Please help and keep kicked: "The only hope I have, My last shot at freedom"

[Laura PourMeADrink]

http://www.waaytv.com/news/local/story/Don-Siegelman-sentencing-pardon/RHs2ZYa-fkuFaJB8oMcD_A.cspx

[font size=3]"The only hope I have — my last chance for freedom — lies in the people signing this petition to the president for a commutation," Siegelman said.

PLEASE SIGN PETITION HERE
http://www.change.org/petitions/president-obama-please-restore-justice-and-pardon-my-dad

PRE-ROVE


POST ROVE


Don Siegelman prays for a longshot

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Several thousand people have signed a petition asking President Barack Obama to keep former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman from spending the next few years in prison. But Siegelman realizes the odds of getting a presidential commutation are about the same as winning a state lottery.

More than 5,700 people convicted of federal crimes have asked Obama for a commutation of their sentences. He's granted one.

Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, approved 11 commutation requests out of 8,576 received during his two terms. Those seeking but not getting a commutation included former Illinois Gov. George Ryan, who appealed his racketeering and fraud convictions.

Despite the long odds, Siegelman said he's proud of his daughter, Dana, for starting the online petition at Change.org. She launched the effort after a federal judge rejected her request to sentence her father to community service.

[font size=3]"The only hope I have — my last chance for freedom — lies in the people signing this petition to the president for a commutation," Siegelman said.

U.S. District Judge Mark Fuller said it was clear Siegelman solicited a bribe, and he imposed a sentence of six and a half years. The judge ordered Siegelman to report to prison by Sept. 11 for the crimes of bribery, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and honest services mail fraud.

[avebury]

1. I signed it a while back. I hope after the election that

Obama will pardon him.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

2. yes..me too. hoping more people will sign here. Geez we have 150k users !! nt

[2pooped2pop]

3. wow the pics, pre and post Rove

I bet you could do one like that for the Country, or the World. Pre and post Rove.

Poor guy. Siegelman, not Rover.

signing, k&r

[zinnisking]

102. Still a good looking guy.

IMO

[Proud Corporate Dem]

4. I support him. It could have happened to anybody.

[renie408]

5. I didn't know about this.

But I did some research and this whole thing stinks to high heaven. I signed. This sucks.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

6. comments from website

I have followed the case from the beginning
This was a political assassination of a
Rising star in the democratic party
It was the only way to stop him from
Greatly effecting change in the south

I believe Gov. Don Siegelman's prosocution [sic] was based of the sole fact that he was the only person who could defeat Repubican Governor Bob Riley.

Don Siegelman is a political prisoner from the Bush adminnistration [sic] and he needs to be pardoned now. I've followed this situation from the beginning and it's a travesty of justice. Iti's time....please pardon Mr. Siegelman so we can move on!

[Iwillnevergiveup]

7. Kicked

and signed....talk about a travesty of justice.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

9. thanks

[Hun Joro]

8. Signed.

[lunatica]

10. kick'd and rec'd

[greytdemocrat]

11. Wait a sec...

"U.S. District Judge Mark Fuller said it was clear Siegelman solicited a bribe, and he imposed a sentence of six and a half years. The judge ordered Siegelman to report to prison by Sept. 11 for the crimes of bribery, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and honest services mail fraud.
"

And...

Why shouldn't he serve time???

[Hissyspit]

12. Because Fuller is full of shit...

This prosecution has been linked to Karl Rove and the Bush administration attorney firings. People have been documenting the corruption behind it here for years.

From Dana Siegelman: "· The $250,000 donation went to support a campaign raising money for Alabama public schools.
· Don Siegelman never pocketed a dime.
· Gov. Siegelman appointed the donor to the same board of directors that the previous three Alabama Governors did. It is not a paying position.
· Over 100 former Attorneys General filed a brief explaining that if Don Siegelman is guilty of bribery, nearly every other current and former U.S. politician is also guilty.
· The prosecuting attorney and presiding judge both had prior political conflict with Gov. Siegelman, and a motion seeking unbiased representatives was denied.
· The case was previously brought to an unbiased judge who threw it out before the opening remarks. The following case that resulted in Gov. Siegelman's seven-year conviction was overhauled and meticulously orchestrated by his political opponents to keep him out of politics because he was their strongest opposition."

And that's just the tip of it.

[proud2BlibKansan]

19. +1

This is a modern American travesty of justice.

[freshwest]

59. Devastating proofs. Thanks, Hissyspit.

[zinnisking]

101. Thanks.

I thought every D politico knew about this case.

[druidity33]

13. If what Siegelman did was a bribe...

then every Congressperson and Senator deserves jail time.

[obxhead]

15. Just about every Congress critter and Senator does deserve jail time.

You could start with crimes of passion (for money) against the population at large.

[BlueNAlabama]

14. I live in Alabama

This whole thing was a political attack from day one. The so called bribe was paid, not to Siegelman but to the campaign to bring the lottery to Alabama which Bob Riley opposed. Richard Scrushy, the now imprisoned CEO of Health South Inc., had served on the state health care advisory board during four former governors so this was "business as usual". Scrushy was and is a greedy, now former billionaire but Siegelman received absolutely no personal benefit from Scrushy's donation!! By the way, Bob Riley was closely affiliated with disgraced Jack " I got em in my pockets" Abramoff, who as we all know was the middle man between the Native American casino gambling interests in Mississippi and those interests attempting to kill the lottery campaign in other states. Jack-off's clients were vehemently opposed to gambling next door in Alabama and he spent their money bribing political figures to do just that, kill gambling in Alabama.
Now, the more important issue here is the Bush administrations efforts to "coerce" US Attorney's offices into filing criminal charges (non-existent voter fraud in most) against Democrats seeking office. It didn't work in most instances but good old boy Karl Rove made it work in my home state. Bob Riley got in, the lottery effort died and Alabama continued to fall to the bottom of the pile in virtually every category measuring the well being of the citizenry.

President Obama's justice department has failed miserably to fulfill the promise of transparency and accountability. This is yet another instance of that failure. Don't get me wrong because I support the president but am hopeful he will replace his Attorney General and Treasury Secretary during the next term.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

17. welcome to DU

[Warpy]

52. Thanks. Those of us outside your state have always seen it

as a political attack but we don't get the detailed news that you do within the state.

I also share your hope about reappointments during Obama's next term. Perhaps it's time for a sensible academic at Treasury and a pit bull prosecutor for AG. It all depends on whether or not he gets a Congress who will approve them.

I've always had a grudging admiration for Alabama lefties. You've got to have a hide like a rhino to live among the rank and file unquestioning wingnuts there.

[Chan790]

94. I'd love to see Geithner and Holder fired...

I'm not holding my breath; I think the President would fire pretty much everybody in his cabinet before Eric Holder and if he ditched crooked Timmy, he'd probably replace him with some Senior VP from JPM-C, one of Jamie Dimon's lackeys.

[Duchess St.Rollins]

108. From what I've read...

Geithner won't be serving another term as Sec of the Treasury *when* Obama is re-elected.

[sabrina 1]

56. Welcome to DU and thanks for your comment. Speaking of Karl Rove

did he ever respond to Congress' subpoenas regarding his role in the firing of US Attorneys? We were waiting for him to be arrested for sticking his finger in Congress' eye, but then the story disappeared and he surfaced in Sweden, where he became a political adviser to Sweden's now PM. And just in time to be there for the Wikileaks/Assange smear campaign.

Apparently Rove can commit any crime he wants, and for some reason, no one will go after him.

[Dont call me Shirley]

61. Then Jack-im-off should be out there campaining for seigleman's pardon!

Since the gop threw him under the bus.

[KBlagburn]

76. It is also important to remember, the Repubs stole the election from Gov Siegelman....

When he ran for re election against Repub Bob Riley, they stole the election by making 3,000 Siegelman votes disappear. On election night, everyone went to bed thinking Siegelman had won re election. The next morning we awoke here in Alabama to be told that Bob Riley had won. Overnight in Baldwin County 3,000 Siegelman votes disappeared. They claimed is was a computer glitch but the guy over seeing the election in Baldwin County was Congressman Bob Riley's chief of staff. Now that they had Siegelman out of office the question turned to how to keep him from running against Riley in 4 years. The answer: a trumped up prosecution. What you have not heard about this case is the fact that Riley appointed several campaign contributors to different boards across the state. Also the judge Mark Fuller had been a county D.A. while Seigelman was Gov and because of complaints inside and outside of the D.A. office, Seigelman fired and replaced him as D.A.. Mark Fuller was biased and looking for revenge. Also Mark Fuller owned a company with contracts with the federal gov't. So here you have 2 Huge conflict of interest. The main witness later recanted his testimony and said he was told what to say on the stand by the the prosecutors. Every ounce of evidence that would show the Governors innocence was not allowed in trial by the judge. Also there were jurors that were communicating with outside sources including the bailiffs about the case. Even though it is customary for a defendant, in a case such as this, to be allowed time to get his affairs in order before reporting for prison, Mark Fuller ordered Seigelman dragged from the courtroom in shackles and chains, humiliating him. This case from day one was a set up to bring down a great man and governor for political purposes. They said this was a case of Quid Pro Quo, but in order to prove Quid Pro Quo, you must show the defendant personally profited, which Siegelman did not. The first judge threw the case out in North Alabama, so they moved the case to central alabama, in order to find a biased judge.

[zinnisking]

100. Wow, more great info. How did they vote in Baldwin County then?

Was it with Touch Screen Voting Machines?

You have good info in your post but it's hard to read. You should consider separating your posts into 3 or 4 sentence paragraphs so it's easier to read...please.

[Sedona]

16. Done

& done

[beac]

18. Signed and rec'd.

Rove should be in prison, not Siegelman.

[truedelphi]

66. Those are very true words, my friend. n/t

[SalviaBlue]

20. Signed. Rec.

[Zorra]

21. Done. To knowingly, and wrongfully, deprive a human being of their freedom and liberty,

Last edited Sun Aug 19, 2012, 11:21 AM - Edit history (1)

and put them in a cage, is one of the most heinous criminal acts that anyone could ever commit.

Gov. Don is innocent, and those who knew he was innocent took it upon themselves to deliberately deprive him of all his rights and liberties, need to spend the rest of their lives in a maximum security prison without any hope of parole.

[ben_thayer]

22. DONE!

[spanone]

23. k&r...

[philly_bob]

24. Signed & rec'd. (nt)

[OnyxCollie]

25. Already signed.

K&R.

[Strega Ribiera]

26. Signed

[Doctor_J]

27. This makes me ashamed

that I voted for the president. This should have been taken care of his first day in office.

[a2liberal]

28. K&R (n/t)

[snappyturtle]

29. Done. Done. K&R Thanks for posting the petition. nt

[niyad]

30. k and r

[NYC_SKP]

31. k/r n/t

[nightscanner59]

32. signed.

Punishment has already far exceeded the crime, far as I can tell

[coalition_unwilling]

33. Signed and kicked to protest this gross miscarriage

of justice.

[nashville_brook]

34. k and r and signed and shared

[Oilwellian]

35. Signed and shared

K&R

[DirkGently]

36. KNR & Signed.

[Gregorian]

37. Signed.

And I wish I knew why Kagan wasn't opposed to this situation.

[PufPuf23]

38. kr

[Laura PourMeADrink]

39. thanks all.. kicking

[Tuesday Afternoon]

40. K&R

[LeftofObama]

41. Done!

K & R

[Third Doctor]

42. Signed

Siegelman was a better Governor than the RW extremist in the state house they have now.

[Lifelong Protester]

43. K & R & S

(signed, that is).

[radiclib]

44. Sign, kick

No brainer.

[livvy]

45. Sign, please, please, please! n/t

[JackHughes]

46. Gross injustice

This was a shameful political prosecution and show trial.

If Siegelman is guilty, all American politicians are subject to prosecution.

[classof56]

47. I already signed Dana's Change.org petition

And now I gladly K & R!

[Laura PourMeADrink]

48. are their two petitions?

[sabrina 1]

57. I think this is his daughter's petition which I signed a few weeks ago.

Not sure though. It says in the article that 6,000 people have signed her petition, that's not nearly enough. They were aiming for 1,500 when it was first posted. But it needs a lot more exposure.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

96. doesn't sound like they have to means to get this out there. maybe they need to hire a PR

agent. Seriously. It must feel like to them that they are so alone on this. But, if the truth was told
and spread nationwide......

[sabrina 1]

105. I know, all their money had to be spent on his legal battles all these years

and it's sad to see how few on the Dem side have stood up for them.

That's why I suggested that maybe we on DU could make this a project and make sure the story isn't forgotten by posting about it on a regular basis.

He is one of the good guys and it breaks my heart that Karl Rove got away with destroying yet another decent man.

[Hissyspit]

68. Dana's is the same change.org petition you have in your OP

That a posted a week or two ago.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

95. up to 8,133.

[sabrina 1]

106. That's nearly 3,000 more since it was posted here.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

112. Is it really ??? That is GREAT. I was wishing I had taken down the number when I first posted. I

wish I had contacts at other dem forums.

[sabrina 1]

117. When I checked it was on about 5,000. Don't know if the increase is all due to DU, it is probably

being posted on other sites also.

K&R

[Laura PourMeADrink]

119. what's another site to join that would be sympathetic and reach lots of people?

[sabrina 1]

121. Are you a member of Daily Kos?

Just checked, the petition was posted there by OPAL, who is a good friend of Don Siegelman's but that was on Aug 8th.

Don't know if it has been posted again, but on DK it probably would need someone who is fairly well known to get any attention. If you are a member there you can probably send a message to someone like OPAL and he could post it again.

I can't think of another site that has a format where you can just post your own OP. You could sign up at DK and post it but I think you have to wait until you have a certain number of posts, not sure about that.

Edited to add link http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/08/1118103/-If-you-d-like-to-help-Don-Siegelman

[Laura PourMeADrink]

124. Thanks -- just joined. Have to wait 24 hours to comment. nt

[scorpiogirl]

49. Signed and Rec'd n/t

[FourScore]

50. Done!

[Laura PourMeADrink]

51. cool...we add 100 in the last 2 hrs

[sabrina 1]

53. Already signed. Thanks for posting this again. Maybe DU should

make justice for Siegelman a project. The facts of this case clearly demonstrate that this was one of the worst miscarriages of justice in recent history in this country.

Rove was behind it according to a Republican witness. The judge is corrupt and should have been removed from the case.

The DOJ for some reason, despite overturning Republican Stevens' conviction because of misconduct in the trial, refuses to do anything here where the misconduct is even more obvious.

[unapatriciated]

54. signed, kicked and reced.

[SpankMe]

55. Signed the petition.

And clicked "yes" to publicly display my name. I also provided a comment in the why-this-is-important-to-me field.

I have read every article I have found on the Siegelman issue, as well as the last minute vote tally irregularity in Madison County. This whole situation bothers me so much that I can hardly keep it out of my mind - more than Republican abortion hooliganism, "Obamacare" craziness or birther psychosis.

The fact that the midnight flip-flopping / re-calculation of votes in Madison County (that gave the election to Riley) hasn't been properly investigated or studied by authorities or the press is evidence that vote stealing is alive and well in this "beacon of democracy" and that Republicans have become dependent on it to win elections. It's even more disturbing that no one with any significant audience or power is trying to expose it, and that it gets only limited and desperate exposure in places like DU.

Why won't anyone who can do something about this (like Attorneys General, members of congress, or a bigger MSM outlet) investigate stuff like this?

[Laura PourMeADrink]

111. I agree. It dovetails nicely into the whole subject of voter suppression at large. This is

exactly the type of expose the "60 Minutes" show might have done, long ago when they used to really dig deep and investigate issues.
Something that has a wide spread audience, that can dumb it down and pull it all together.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

58. "Siegelman solicited a bribe"? That's not the way that it is done in Chicago.

Or Illinois.

Or politicians are different.

(Except for Blagojevich who underestimated the power of the BofA and sought to help some in the working class.)

[Dont call me Shirley]

60. Signed it a long time ago. Rove should be the one imprisoned for treason.

[TheUnspeakable]

62. k&r-signed-Thanks so much for posting this!

[Arugula Latte]

63. signed

[99Forever]

64. Done, thanks for the link.

[Voice for Peace]

65. kicked

[sabrina 1]

67. K&R for justice for Don Siegleman.

[burrowowl]

69. Kick!

[Blanks]

70. I signed the petition. eom

[Smilo]

71. I signed this when it first came out.........

this is such a travesty of justice.

Siegelman is an honorable man who tried to make his state just a little better - unfortunately Rove et al had other ideas.

[AnotherMother4Peace]

72. K&R& signed

[schmice]

73. I signed it immediately. Hope it helps

and doesn't just capture my email so that I start getting lots of unsolicited spam.

[dmr]

74. Done, & thank you for posting this. n/t

[graywarrior]

75. Signed

[lsewpershad]

77. I signed

K&R

[Omaha Steve]

78. Signed earlier this week

K&R!

[Harriety]

79. signed

[Rhiannon12866]

80. Signed, recced and kicking!

[valerief]

81. Siegelman solicited a bribe like Assange committed a rape.

This is all about the theft of the U.S., not imaginary bribes or rapes.

[sabrina 1]

107. Yeah, and guess who was behind both of these 'cases'? Imagine what a better world this

would be if Rove had been put behind bars for treason in the Valerie Plame case?

[girl gone mad]

82. k & r

[SunSeeker]

83. K&R & signed. nt

[Cha]

84. Signed..I've always hoped the best

for Don Siegelman.

Says 8,015 supporters
91,985 NEEDED..

We got a ways to go!

[AzDar]

85. K & R

[2pooped2pop]

86. ...

[Ilsa]

87. Signed. nt

[47of74]

88. K&R

[Walk away]

89. Signed and shared....nt

[dreamnightwind]

90. K & R

[beac]

91. Already signed and rec'd so here's a late evening kick! n/t

[Laura PourMeADrink]

92. you're a doll

[beac]

109. Glad to help (and a morning kick!) n/t

[Laura PourMeADrink]

93. wow....signers have gone up 600 since this afternoon ! BRAVO DU...nt

[Tribetime]

97. signed K&R nt

[pacalo]

98. K&R.

[pnwmom]

99. K & R. n/t

[Le Taz Hot]

103. Done

[KT2000]

104. Done!

[hwmnbn]

110. signed, K, &R

[jamesatemple]

113. Got 'er done! And I'm happy to do so. K & R!

I wasn't sure how to answer the question, "Why is this important to you?", without writing a tome on American justice. So, I merely wrote: "The better question ~ "Why isn't this important to all Americans?"

[Laura PourMeADrink]

114. kick

[Ellipsis]

115. 10,975 signers... kick

[sabrina 1]

118. Excellent, it has doubled since this OP was posted!

K&R

[Laura PourMeADrink]

125. 11,372

[Laura PourMeADrink]

120. Wow, wonderful ! Someone must be joining DU to get this message out there. It would

be great if he could get at least 100,000

[solara]

116. kicking and sending even more good vibes

[Laura PourMeADrink]

122. for any DU'er who hasn't seen yet, please sign. thanks, Karen nt

[NYFlip]

123. Done!

[Lebam in LA]

126. Kicked

[Firebrand Gary]

127. Kick

[terip64]

128. Kick n/t

[Laura PourMeADrink]

129. trying to coordinate with Daily Kos on this. kicking for anyone who hasn't seen this yet. nt

[fadedrose]

130. K

[Laura PourMeADrink]

131. thanks. slow night

[sabrina 1]

132. 12,176 so far. K&R

[Raffi Ella]

133. Kicking

[Laura PourMeADrink]

134. Thanks RE

[Laura PourMeADrink]

135. 12506 signers! When we started it was 5,000 !

[great white snark]

136. Wednesday A.M. kick for commutation.

Outstanding results Laura PourMeADrink!

[Raffi Ella]

137. 12,593 supporters.

halfway there,

[Raffi Ella]

138. 16,255 supporters!