Minnesota Independent

Minnesota delegation responds to Obama’s Libya speech

By Andy Birkey | 03.29.11 | 2:13 pm

Several members of Minnesota’s congressional delegation were quick to respond to President Obama’s Monday night speech on military action in Libya. Rep. John Kline called for more clarity while Rep. Betty McCollum said the Libyan people must remove Qaddafi. Rep. Michele Bachmann, always prepared to throw verbal bombs at the president, said that “President Obama is taking sides with Palestine over Israel” by supporting NATO action in Libya.

Bachmann and Bill Maher agree on Muslim investigations

By Andy Birkey | 03.14.11 | 10:05 am

Rep. Michele Bachmann defended Rep. Peter King’s investigations into homegrown terrorism among America’s Muslim communities on Saturday just hours before one of her vocal critics seemed to agree with her. On his show, Real Time with Bill Maher, Maher interviewed Rep. Keith Ellison and said that terrorists from an Islamic background present “a unique and greater threat” than right-wing terrorists such as militias and anti-abortion activists. Ellison said Maher is “coming to the wrong conclusions.”

A 2008 "Shut Down Guantanamo" protest in Washington. Photo: Keith Ivey, Flickr

Obama unlikely to close Guatanamo this term

By Sofia Resnick | 03.11.11 | 4:40 am

This week President Obama ordered the resumption of military trials for Guantanamo Bay detainees and the continued detention of prisoners who don’t have enough evidence against them to be charged or convicted, effectively breaking his campaign promise to close the facility after his first year in office. It’s a promise that several policy analysts and media outlets believe the president might never fulfill, at least not before 2013, when his first term expires.

Minnesota Reps. taking heat for moves to block EPA

By Andy Birkey | 03.04.11 | 2:15 pm

Environmental groups are going after Minnesota members of Congress who have voted to block the EPA from regulating greenhouse gas pollution. A recent poll shows that votes by Republican Reps. Michele Bachmann and Chip Cravaack aren’t popular in their districts, and Rep. Collin Peterson, a Democrat, is getting attacked from both sides — the GOP says his stance against EPA regulation is “wishy washy,” while interest groups say he’s siding with foreign oil producers.

Rep. Michele Bachmann. Photo: Tyler Kingkade, Iowa Independent

Bachmann takes trip to Mexico, Colombia

By Andy Birkey | 02.28.11 | 8:31 am

Rep. Michele Bachmann took a break from her whirlwind “all in for 2012″ tour of the U.S. last week when she traveled to Colombia and Mexico as part of an official congressional delegation visit to those two countries, Politico reports. Bachmann returned on Friday afternoon.

Ellison: Egyptians gave strong rebuke to al-Qaeda and religious extremism

By Andy Birkey | 02.16.11 | 11:44 am

Rep. Keith Ellison says that the non-violent protests in Egypt delivered a strong rebuke of the tactics of al-Qaida and religious extremism. In an interview with the Voice of America, he also said that concerns about the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt were overblown, noting that the group’s popularity is low.

Bachmann’s ‘armed and dangerous’ becomes example of ‘toxic political environment’

By Andy Birkey | 01.10.11 | 1:18 pm

Rep. Michele Bachmann’s statement saying she wants Minnesotans “armed and dangerous” during a radio interview in 2009 has become a target of liberals in the wake of the tragic shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona this weekend. Rep. Keith Ellison, Bachmann’s neighbor to the south, said such statements have consequences, while New York Times columnist Paul Krugman used it as an example of the “climate of hate.”

Rep. Michele Bachmann. Photo: Bachmann for Congress, Facebook

Is Bachmann’s slot on Intelligence Committee part of GOP plan to stifle her?

By Andy Birkey | 01.04.11 | 2:10 pm

Is Rep. Michele Bachmann’s new post on the House Intelligence Committee an effort by GOP leadership to stifle her inflammatory statements in the media? Slate’s Noreen Malone makes the case, contending that the strategy is not fair to Bachmann who was a workhorse in the 2010 House elections on behalf of the GOP, while the Washington Post posits that Bachmann isn’t likely to enjoy serving on a committee that is at times as secretive as it is boring.

Ellison gets year-end cheers and jeers

By Andy Birkey | 12.29.10 | 9:41 am

Rep. Keith Ellison got some cheers and some jeers in editorial pages this week, as pundits put their spin on politics at the end of the year. The Nation called him the “most valuable representative,” while the Star Tribune’s Jon Tevlin told him to pack his bags and move to New York. Tevlin gave Reps. Michele Bachmann and James Oberstar their marching orders as well.

A gay officer reacts to Obama signing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell repeal

By Andy Birkey | 12.22.10 | 2:03 pm

When President Obama signed a historic repeal of the military’s ban on openly gay and lesbian servicemembers Wednesday morning, he paved the way for a full repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. A gay Minnesota army reserve officer spoke with the Minnesota Independent about the issues involved in the repeal, the struggles faced by gay and lesbian soldiers as they waited for Obama and Congress to act on their promise to repeal, and the stereotypes that conservatives continue to spread.