Current Events and the Psychology of Politics
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Summary: The bomb attack and shooting spree that killed 76 people in Norway on Friday, July 22, 2011 is refocusing attention on the threat of violent right-wing extremism and domestic terrorist attacks in the U.S. inspired by heated political rhetoric. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on July 25, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that two U.S. Navy personnel had gone missing in action in Afghanistan. According to a Taliban spokesman, one sailor was killed in a brief firefight and the other captured.


Dec 12th, 2010

Summary: Antonio Martinez, a naturalized U.S. citizen who goes by the name Muhammad Hussain after recently converting to Islam, faces charges of attempted murder of federal officers and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction after plotting to blow up a Baltimore-area military recruiting center. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on December 12, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that a spike in terrorism cases involving U.S. citizens challenged long-held assumptions that Muslims in Europe are more susceptible to radicalization than their better-assimilated counterparts in the United States. According to several U.S. and international terrorism analysts, immigration trends, the global spread of a militant Islamism, and controversial actions by the United States and its allies since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks increase the probability that U.S. Muslims will carry out a domestic attack.


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.


May 2nd, 2010

Summary: Police investigating a failed car bomb left in Times Square have videotape of a possible suspect shedding clothing in an alley and putting it in a bag. The surveillance video shows a white man in his 40s taking off one shirt, revealing another underneath. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on May 2, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that an attacker wearing an Iraqi army uniform shot dead two U.S. soldiers outside the volatile northern city of Mosul, Iraq; provided an update of key facts, figures, and statistics on Iraq since the war began in March 2003; and reported the latest security incidents in Iraq.


Apr 17th, 2010

Summary: Despite a recent upsurge in threats and violence by far-right groups and loners, the Homeland Security Department appears gun-shy about reporting or monitoring the trend too closely. Domestic security and counterterrorism officials say that even though, in light of recent events, a controversial report issued a year ago by Homeland Security about a “resurgence” in far-right radicalization and recruitment appears well informed, if not prescient, the Department has done nothing to re-issue the report or update it. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 17, 2009, Aubrey Immelman featured abstracts of research projects on the personality characteristics and leadership style of Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Sarah Palin, conducted at the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics under his direction.



Summary: The FBI is warning police across the country that an anti-government group’s call to remove governors from office could provoke violence. The “sovereign citizen” group called the Guardians of the Free Republics wants to “restore America” by dismantling parts of the government. It sent letters to governors demanding they leave office voluntarily or be removed. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 3, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that President Barack Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak issued a statement agreeing on “a stern, united response from the international community” as North Korea prepared to launch a long-range, multistage Taepodong-2 rocket capable of delivering a nuclear warhead.


Mar 29th, 2010

Summary: Nine alleged members of a Midwest Christian militia group, the Hutaree, have been charged with plotting to kill a police officer and slaughter scores more by bombing the funeral, with the intent of inciting an uprising against the U.S. government. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on March 29, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that Iraqi authorities had arrested the local leader of a Sunni “Awakening Council” group that had broken with al-Qaida, Adil al-Mashhadani, sparking a two-day gunbattle in central Baghdad that killed four people and wounded 21.


Mar 25th, 2010

Summary: Unrest over sweeping federal health care legislation has turned to vandalism and threats, with bricks hurled through congressional Democrats’ windows, a propane line cut at the home of a congressman’s brother, and menacing phone messages left for lawmakers who supported the bill. Against this background, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann’s longstanding pattern of incendiary rhetoric (such as calling on citizens to be “armed and dangerous”) is particularly disturbing, considering its potential for propagating violent extremism and inciting acts of domestic terrorism in a time of grave economic uncertainty. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on March 25, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that Baghdad had been much calmer since sectarian violence peaked in late 2006 and the first half of 2007, but that the calm was achieved in part because the city became ethnically divided, with Shiites predominating and Sunnis largely having fled.


Feb 19th, 2010

Summary: A small plane has crashed into a multistory office building in Austin, Texas, causing a fire and sending black smoke billowing from the seven-story structure. The building reportedly houses one or more federal agencies, so the possibility exists that this incident could be an intentional act. (Federal law enforcement officials later identified the man as Joseph Stack, 53, a software engineer with a long-standing grudge against the Internal Revenue Service.) … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on February 19, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that some Republican politicians were taking credit in their home districts for stimulus money coming their way, even though they voted against it, but that U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann went the extra mile by claiming the stimulus bill was nothing but a payoff for those who supported President Barack Obama during his election campaign.


Apr 19th, 2009

Summary: At 9:02 a.m. on April 19, 1995, a truck bomb containing approximately 5,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate fertilizer exploded outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people and injuring more than 800 at the hands of Gulf War veteran Timothy McVeigh. It was the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil until the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center attack.