Don Siegelman recently spent nine months in federal prison, so it is safe to say the former Alabama governor has had a few crummy days in the past year or so.
But yesterday was not one of them. In fact, Siegelman--now released from prison pending appeal of his conviction on corruption-related charges--had a banner day. And in the Age of Rove, a good day for Don Siegelman almost certainly means a step forward for America's beleaguered justice system.
"He has brought a war without end, a budget awash in red ink, a looming recession, assault after assault after assault on our Constitution, politicizing the Justice Department, and I'm so glad that Congress is looking into that--and I'm so proud we are joined by Gov. Siegelman."
With that, Siegelman stood and received a long and loud standing ovation from the crowd.
While Pelosi had harsh words for Bush last night, more than a few Democrats say she has not been aggressive enough in countering the White House, especially on matters of justice.
I live in Birmingham, Alabama, and work in higher education. I became interested in justice-related issues after experiencing gross judicial corruption in Alabama state courts. This corruption has a strong political component. The corrupt judges are all Republicans, and the attorney who filed a fraudulent lawsuit against me has strong family ties to the Alabama Republican Party, with indirect connections to national figures such as Karl Rove. In fact, a number of Republican operatives who have played a central role in the prosecution of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman (a Democrat) also have connections to my case.
I am married, with no kids and two Siamese cats. I am the author of the blog Legal Schnauzer. The blog is written in honor of Murphy, our miniature schnauzer (1993-2004)who did so much to help my wife and me survive our nightmarish experience with corrupt judges.
I grew up in Springfield, Missouri, and I am pretty much a lifelong St. Louis Cardinal baseball fan. I've lived in Birmingham for almost 30 years and have adopted the UAB Blazers as my Southern college football and basketball team to follow. Also, follow East Tennessee State basketball.
An avid reader, both fiction and non-fiction. Influential writers on public affairs are Kevin Phillips, Michael Lind, Thomas Edsall, E.J. Dionne, Molly Ivins, and Scott Horton.
Pelosi is very close politically with Diane Feinstein. Feinstein's husband owns a couple of corporations that were barely solvent before the Iraq war, but now hold billions of dollars in military contracts to supply that war. The profits he makes go into the campaign coffers of Pelosi, Feinstein, and a number of other Democrats, making them no different than Cheney and Bush in their willingness to murder American soldiers and Iraqi nationals for profit. For this reason, impeachment has been off the table from the start, and it will stay off of the table.
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W.M.L. (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 276 comments)
on Sunday, May 4, 2008 at 11:25:39 AM
The rest of the country has known for years that the justice system in the south is awash in corruption, a holdover from the outright hatred of emancipation. It's strange that Southerners don't realize the corruption present when they live with it everyday. Perhaps the ones who benefit from the corruption are the only ones who could do something about it. Regardless when justice is finally done, if ever, it is BIG news since it happens so rarely.
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Archie (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 942 comments)
on Sunday, May 4, 2008 at 12:05:59 PM
Congress has more than enough to end the looking into phase and move to the do something about it phase,now.
Or we could try house impeachment which is another way of looking into it with exposed TEETH, time's up, let's go Nancy this is why America cuts you a check as speaker!
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tjb (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 202 comments)
on Sunday, May 4, 2008 at 8:36:29 AM
