Author: Eric Garris

According to the fourth quarter reports, the majority of military contributors supported Ron Paul, the one antiwar candidate in the Republican primaries.

Ron Paul received more contributions from servicemembers than the other three remaining GOP candidates:

Ron Paul – 1349
McCain – 413
Romney – 140
Huckabee – 99

And the Dems:
Obama: 466
Clinton: 181

This follows the same trend that was set in the second and third quarters of last year.

UPDATE: Ron Paul also received more total money from military contributors than all the Democratic candidates combined, or all the Republicans combined. Here are the totals in dollars for each candidate:

Ron Paul $392,721.00
Barack Obama $124,234.00
John S McCain $106,309.00
Hillary Clinton $75,258.00
Fred Thompson $58,373.00
Mike Huckabee $47,376.00
Mitt Romney $43,332.00
Rudolph Giuliani $23,430.00
Bill Richardson $21,175.00
John Edwards $20,711.00
Joseph Biden $10,940.00
Duncan Hunter $9,820.00
Thomas Gerald Tancredo $7,200.00
Samuel Dale Brownback $3,606.00
Dennis J Kucinich $2,952.00
Christopher J Dodd $1,098.00
Mike Gravel $970.00

Thanks to Tex McRae and Jeff Shulman.

This morning the Ron Paul campaign announced the appointment of three new policy advisors: Doug Bandow has been appointed policy advisor to the campaign, while Charles Peña and Philip Giraldi have been named as foreign policy advisors.

On another note, the campaign has announced a new book by Ron Paul, to be published in April, The Revolution: A Manifesto. The book and audiobook are both available for pre-order.

In what is hopefully the first salvo by the states against the power of the federal war-making machine, Vermont lawmakers from both houses of the legislature are pushing bills to pull the state’s national guard troops from Iraq.

State Rep. Michael Fisher, D-Lincoln, said the authority to call up Guard members for Iraq duty has expired because that country no longer poses a threat to U.S. national security.

“The mission authorized in 2002 does not exist,” said Fisher, who plans to introduce a bill backed by 30 colleagues Wednesday that calls on Gov. Jim Douglas to join the effort. “Unless Congress grants a new authorization, the Vermont Guard should revert back to state control.”

Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin said the Senate would take up similar legislation.

“Bottom line is, if the politicians in Washington aren’t going to do the right thing for our troops, let’s do the right thing by bringing our Vermont Guard members home,” he said. “If Vermont can make one small step forward, I believe others will follow.”

Similar proposals are being considered by lawmakers in Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. Let’s take their proposals to the other states and make this an issue in state legislative election this year.

When searching for photos, I often run across some very sad stories that don’t make it into the regular news articles.

An Iraqi man gestures next to a coffin in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Jan. 28, 2008. The coffin was on top a mini bus for a funeral ceremony when a roadside bomb missed a police patrol in eastern Baghdad but hit the mini bus, killing three passengers and injuring five others, police said. (AP Photo/ Karim Kadim)

According to Reuters, there are now 10 people reported injured (in addition to the three killed) in the minibus bombing.

I ran across this photo and was surprised at the caption. I may be naive but I was genuinely surprised at a medic leading an armed patrol in Baghdad.

U.S. Army Spc. Kris Hostetler, 21, from Nashville, Tenn., a medic with Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment patrols in Arab Jabour during Operation Coliseum south of Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2008. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

Following the GOP debate on Thursday night, Huckabee showed both his ignorance and his willingness to believe fairy tales, regardless of whether he heard them or made them up himself.

During the debate, the Huckster said that Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction (a meaningless term covering everything from WWI-era mustard gas to nukes) were like Easter eggs that we never found, “it doesn’t mean they’re not there.”

Questioned by Chris Matthews following the debate, Huckabee suggested that the WMD were moved to Jordan. When Matthews pointed out that Jordan is a close ally of the US, Huckabee started spinning his fairy tale. Instead of realizing his mistake (he probably meant Syria, not Jordan), he explained that these elusive little WMD could have ended up anywhere, and without the knowledge of the King of Jordan.

The idea that Saddam moved his weapons out of the country before his regime fell never made sense to me, unless you believe that he was so moral as to refuse to use the weapons to save himself and defend his rule.