Author: Eric Garris

In an upset, Polish voters elected a pro-business opposition party pledged to pull Polish troops out of Iraq this year.

This week Ron Paul introduced the ‘American Freedom Agenda Act of 2007’ to roll back the power of the federal government by restoring support for the US Constitution.

The bill would, among other things, repeal the Military Commissions Act of 2006, prohibits “extraordinary rendition,” and the use of secret evidence.

Ron Paul spoke on the floor of the House when he introduced the bill.

The driving force behind the legislation are two groups: the conservative American Freedom Agenda and the liberal American Freedom Campaign. Naomi Wolf wrote about the bill.

We urge everyone to contact their representatives to support this bill.

According to a Houston Chronicle analysis of the third-quarter finance reports, Ron Paul once again leads in donations from those who list the military as their employer. He is followed by Barack Obama, and then by John McCain.

Paul also led among military contributions in the second-quarter reports.

The Houston Chronicle analysis says the average size of Paul’s contributions from military sources is $500, much higher than his average overall donation. More than a third of Paul’s military-related contributions came from Army affiliates; a third came from the Air Force; and a fourth from Navy donors. The rest came from affiliates of the Marines and other branches.

One of the contributors to Paul’s campaign was Lindell Anderson, 72, a retired Army chaplain from Fort Worth, who donated $100 to the Texas lawmaker. “As a Christian, I think he speaks to a theme that the United States shouldn’t be the policeman of the world,” said Anderson.

Jennifer Duffy, an analyst with the non-partisan Cook Political Report, speculated that Paul might be an attractive candidate for military personnel who oppose the war, “but don’t want to cross the line and vote for a Democrat.”

Texas A&M political science professor George C. Edwards III attributed support for Obama among the military to the factors that he attracts support from many black voters, and blacks are a bigger proportion of the military than their overall share of the national population.

Analysts said the ability of Paul and Obama to rake in as much money from military employees as they did suggests there is a certain degree of dissatisfaction with the Iraq campaign among veterans and those in uniform.
At the Texas headquarters of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Austin, state adjutant Roy Grona said military personnel do not vote as a bloc. “There’s probably a lot of veterans that aren’t happy with the war in Iraq,” he said.

Our own Scott Horton has won the Austin Chronicle‘s “Best of Austin 2007” award for “Best Iraq War Insight and Play-by-Play.”

Scott won the “Critic’s Choice” award for Antiwar Radio (a division of Antiwar.com), which is based in Austin and broadcast live on KAOS-FM.

The Austin Chronicle is that city’s alternative/entertainment weekly newspaper. Here’s what they said:

Best Iraq War Insight and Play-by-Play: ‘Anti-War Radio,’ 95.9/92.7FM
A locally based program broadcasting in Austin, streaming and podcasting worldwide online, Anti-War Radio offers high-caliber commentary and guest interviews on the ongoing Mideast misadventure. Host Scott Horton, armed to the teeth with little-reported news and info, jettisons the pleasantries and PC radio lingo and tells listeners how it really is. As an added bonus, Horton often verbally lays waste to those seeking to prolong the billion-dollar bloodbath. Anti-War Radio can be heard on local frequency KAOS 95.9 and 92.7 – twice recognized on these very pages for fine iconoclastic broadcasting: Arrrrrrr. http://www.antiwar.com/blog/category/antiwar-radio.

The “Best of Austin” link appears at the top of the paper’s website for the entire year.

A very interesting interview with Scott Horton.

Yes, Scott Horton of Antiwar.com and Antiwar Radio, not Scott Horton of Harper’s (who has an article linked on our site today).

Check it out.

Today the Senate passed Bush’s war funding request by an overwhelming vote of 92-3.

Quite a coincidence about the five who didn’t vote: they are all running for President.

That’s right: the five absentions were Biden (D-DE), Clinton (D-NY), Dodd (D-CT), McCain (R-AZ), Obama (D-IL). They must have been out campaigning, but how convenient to pass on such a key vote.