Today, Don Siegelman, former governor of the state of Alabama, sits in a federal prison, sentenced to a seven year term for bribery.
Every day that Siegelman remains in prison every American citizen who openly dissents from the policies and protests the criminality of the Bush/Cheney regime is less free and more vulnerable to politically motivated prosecution. For the plain fact of the matter is that Don Siegelman is, in effect, a political prisoner. The formal charge against him was bribery. But, practically speaking, his offense was his political success as a Democrat in a "red" Republican state. When Siegelman indicated an interest in reviving his political career, one of his accusers was heard to say, "[We're] going to take care of Siegelman." And so they did.
Larisa Alexandrovna, one of the few journalists to investigate this case in depth, writes:
For most Americans, the very concept of political prisoners is remote and exotic, a practice that is associated with third-world dictatorships but is foreign to the American tradition. The idea that a prominent politician – a former state governor – could be tried on charges that many observers consider to be trumped-up, convicted in a trial that involved numerous questionable procedures, and then hauled off to prison in shackles immediately upon sentencing would be almost unbelievable.
Less "unbelievable," perhaps, if we reflect upon a dominant Republican mind-set: politics as warfare, the Democrats as "evil" and "the enemy," and not as "the loyal opposition." "You are either with us or with the terrorists," said George Bush -- no compromise, no alternatives, and no middle ground. Thus the goal of the GOP warrior is not merely to defeat the Democrats; the goal is to destroy them.
This was the objective of those who brought charges against Don Siegelman, in a case that stinks from top to bottom of political vendetta and manipulation. It's a rather complicated story, which I cannot recount in detail here. Those details may be found in the Raw Story (Alexandrovna et al) series and the DemocracyNow Scott Horton interview, listed and linked below. However, these are the essential elements:
The bribery charge rose out of Siegelman's appointment of Richard Scrushy to the Alabama hospital regulatory board, a non-paying position that Scrusky had held under two previous governors. The appointment followed Scrushy's donation of a half million dollars to a Siegelman foundation and gained Siegelman no financial advantage whatever. Of course, political favors to donors is routine in both state an federal government, as numerous ambassadorial appointments will testify. Moreover, clearly illegal campaign contributions were received by Alabama Republican Senator Jeff Sessions and Federal Judge William Pryor, who have not been investigated much less prosecuted.
Siegelman held the distinction of serving all four elective state offices: Attorney General, Secretary of State, Lieutenant Governor and Governor. With his prestige, popularity, and name-recognition, he was a persistent threat to the well-oiled Alabama GOP political machine. As his daughter, Dana, describes it,
The men and women behind this conspiracy have a lot against my dad. My dad wanted an education lottery, brought jobs to the state, made big businesses pay their taxes, sought to completely change Alabama's constitution, raised teachers' salaries, gave African Americans jobs that Caucasians had supremacy over for years, helped in fundraisers for other Democrats, supported the arts, was well-respected on a national level, etc... It was a battle against a truly liberal leader, not some moderate Democrat. He held the highest offices in the state and was Alabama's longest running politician. Republicans wanted their state back, and they got it.
"They got it" through a stolen election. In 2002, Siegelman appeared to have won re-election against Republican challenger Bob Riley. But then, in Baldwin county, Republican election supervisors (no Democrats allowed), locked the doors and "discovered" a "computer glitch" that tilted the election to Riley, whereupon the GOP Attorney General, William Pryor, put the kibosh on Siegelman's appeal for a recount by sealing the ballots. (Siegelman gives his account of the theft here).
While Siegelman vowed "to come back and fight another day," the GOP was determined to see to it that he was at last down for the count.
Enter Bill Canary, Republican kingmaker, friend and confidant of Karl Rove, campaign advisor to William Pryor and Bob Riley, and, not coincidentally, husband of U.S. Attorney, Leura Canary. It was Mrs. Canary, along with U.S. Attorney Alice Martin, who brought the case against Siegelman.
Enter next, Dana Jill Simpson, a rare and endangered political animal: a republican political operative with a conscience and an allegiance to the rule of law that trumps partisan loyalty. As Scott Horton reports, in a sworn affidavit Ms. Simpson, Riley's campaign attorney,
provide[d] a detailed specific account of what transpired, starting with [Bill] Canary's statement "not to worry about Don Siegelman that 'his girls would take care of him.'" Then Riley's son asked Canary if he was sure that Siegelman would be "taken care of," and Canary told him not to worry that he had already gotten it worked out with Karl and Karl had spoken with the Department of Justice and the Department of Justice was already pursuing Don Siegelman." "His girls" were Canary's wife Leura Canary, who as U.S. Attorney in the Middle District of Alabama, did in fact start the investigation, only dropping off when objections were raised by Governor Siegelman's counsel due to her obvious political bias and the U.S. Attorney in Birmingham, Alice Martin. Ms. Simpson, who gave the affidavit, is a lifelong Republican and was a worker in the Riley campaign against Siegelman, and her account has been contemporaneously corroborated.
While communicating with Siegelman's attorney prior to releasing her affidavit, Simpson's house was demolished by a mysterious fire, and Simpson herself was forced off the road. Mere coincidences, of course.
Dr. Ernest Partridge is a consultant, writer and lecturer in the field of Environmental Ethics and Public Policy. Partridge has taught philosophy at the University of California, and in Utah, Colorado and Wisconsin. He publishes the website, "The Online Gadfly" (www.igc.org/gadfly) and co-edits the progressive website, "The Crisis Papers" (www.crisispapers.org). His book in progress, "Conscience of a Progressive," can be seen at www.igc.org/gadfly/progressive/^toc.htm .
I would advise to use Gulag headings sparingly. In the times of Gulag those who actually were accused of 'bribery' were the lucky ones. I understand that, say such thing as ' Bavarian justice' means nothing to the US people and Gulag, of course is the word of words but the above proceeding is the typical ' Bavarian' soup of killing a person legitimately, described so eloquently by Lyon Feicthwanger in his novel 'The Success'. Not that people here give a damn, I suppose.
This is not to denigrate the article and the outrage it rightfully instills. But there is nothing ' Russian' here. It is Alabamian atrocity. So be it.
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Mark Sashine (46 articles, 19 quicklinks, 235 diaries, 3359 comments)
on Wednesday, January 30, 2008 at 9:55:11 AM
Bless you for bringing more attention to this travesty
I had the good fortune to spend some personal time with Governor Don Siegelman when I worked for the National Governors Association and I was deeply impressed by him. I was totally amazed at his prosecution and agree that his case presents strong and sickening evidence for the demise of the rule of law in America. And where is the mainstream media when they are needed to safeguard the rule of law? I can only hope that some day justice will prevail.....
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Joel S. Hirschhorn (118 articles, 22 quicklinks, 54 diaries, 472 comments)
on Wednesday, January 30, 2008 at 11:03:39 AM
