Current Events and the Psychology of Politics
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Jun 16th, 2010

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.


Jun 11th, 2010

Summary: On Friday, June 4, 2010 the Washington Post published a mildly critical, though occasionally admiring, profile of U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann. … Excerpts and annotations. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on June 11, 2009 Aubrey Immelman presented his psychological evaluation of Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, with personality profile and threat assessment, conducted at the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics.


Jun 5th, 2010

Summary: 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. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on June 5, 2009 Aubrey Immelman reported that initial reports regarding the circumstances surrounding actor David Carradine’s death led him to suspect it was likely the result of a tragic accident, namely a botched case of autoerotic asphyxiation.


Jun 4th, 2010

Summary: Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) is proposing an essentially socialist solution to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, favoring a government takeover of the clean-up effort and suggesting the federal government should seize citizens’ private property in its power grab. Bachmann’s socialist proposal clearly constitutes a degree of government overreach that would be nothing less than tyranny and gangster government. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on June 4, 2009 Aubrey Immelman reported that al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden released two messages to convince Muslims they should hate President Barack Obama, in a PR offensive that analysts said showed the terrorist organization worried the new president would succeed in improving America’s image in the Muslim world and undermine the group’s jihad, or holy war.


May 27th, 2010

Summary: An appeal by Aubrey Immelman to Minnesota 6th Congressional District constituents to fill out the online nominating petition that will help him gain ballot access as an independent candidate to challenge Rep. Michele Bachmann in the 2010 general election. … Please download, print, sign, and mail the petition to Immelman for Congress, P.O. Box 117, Sartell, MN 56377. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on May 27, 2009 Aubrey Immelman reported that Army chief of staff Gen. George Casey said the Pentagon was prepared to leave fighting forces in Iraq for as long as a decade despite an agreement between the United States and Iraq that would bring all American troops home by 2012.


Apr 7th, 2010

Summary: Aubrey Immelman announces a second challenge to incumbent Rep. Michele Bachmann for her U.S. House of Representatives seat in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, on a platform of national security, law and order, fiscal responsibility, and opposition to political extremism. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 7, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that President Barack Obama had flown unannounced into Iraq and, cheered by U.S. troops, declared it’s time for Iraqis to “take responsibility for their country” after America’s commitment of six years and thousands of lives.


Apr 5th, 2010

Summary: The Associated Press reviewed tea party operations in almost every state, interviewing dozens of local organizers as well as Democratic and Republican strategists to produce a portrait of the movement to date — and its prospects for tilting the November 2010 midterm election. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 5, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that North Korea had fired a multistage rocket over Japan, defying Washington, Tokyo, and other world leaders who suspect the purpose of the launch was to test its long-range missile technology.


Mar 22nd, 2010

Summary: On Saturday, March 20, 2010 Republican delegates at Minnesota’s Sixth District GOP convention in St. Cloud voted unanimously to return U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann to Congress for a third term. History will marvel that any American political party could set the bar so low as to give Bachmann its unanimous approval. Here’s why. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on March 22, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that according to NBC News chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel, the Iraq war was in a sixth phase — “America’s exit strategy” — the first five phases having been “shock and awe” (March-April 2003), “nation-building” (2003-2004), “insurgency” (2004-2005), “civil war” (2006-2007), and “the surge” (2007-2008).


Mar 1st, 2010

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.”


Oct 2nd, 2009

Summary: As though vying for the title of “World’s Greatest Exaggerator,” U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, U.S. Fearmonger-in-Chief, this week made the histrionic claim that by next fall “someone’s 13-year-old daughter could walk into a sex clinic, have a pregnancy test done, be taken away to the local Planned Parenthood abortion clinic, have their abortion, be back, and go home on the school bus that night … [with] Mom and Dad … never the wiser.” … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on the 23rd day after losing his 2008 primary challenge against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, Aubrey Immelman, in line with his focus on national security, provided an October 2008 update of key facts, figures, and statistics on Iraq since the war began in March 2003. He also reported on suicide bombings at two Shiite mosques in Baghdad that killed 24 people and wounded more than 50, a missile strike by a suspected U.S. drone in the northwest Pakistan tribal region near the Afghan border, ongoing violence in Iraq, and the reduction of U.S. military deaths in Iraq as Iraqi security forces increasingly take the lead in counterinsurgency operations.