Summary: The number of extremist groups in the United States exploded in 2009 as militias and other groups steeped in wild, anti-government conspiracy theories exploited populist anger across the country and infiltrated the mainstream, according to a report issued today by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on March 3, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that according to some economists, a Depression doesn’t have to be Great, with bread lines, rampant unemployment, and a wipeout in the stock market; the economy can sink into a milder depression — the kind spelled with a lowercase “d” — and it may be happening now.

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Summary: Weekly report of U.S. military deaths in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan), compiled from U.S. Department of Defense News Releases. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on March 2, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that Rep. Michele Bachmann raised eyebrows at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., when she congratulated the new African-American chairman of the RNC with the words, “Michael Steele, you be da man, you be da man!”

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Summary: On yet another of her many out-of-state political appearances, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) spoke to Hamilton County Republicans in Cincinnati, Ohio. Media reporting with added background context. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on March 1, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that Salem-News.com published a commentary on Rep. Michele Bachmann by Dorsett Bennett, a self-described “Independent/Libertarian.” “There’s no point in trying to fact-check such unhinged stupidity,” writes Bennett, “but I should note that none of this is in any way grounded in reality. I should also note that we’re not talking about some strange nut screaming on a street corner; this is all coming from an elected member of Congress.”

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Summary: Saying “I pray for the victims,” Pope Benedict XVI urged survivors of Chile’s devastating earthquake to be courageous and asked the Catholic Church to play a role in relief efforts. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on February 28, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that the Southern Poverty Law Center had released its annual hate group report, titled “The Year in Hate.” The study identified 926 hate groups active in 2008 and found that the number of hate groups had grown by 54 percent since 2000.

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Summary: A tsunami triggered by a magnitude 8.8 earthquake off the Chilean coast is racing across the Pacific Ocean, threatening Hawaii. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on February 27, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that President Barack Obama won crucial backing for his Iraq military withdrawal plan from leading Congressional Republicans, including Senator John McCain and Ohio Rep. John A. Boehner, the House minority leader.

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Summary: Insurgents struck in the heart of the Afghan capital with suicide attackers and a car bomb, targeting hotels used by foreigners and killing at least 16 people and wounding dozen. The four-hour assault began about 6:30 a.m. with a car bombing that leveled a residential hotel used by Indian doctors. A series of explosions and gunbattles left blood and debris in the rain-slicked streets and underscored the militants’ ability to strike in the heavily defended capital even as NATO marshals its forces against them in the volatile south. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on February 26, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that Rep. Michele Bachmann had acknowledged for the first time — at least implicitly — the uproar her controversial public comments have caused.

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Summary: The political movement of Iraq’s best-known anti-American cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, is emerging as a major contender in the March 7, 2010 national elections, raising the specter that the next prime minister of Iraq could be openly hostile to the United States and friendly toward Iran. Further complicating the situation, Iraq’s main Sunni party has said it is dropping out of the elections. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on February 25, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that four U.S. soldiers and an Afghan civilian working for them were killed in southern Afghanistan when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb, while in Iraq two policemen opened fire on U.S. soldiers visiting a police station, killing an American soldier and an Iraqi interpreter, wounding three Americans, and raising concerns about insurgent infiltration among the ranks of Iraqi police.

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Summary: More than eight years after the Taliban was toppled from power, the number of U.S. military fatalities in the war in Afghanistan is nearing 1,000, a grim milestone in a resurgent conflict that is claiming the lives of an increasing number of troops who had survived previous combat tours in Iraq. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on February 24, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that although the worst of the sectarian bloodshed and loss of American lives have ebbed in Iraq, U.S. service members continue to die in the 5-year war.

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Summary: Weekly report of U.S. military deaths in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan), compiled from U.S. Department of Defense News Releases. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on February 23, 2009, Aubrey Immelman featured live coverage of the trial to decide the winner of the Coleman-Franken contest for U.S. Senate, courtesy of The UpTake.

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Summary: Iran says it plans to build two new uranium enrichment facilities deep inside mountains to protect them from attack, a new challenge to Western powers trying to curb Tehran’s nuclear program for fear it is aimed at making weapons. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on February 22, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), criticizing the economic stimulus plan on KTLK radio in the Twin Cities with her trademark gloom-and-doom histrionics, foresaw a “national rationing board,” claimed “your doctor will no longer be able to make your health care decisions with you,” and catastrophized that “we’re running out of rich people in this country.”

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