliban fighters armed with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades attacked and nearly overran Combat Outpost Keating, said the U.S. was “fighting a war with too few people” and that the troops at Kamdesh were “sitting ducks.”

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Summary: “Rise of the New Right: A Hardball Documentary with Chris Matthews” — Part 1: Don’t Tread on Me. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on July 7, 2009 Aubrey Immelman reported that seven U.S. troops died in three attacks in Afghanistan, on the same day that Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, issued new guidelines limiting the use of airstrikes against residential compounds and other locations likely to produce civilian casualties, alienating Afghan villagers and causing loss of support for the Afghan government and the international mission.

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Summary: The growing fear among some citizens of losing their rights and freedoms has created a political backlash toward the U.S. government and manifested itself in violent rhetoric and anti-government groups who want to “take their country back.” MSNBC’s Chris Matthews takes a hard look at the recent surge of anger on the political right in “Rise of the New Right: A Hardball Documentary with Chris Matthews.” In this blog entry, Aubrey Immelman chronicles the rise of rightwing extremism in America following the election of Barack Obama as president of the United States in November 2008. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on June 16, 2009 Aubrey Immelman reported that North Korea threatened a “fire shower of nuclear retaliation” if provoked by the U.S., but that U.S. officials were downplaying any imminent threat to the United States of a North Korean missile strike or confrontation between the two countries at sea.

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Summary: In his 2009 Thanksgiving message, President Barack Obama calls the nation’s attention to the men and women in uniform who are away from home sacrificing time with family. He also talks about health care reform, the Recovery Act, and job creation. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on November 26, 2008, Aubrey Immelman reported that Iraq had lost more than half of its Christian population of some 1 million in an exodus that began after the 1991 Gulf War and escalated dramatically after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

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Summary: On Saturday afternoon, March 21, 2009 Rep. Michele Bachmann said on WWTC 1280 AM radio that she wants people in Minnesota “armed and dangerous” on the issue of an energy tax, “because we need to fight back” and “having a revolution every now and then is a good thing.” Eric Ostermeier reported Bachmann’s remarks on “Smart Politics,” the blog of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, where it was picked up by other media outlets.

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