Current Events and the Psychology of Politics
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Jun 5th, 2011

Summary: Ilyas Kashmiri, a top al-Qaida commander and possible replacement for Osama bin Laden, has been killed in an American drone-fired missile strike in Pakistan’s South Waziristan tribal region, close to the Afghan border. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on June 5, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that an estimated 200 people attended a Tea Party rally at Lake George in St. Cloud, Minn., organized by the local Republican Party. It featured Republican office holders, including Rep. Michele Bachmann, state and local Republican candidates, and rightwing bloggers.


Jun 4th, 2011

Summary: A psychological analysis of former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards reveals that his personality profile in key respects closely resembles that of Bill Clinton. The study, conducted in 2007-2008 and spring 2010 at the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics, identified Edwards’ primary personality patterns as Ambitious/self-serving and Outgoing/gregarious — a personality composite known as the “amorous narcissist” — with secondary features of the Dauntless/adventurous and Accommodating/cooperative patterns.


Jun 3rd, 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 June 3, 2010, Aubrey Immelman featured the latest news on the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill.


Jun 2nd, 2011

Summary: A psychological analysis of former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, conducted in fall 2007 by Julie Seifert, Mick Lundstrum, and Aubrey Immelman, Ph.D., at the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics revealed that Romney’s primary personality pattern is Conscientious/dutiful, with secondary features of the Dominant/asserting and Ambitious/confident patterns — a personality pattern that does not predict presidential electoral success. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on June 2, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that al-Qaida’s third in command, Mustafa al-Yazida (AKA Sheik Saeed al-Masri), had been killed in Pakistan’s border area with Afghanistan in one of the most severe blows to the terror movement since the U.S. campaign against al-Qaida began in 2001.



Summary: When asked at a GOP event in New Hampshire why she did not try to oust Sen. Al Franken in Minnesota rather than try for the White House, Rep. Michele Bachmann responded, “because we need a person who is going to stand up to Obamacare.” … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on June 1, 2010, Aubrey Immelman provided his weekly report of U.S. military deaths in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.


May 31st, 2011

Summary: NATO says attacks on houses in Afghanistan will continue, after an alliance airstrike killed civilians and prompted harsh condemnation from President Hamid Karzai, who said the U.S.-led ISAF alliance risks becoming seen as “occupying force.” … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on May 31, 2010, Aubrey Immelman featured coverage of Memorial Day tributes by President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and major news services.


May 30th, 2011

Summary: In a solemn commemoration of Memorial Day, President Barack Obama participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on May 30, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao expressed no support for proposed U.N. sanctions against ally North Korea over its alleged sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan, declining to join other key nations in blaming Pyongyang.



Summary: The death of Osama bin Laden was more than just a national moment of relief and closure. It was also a measure of payback, a settling of a score for a pair of deaths, the details of which have remained secret for 13 years — CIA operatives Tom Shah and Molly Huckaby Hardy, who were among the 44 U.S. Embassy employees killed when a truck bomb exploded outside the embassy compound in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1998. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on May 29, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that Marine Cpl. Jacob C. Leicht, 24, of College Station, Texas, became the 1,000th U.S. service member killed in Afghanistan when he stepped on an explosive device May 27, 2010 in Helmand province.



Summary: Rep. Michele Bachmann is making plans for a June 2011 presidential campaign announcement in Waterloo, Iowa, the city of her birth. State Sen. Kent Sorenson — a Tea Party Republican who would take a lead role in Bachmann’s Iowa campaign — says, “The people in Iowa are chomping at the bit and ready for her to jump in with both feet.” … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on May 28, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that North Korea accused South Korea of faking the sinking of one of its own warships, the Cheonan, and warned that the Korean peninsula was edging ever closer to war.


May 27th, 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 May 27, 2010, Aubrey Immelman made an appeal to Minnesota 6th Congressional District constituents to fill out the online nominating petition to help him gain ballot access as an independent candidate to challenge Rep. Michele Bachmann in the 2010 general election.