Current Events and the Psychology of Politics
Loading

Featured Posts        



categories        



Links        



archives        



meta        




Jun 26th, 2010

Summary: Central Minnesota voters had the opportunity to meet gubernatorial candidate Tom Horner’s running mate, lieutenant-governor candidate Jim Mulder at the Granite City Days parade in St. Cloud. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on June 26, 2009 Aubrey Immelman reported that angry Iraqis were demanding better protection after a spate of bombings had killed at least 250 and wounded hundreds in just one week as U.S. forces pulled back from urban areas to large military bases in accordance with the 2008 status-of-forces agreement between the United States and Iraq.


Jun 8th, 2010

Summary: The Pioneer Press has released a public opinion survey conducted by Decision Resources Limited, showing Independence Party of Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Tom Horner rising significantly in the polls, going from 7% in March to 17-19% today. The poll indicates that Horner is receiving support from a near equal number of Republicans and Democrats and that the race will be decided by independents. At 41 percent, Horner has a commanding lead among Minnesota voters who call themselves independent, with Dayton trailing at 32 percent and Emmer barely registering at 3 percent. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on June 7, 2009 Aubrey Immelman reported that some 10,000 Marines had poured into Afghanistan, comprising the first wave of 21,000 additional troops President Barack Obama had ordered to Afghanistan in 2009 to help defeat an increasingly violent Taliban insurgency.


May 12th, 2010

Summary: In anticipation of Saturday’s Minnesota fishing opener, Independence Party-endorsed gubernatorial candidate Tom Horner has scheduled a 1:30 p.m. press conference for Wednesday, May 12 at Stop Light Bait, 45 8th Ave. SE, St. Cloud, just off Highway 10. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on May 12, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that U.S. Army Sgt. John M. Russell shot and killed five fellow soldiers at a counseling center at Camp Liberty in Iraq. Killed were Cmdr. Charles Keith Springle, 52, a Navy military psychologist from Beaufort, N.C.; Maj. Matthew Houseal, 54, an Army reservist and psychiatrist from Amarillo, Texas; Army Sgt. Christian E. Bueno-Galdos, 25, of Paterson, N.J.; Spc. Jacob D. Barton, 20, of Lenox, Mo.; and Pfc. Michael E. Yates Jr., 19, of Federalsburg, Md.


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.


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).


Oct 31st, 2009

Summary: Microsoft Network (MSN.com), promoting its new Bing! search engine, recently featured a demo search of “angry Americans.” It caught my attention, because history has shown that times of economic uncertainty — as we’re currently experiencing while bogged down in two wars in the aftermath of 9/11 — can be a fertile breeding ground for extremist ideologies, as we saw in Germany during the Great Depression following a humiliating defeat in World War I. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on the 13th day of his write-in campaign against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, Aubrey Immelman reported that he had launched a ground assault, with campaign ads running in 25 newspapers with a combined circulation of approximately 150,000.



Summary: Video montage of the bizarre Rep. Michele Bachmann’s more memorable televised statements of the past year, accompanied by the soundtrack of the song “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on the 23rd day of his 2008 campaign against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, Aubrey Immelman provided a forum for Sauk Rapids resident Jason Krueger, who volunteers as the Minnesota representative for the Fluoride Action Network, to express his views on the issue of water fluoridation. As a public service announcement to help draw attention to the sacrifice of National Guard citizen soldiers serving in Iraq and the families they leave behind, Immelman featured Part 4 of the Associated Press series, “The Longest Deployment” (the story of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division of the Minnesota National Guard and its tour of duty in Iraq).


Jul 27th, 2009

Summary: First in a two-part series examining the outlook for the 2010 U.S. House of Representatives election in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District. Part I surveys the political environment in which the contest will take place. Part II, to follow closer to the election, will take a look at the candidates. … One-year retrospective: On the 13th day of his campaign against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann for the Republican nomination as House of Representatives candidate in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, Sunday, July 27, 2008, Aubrey Immelman posted a public service announcement to help raise funds for memorials in honor of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan and observed a day of rest.


Jul 10th, 2009

Comprehensive summary and documentation of U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann’s extremist rhetoric, incendiary demagoguery, and misrepresentation since her 2008 reelection to the United States House of Representatives in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District.


May 24th, 2009

Summary: Speculation about the potential entry of Tarryl Clark, assistant majority leader in the Minnesota senate, into the race for the Democratic endorsement to run against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) in the 2010 general election for U.S. House of Representatives in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District.