Sunday, February 24, 2008

You've heard about political prisoners in Cuba and China, well the Bush Administration has one in Alabama

60 Minutes exposes another disgusting chapter in the Republican Culture of Corruption


A case that is so replete with good ole boy southern Republican corruption that many Republicans are speaking out against their fellow GOP operatives. 52 former states’ attorneys general from both political parties petitioned Congress to investigate the conviction of former AL Governor Don Siegelman, resulting in hearings held last fall. However, nothing could be accomplished because the Bush administration refused to hand over hundreds of requested documents vital to the investigation and Karl Rove and others refused to show up when subpoenaed. The first indictment against Siegelman was thrown out on the first day. So, when Siegelman decided to run for Governor again, Republicans appaerntly felt they couldn't beat the highly successful Siegelman, so they conspired to convict him on bullshit charges. This level of injustice and typical Republican corruption makes me sick.

(CBS)
"I haven’t seen a case with this many red flags on it that pointed towards a real injustice being done," Grant Woods, the former Republican attorney general of Arizona and one of those who petitioned Congress, tells [60 Minutes] Pelley. "I personally believe that what happened here is that they targeted Don Siegelman because they could not beat him fair and square." Woods says the case should never have gone to trial. “The prosecutor's gotta look at it and say, ‘Hey, is this the sort of thing that we're really talking about when we're talking about bribery?’ Because what the public needs to know here is there is no allegation that Don Siegelman ever put one penny in his pocket."

A Republican operative in Alabama says Karl Rove asked her to try to prove the state’s Democratic governor was unfaithful to his wife in an effort to thwart the highly successful politician’s re-election. After tailing Siegelman relentlessly, she was unsuccessful and couldn't find anything on him.

Rove’s attempt to smear Don Siegelman was part of a Republican campaign to ruin him that finally succeeded in imprisoning him, says the operative, Jill Simpson.

Of course, Rove was too cowardly to speak to 60 Minutes or respond to a Congressional investigation.


This dialog I found especially revealing:
60 Minutes Scott Pelly:
“Help me understand something. You're blaming the Republican administration for this prosecution. You're saying it was a political prosecution. You are a Republican. How do I reconcile that?"

Grant Woods, the former Republican attorney general:
“We're Americans first. And you got to call it as you see it. And you got to stand up for what's right in this country”
Don Siegelman has six years and eight months to go on his sentence.

In case you missed it, watch/read the story.

UPDATE:

60 Minutes story on Siegelman was blacked out in 'Soviet Alabama. ' Roves associates have been trying to swiftboat CBS. Also, interesting to note that during Seigelman's trial, his house was broken into twice as was his attorney's office. These thugs will stop at nothing.




6 comments:

Glen said...

William, do you actually think that Seigelman was innocent?

William said...

Apparently 52 state attorney generals think he may be innocent...if the case was good, why is the Bush Administration hiding from the investigation?

The main accusation is that he appointed HealthSouth’s scandal-ridden CEO to a state oversight board, and in exchange a donation was made to a not-for-profit education foundation which was supporting Siegelman’s efforts to secure a lottery to fund the state’s education system. This is almost exactly the sort of accusation that the federal prosecutor in Milwaukee, faced with Rove’s threat to fire him, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals labeled the charges as “preposterous.” And indeed, it’s the sort of thing that transpires in the American political environment every single day. For instance, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared on a Donald Trump television program recently, and Trump made a payment of ten thousand dollars to help Schwarzenegger “retire his campaign debts.” Was that corrupt? Added to this is the fact that HealthSouth had no interest in anything before the oversight board in question, and its CEO had been appointed to the same board by three prior governors. This is corruption?

But still more striking – astonishing by any measure – is how this same U.S. Attorney and Department of Justice dealt with Siegelman’s successor, current Governor Bob Riley. Riley and many of his senior-most associates are closely tied to Jack Abramoff, perhaps the single most scandal-ridden figure in U.S. political history.

Whether Siegelman is guilty or innocent of corruption, the prosecution was corruptly conceived and pursued and that the court proceedings were corrupted, almost from the outset: that is already extremely clear. This is not a prosecution of a political figure for corruption. It is a political vendetta, conceived, developed and pursued for a corrupt purpose.

Anonymous said...

William:

I hate it when you don't have any facts to back up your baseless allegations about that pos Karl Rove. I'm sure if you just asked them, you'd get all of their phone logs and e-mails--ooops, my bad, sorry. Carry on, nothing to see here; move along, move along.

democommie

Anonymous said...

William:

I see a question from Dean, your answer and no rebuttal. I thought these folks wanted "discussion"?

democommie

Anonymous said...

Whether or not Seigelman is a "political prisoner," you are wrong to imply some sort of comparison with Cuban political prisoners, who are jailed because of their beliefs and willingness, in the face of great odds, to put them into action.

Anonymous said...

Marc:

Yes, well, perhaps so. Your comment brings up another interesting question. Do the Chinese "political prisoners" not face equally daunting odds as the Cubans or is it that we can do bidness with the Chinese (and not boycott the '08 Olympiad) while we still punish the Cubans for refusing to hand over the keys to Havana's casinos and sugarcane when they booted Batista? I'm just curious.

democommie