Rove Linked to Prosecution of Ex- Alabama Governor

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Time

Rove Linked to Prosecution of Ex- Alabama Governor
Friday, Jun. 01, 2007 By ADAM ZAGORIN/WASHINGTON

In the rough and tumble of Alabama politics, the scramble for power is often a blood sport. At the moment, the state's former Democratic governor, Don Siegelman, stands convicted of bribery and conspiracy charges and faces a sentence of up to 30 years in prison. Siegelman has long claimed that his prosecution was driven by politically motivated, Republican-appointed U.S. attorneys.

Now Karl Rove, the President's top political strategist, has been implicated in the controversy. A longtime Republican lawyer in Alabama swears she heard a top GOP operative in the state say that Rove "had spoken with the Department of Justice" about "pursuing" Siegelman, with help from two of Alabama's U.S. attorneys.

The allegation was made by Dana Jill Simpson, a lifelong Republican and lawyer who practices in Alabama. She made the charges in a May 21 affidavit, obtained by TIME, in which she describes a conference call on November 18, 2002, which involved a group of senior aides to Bob Reilly, who had just narrowly defeated Siegelman in a bitterly contested election for governor. Though Republican Reilly, a former Congressman, initially found himself behind by several thousand votes, he had pulled ahead at the last minute when disputed ballots were tallied in his favor. After the abrupt vote turnaround, Siegelman sought a recount. The Simpson affidavit says the conference call focused on how the Reilly campaign could get Siegelman to withdraw his challenge.

According to Simpson's statement, William Canary, a senior GOP political operative and Reilly adviser who was on the conference call, said " not to worry about Don Siegelman" because "'his girls' would take care of" the governor. Canary then made clear that " his girls" was a reference to his wife, Leura Canary, the U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Alabama, and Alice Martin, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama.



Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1627427,00.html?xid=rss-nation

[maddezmom]

1. will this be enough to bring this criminal down?

:shrug:

K&R

[spotbird]

17. No.

It should be, but it won't be a blip.

[ronnykmarshall]

33. Make that HELL NO!

[Nickster]

2. Kinda lines up with what Rover did in Texas to those Agro Commissioners if I recall correctly.

[Decruiter]

27. This used to be Texas Ag Commish before Rove

JIM HIGHTOWER


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Hightower

Jim Hightower currently writes a nationally-syndicated column carried by 75 independent weeklies and other publications. He also writes a monthly newsletter The Hightower Lowdown, which has more than 125,000 subscribers and is notable for in-depth investigative reporting and an unapologetically partisan tone in criticizing George W. Bush's administration, which he rails against as beholden to corporations and extremist conservative political ideology. He also writes for The Progressive Populist.

[Norquist Nemesis]

3. Is this the news dump?

This is bigger than Bartlett leaving.

[CottonBear]

4. Damn. Siegelman should press ahead with the charge of election fraud.

Alabama is a state with a "strong governer" type of state government. This is as opposed to Georgia where the state assembly has more power. The GOP did not want a Democratic governor in a Southern state.

I live in Georgia and I don't think that he lost the election. It was stolen by Rove and BushCo. :grr:

[bamacrat]

5. Siegelman wanted to bring the lottery to Alabama, and try to make the state a bit more progressive

but no instead we are stuck with Riley, who hasnt been awful, but then again it doesnt take alot to make this state better.

[Stuckinthebush]

35. Not a big fan of Riley, but honestly, he's not as bad as I feared

and he did sign the slavery apology the other day.

But still, the whole vote count thing with Siegleman always smelled bad. Do you remember what went down? At 1 am a county judge in South Alabama turned over a few thousand votes and said that if anyone tried to count the votes he'd have them in jail.

sniff...sniff....I smell Rove.

[LizW]

50. That election smelled to high heaven

I remember staying up all night watching it unfold. It was before I understood Republican election theft, but I knew something was very, very wrong.

Siegleman dropped his challenge very abruptly, and it was clear they had threatened him with something.

He stayed out of sight for a while, but then started exploring a Senate run. Bam! Indictment.

Riley is the worst kind of Republican. He pretends to be a good, Christian man, and he has a lot of people fooled. But he lets scum like Rove and Canary do his dirty work while he keeps his hands clean.

He showed his true colors in the bargain made in the Alabama legislature regarding voter ID and felon voter rights restoration. Remember this? Democrats were in the majority, and they made a deal with Republicans that they would not kill voter ID if the Republicans would not filibuster felon voting rights restoration. Both bills passed, then Riley double crossed the Democrats and vetoed the felon voting rights bill while signing the voter ID bill into law. He claimed that he knew nothing about any deal, and the Republicans laughed their asses off and called the Democrats suckers. :grr:

[Judi Lynn]

57. Republicans do things ordinary people would find too dishonorable.

Vetoing the felon voting rights bill and taking the voter ID bill is filthy. I hope the Democrats will have another run at this as soon as is humanly possible. Maybe heavy publicity focusing on what he did before they try it again would help the cause, if they get up the steam to try it again while he's still in office.

Thanks for the info. As one DU'er, I had never heard this. I'm glad to have found out, as I had a vague, benign image of the guy, knowing nothing about him until now.

[aquart]

67. What happened to those ballots?

[Stuckinthebush]

69. I assume they are still locked away somewhere

or destroyed.

[anotherdrew]

6. I'll be satisfied when karl rove is a broken man walking the streets, digging thu garbage for food.

he deserves no less

[acmavm]

9. See, you're a better person that I am. I want his ass burning in

the flames of Hell.

[caligirl]

15. na, make him clean the bathrooms at the Democratic convention

[acmavm]

19. With his tongue????

[caligirl]

25. and a dog collar and leash. Yeah baby!

[durtee librul]

38. Don't forget the hood with the electrical cord. n/t

[Initech]

31. Ha ha ha... that would be a fitting punishment!

:rofl:

[Kikosexy2]

29. Great...

a Grand feast for Satan (Cheney)...devouring on his favorite sow for dinner!....eheheheheehee...

[AndyTiedye]

18. I Want To See Him Frog-Marched

[caligirl]

23. In a pink tutu with bells on his toes.

[mirrera]

41. No he would like that...n/t

[Straight Shooter]

30. I'll be satisfied when rats roam the streets, dig through garbage, and find rove.

Of course, they'll probably turn up their noses. I'm sure the stench will be unbearable, even if he's alive.

Edit to add, this is rather a jawdropper of an article. Now it makes sense that Bartlett resigned when he did, birthday notwithstanding.

[anotherdrew]

36. not a bad idea. do these assholes think this is just "gaming the system" or something? it's treason

and should be punished as such.

[David__77]

37. I think we can be more compassionate.

I only care that he is removed from political power. I could care less as to whether he's sitting in a mansion or working on a chain gang, in the final analysis. The main thing is to neutralize him politically and destroy every vestige of influence.

[lonestarnot]

52. Now you know that is not going to happen. He has to many crooked friends he could

slob off of when he starts loosing one of his chins.

[anotherdrew]

7. this william canary shithead needs to go to prison for a long time too. n/t

[HowHasItComeToThis]

8. ROVE IS A CANCER TO OUR NATION

HE HAS HIS FAT LITTLE HANDS EVERYWHERE

[cassiepriam]

10. Rove is certainly a busy little bee.....

turning this country into Nazi Germany.

[Stephanie]

11. Rove Made Bush, and Rove Will DESTROY Bush

Any day now...

[BrainGlutton]

39. Why?

[BrainGlutton]

43. Did you mean Rove will turn on Bush, or simply be his downfall?

[Stephanie]

53. He will be his downfall.

He's a one-trick pony and his game is up.

[myrna minx]

12. Bookmarking. n/t

[sutz12]

13. I don't understand how....

How do these misogynistic assholes get so many women to work for them?

"his girls" ?!?!?! What a condescending comment about people who are supposed to be in public office working for the public good.

There is one thing symptomatic of these RW assholes and their enablers, a willing cooperation in their own belittlement. They go to the slaughter with eyes open, knowing they are the sacrifice, and glorying in it. :shrug:

[Frances]

44. I noticed that phrase "my girls" too

Sounds really bad to me.

[Bitwit1234]

14. And people thought Benedict Arnold was bad

Rove will go down in history as the worst piece of human excrement that was ever born.

[bobthedrummer]

16. Cross-post for those that want to do something about these criminals

The lack of prosecution is not due to a lack of investigation, at every level, but from the corruption which is directed by the Bush Politburo/Gestapo in the WH.

"A DU criminal investigation thread: Bush's White House Staff"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1020760

[sellitman]

20. Rove is behind Thompson's run too.

If Mr Red October runs you can bet KKKarl will be the brains behind the curtain.

[Bitwit1234]

21. NAIL that turd (forget the blossom)...Nail him good.

If we can't impeach bush and cheney, re-dressing rove in an orange jumpsuit will help ease the pain.

[caligirl]

26. calling Jeff Gannon...

[StarryNite]

22. Teflon causes cancer

and rove is made out of the stuff because nothing sticks to him.

[L. Coyote]

24. Calling Henry Waxman, 1600 Subpoena Row, Washington, DC. Calling Patrick Leahy ....

[Javaman]

28. Seems as if she's one of only a few repukes that remembers anything lol nt

[TexasLawyer]

32. Is this happening in America?!?

'cause it seems like the kind of thing that would happen in a backwater, corrupt banana republic.

[Stuckinthebush]

34. I was talking with Gov. Siegleman a few months ago

when all of the Justice Department stuff was coming out.

He said, "I smell Rove all over this lawsuit. You watch, it will come out that Rove was behind my indictment."

The Governor was right!

Rove needs to be in prison for life.

[Straight Shooter]

40. Possibly facing 30 frickin' years! And Duke Cunningham only got eight years, a few months.

Martha Stewart goes to prison, all the Repub inside traders get ........... nothing.

:grr:

[BrainGlutton]

42. Does this mean Siegelman is actually innocent?

[Limelight]

45. And?

As an AL resident and a guy who liked Siegelman for having the smarts to suggest a lottery to benefit our state's completely suck ass educational system I also have to admit no matter who put the charges out there... The guy's a crook.:P

He has been for a long time, him his good buddy Health South head honcho Schrushy (the man whom the stadium at my alma mater Troy University is named. I wonder who he bribed to get that?) are both crooks. Just cuz Rove was involved with the case on the outskirts doesn't mean Seigelman is any less guilty.

Please folks, let's not be come Republicans, defending the underhanded, criminal actions of certain people just because they share our political affiliation. Wrong is wrong. End of story.

[BrainGlutton]

59. And if Siegelman's exonerated of these particular charges . . .

Bob Riley still remains governor. Right?

[Limelight]

65. He's not going to be...

Because he's a crook. I'm sorry, but even if Karl Rove had some small part to play in this, calling on buddies to make complaints, he and Scrushy didn't get convicted on heresay, they got convicted on evidence, by a jury of their peers. The concept that Democrats can't be as crooked as Republicans is just silly. Forget political affiliation, they're all human beings and any human being is more than capable of being full of sh*t.

Besides that Riley didn't come into office because of this trail. Siegelman definitely lost because of it, but that was before the primaries even happened. Riley beat Lucy Baxley in an election long after Siegelman was convicted. Now.... show me some evidence that Rove and his political cronies pulled some bullsh*t vote caging or the like, tossing votes of black voters (which I wouldn't put past them) then we'll be talking about something important.

[L. Coyote]

46. Hey TIME! Correction. Abramoff and Rove Linked to Campaign Finances & "pursuing" Siegelman

Give a hand if you can filling the gaps in the Time article. Inquisition research started here:

Abramoff and Kark Rove Linked to Prosecution of Ex-Alabama Governor and Campaign Finances
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1023111

[L. Coyote]

74. Hey TIME! Correction. Abramoff and Gov. Bob Riley Linked = Illegal Campaign Finances

Bob Riley's Abramoff Problem = Riley's press secretary was Michael Scanlon
Riley penned a fund-raising letter for US Family Network, the Abramoff front

Thursday, January 05, 2006
Bob Riley's Abramoff Problem
posted by PoliSciZac | 7:12 AM
http://alelections.blogspot.com/2006/01/bob-rileys-abramoff-problem.html


..... The whole Abramoff business is pretty sordid and complex. It's been difficult to keep up with all of the details, but it's pretty plain it's not good news for the Republican party, at least at the national level ....

... Alabama Republicans holding their breath aren't all on Capitol Hill; many are in the Governor's office. During his first term in Congress, Bob Riley's press secretary was Michael Scanlon. After leaving Riley's office Scanlon worked for US Rep Tom Delay (R-TX) and then finally joined the lobbying operation of Jack Abramoff. .. Scanlon has pled guilty to bribing public officials (including congressmen) and defrauding Indian tribes ....

..... Riley penned a fund-raising letter in the late 1990s for the US Family Network which was basically an Abramoff front group.

If this is all the damage to come out of the Abramoff/Scanlon mess then Riley shouldn't take much of a hit. But if there continues to be smoke surrounding the governor's relationship with these two poster children for public corruption....

[still_one]

47. One question, was their merit to the charges of bribery and conspiracy?

There is enough on rove from caging to outing a CIA agent which should be enough to bring charges against rove.

My question is did siegelman take the bribes or not, because if he did, I don't care whether it is political or not, he shouldn't be in office if the charges are true

and the same is true for those republicans like the alberto gonzalaz who lied under oath, and witness tampering

[L. Coyote]

55. NO BUT PAC Gives $300K to Riley, After Getting $50 Million State Contract

PAC Gives $300K to Riley, After Getting $50 Million State Contract
from: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1023111

Friday, January 27, 2006
PAC Gives $300K to Riley, After Getting $50 Million State Contract
http://alelections.blogspot.com/2006/01/pac-gives-300k-...

Eddie Curran at the Mobile Register has a revelatory piece about Bob Riley's re-election fundraising. According to filings with the Sec of State, a PAC called Alabamians for Technology donated $300,000 in December to Riley's re-election campaign.

There doesn't seem to be any speculation that anything illegal took place, but there sure are a lot of unseemly details.

-- The PAC was formed, and largely bankrolled, by executives who benefited from a $50 million state contract.
-- The PAC was formed on Dec 16, 2005 and just three days later gave the $300K to Riley.
-- The PAC had taken $325K which means the $300K given to Riley accounts for over 92% of the PAC's monies.

========================
Culture of Corruption Rules!
Hatched by Dafydd - http://biglizards.net/blog/archives/2006/06 /

Former Gov. Don E. Siegelman of Alabama was convicted yesterday of bribery, according to the New York Times:

After twice telling a judge it was deadlocked, a federal jury on Thursday convicted former Gov. Don E. Siegelman and a former HealthSouth chief executive, Richard M. Scrushy, on charges that they conspired in a bribery scheme seven years ago. ......

At a news conference after the verdict Thursday, the acting United States attorney, Louis Franklin, praised the jurors for holding Mr. Siegelman and Mr. Scrushy "accountable for what they did." ..........

Yup, sounds good. Darned Republicans and their corrupt culture! Will their perfidy never cease? But still, there was that nagging feeling that it was a little odd ........

Having held most of the state's executive offices, Mr. Siegelman once cast himself as Alabama's first "New South" governor. Considered progressive, he was elected governor in 1998 on the promise to pay college tuition for Alabama students with an education lottery.

... the lottery was a huge bust ... a ballot initiative, the ... campaign cost at least $2 million... which Siegelman personally guaranteed. -- defeated,... by a counter-campaign by religious conservatives ... Siegelman found himself suddenly having to cought up a couple of million bucks......

======================
Therein lies the problem. Helping Siegelman recoup the cost of the lottery campaign was prosecuted as a crime on the premise that a favor was returned. Now return to the top of this post and start a new prosecution of the Republicans for doing what he say the Dems did.

Never mind, the Republicans control Justice, so prosecuting real corruption is out of the question FOR NOW!!
Maybe Congress should extend public corruption statutes of limitations.

[still_one]

56. Thanks, I appreciate the history

The Democrats cannot continue to take this abuse. It is time for them to take off the gloves and fight

For the last six years, even the 8 years prior, they have allowed themselves to be abused with slander and lies. Its got to stop

[L. Coyote]

60. And look what the opposition did with their millions of collection plate $$$$

It is time to take them on in their own lair, the pulpit. Where is the political reformer who will throw the corrupt politicos out of the temples? It will take an enormos effort to undo the RW Christian talking points that equate liberal with devil, and conservative (and donations) with eternal redemption.

[Judi Lynn]

48. Davis suggests Siegelman prosecution was political

Davis suggests Siegelman prosecution was political

By Tommy Stevenson
Associate Editor

May 18, 2007

In his questioning of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales last week, U.S. Rep. Artur Davis,

D-Birmingham, suggested on a national stage for the first time that the prosecutions of former Ala-bama Gov. Don Siegelman may have been politically motivated.

Davis suggested during Gonzales‘ testimony before the House Judiciary Committee that the corruption case against Siegelman may have been part of a larger U.S. Department of Justice tactic to target Democratic politicians for prosecution before major elections.

Davis’ implication was vehemently denied by U.S. Attorney Louis Franklin, who convicted the former Democratic governor, along with former HealthSouth chief executive Richard M. Scrushy, of bribery in Montgomery last year.

More:
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20070518/NEWS/70518002/1007/dateline&cachetime=3&template=dateline

[still_one]

49. To me it is very simple, did he take bribes or not? /nt

[Peace Patriot]

76. No, it is not that simple. We may wish to live in a world, and have a government,

in which, right and wrong were simple things, with everyone agreed on what they are. But right and wrong are sometimes not easy to sort out, and, really that has been true in the past, as now. That's why we have jury trials. That's why we have principles like "preponderance of the evidence" and "guilty beyond a reasonable doubt." And--most important of all--that's why we have a statue of Madame Justice with a blindfold over her eyes. Justice needs to be blind to rich vs. poor accused, black vs. white accused, Republican vs. Democrat accused, etc. U.S. Attorneys, state AGs, and local DAs, are making constant judgments about which crimes can and should be prosecuted. For instance, USA Carol Lam chose to prosecute the big players in the illegal immigrant problem in San Diego--the coyotes, the money people--and got fewer convictions but longer sentences for more serious crimes, rather than just rounding up poor immigrants and prosecuting MANY people on minor crimes. BushCo then used that as an excuse to claim, after the fact, that they fired Lam for not vigorously pursuing illegal immigration prosecutions--a ridiculous charge in Lam's case. That claim was bogus. They no doubt fired her for her prosecution of Duke Cunningham. But it illustrates the point. Would you say--of a poor illegal immigrant, someone just looking for a job to support their family--that it's "very simple": either they broke the law, or not? It is NOT simple. Not really. In some unreal world of absolute justice, it might be simple. But not in this one.

And when you consider the corporate crimes that may have been committed against that poor immigrant, back home--the corporate land grabs that drive peasants into urban shantytowns, and then north; the corporate manufacturers who outsource jobs and manufacturing to Mexico, and then, when Mexico workers ask for a raise from $2/hr to $3/hr, they outsource again to Cambodia, where they can pay 25 cents/hr; and other such outrages--WHOSE crimes are more serious, the poor immigrant, or the powerful, conscienceless corporation?

This is the critical question in evaluating corruption by Democrats prosecuted by a highly politicized army of Rovebot U.S. Attorneys, bent on influencing elections--a phenomenon that we have never seen before in our history. Prosecutors have always aspired to be non-political, in the sense of "blind justice," ESPECIALLY over political crimes. The ideal is a government that, whether Republican or Democratic, makes NON-PARTISAN appointments to the positions like U.S. Attorney, fully expecting that, say, a prosecutor who happens to be Republican will protect Democratic voters' rights, or will prosecute Republican office holders who commit crimes. This is one of the policies that attracts good lawyers to such positions (when they could make bigger money in the private sector)--the high standards of the Justice Department, its non-partisanship. It is TOTALLY SHOCKING to find out that Rove has completely changed the rules, and was actively pressuring USA's to harm Democratic candidates and office holders and Democratic voters. It is a FELONY--or, rather, multiple felonies!

At any given time, there is a certain amount of relatively small scale corruption going on in American political life--and occasionally big corruption. (I remember a time, in the 1950s, when the VP's wife accepting a vicuna coat from a contributor--one coat!--caused a huge uproar and resignation. So things, are, indeed, "relative." Maybe they shouldn't be, though.) Which political crimes get prosecuted? All of them? That would probably empty the government! How big do they have to be? And how PERVASIVE is the corruption? I'm sure that this enters into a good prosecutor's decision: Is it one little slip-up, or a crime ring? Is the politician just under a lot of pressure and made of mistake, or is there a pattern of corruption? They might then choose the most prosecutable crime--the one with strong evidence--to get that person out of politics.

One other thing: Bushites steal big--and I mean big. Billions and even trillions of dollars. They are corrupt beyond belief. And Democrats generally steal small--or small by comparison. What BIG BUSHITE CRIMES was this prosecutor in Alabama ignoring--if any--to go after a Democrat who was trying to pay the costs of a lottery campaign, with the goal (as far as we know) of education? What was the relative size and importance of this crime--if it occurred--compared to other possible prosecutions? Why did the jury in this case almost get hung? (They had a very hard time deciding if he was guilty, and almost gave it up several times, and were ordered back into deliberations by the judge. Who was the judge? Was he a Bushbot?). I don't know enough of the facts to make an educated guess about this--but I do know that campaign finance law is complex, and a mean-spirited, Bushite prosecutor could cause a lot of trouble and waste a lot of taxpayers' money, harassing Democrats for things that are really just mistakes, not crimes. Was this the case in Alabama? I don't know. But, given Rove's ILLEGAL pressure, you've got to wonder.

In California, forces behind Diebold/ES&S drove our good Sec of State, Kevin Shelley, out of office on entirely bogus charges of corruption, after he had sued Diebold for lying about the security of their voting machines, and decertified their touchscreens (just prior to the 2004 election). The AG, Bill Lockyer (a Democrat) subsequently refused to file charges. All charges were dropped. But the Bush-appointed "Election Assistance Commission" threatened to open a big investigation into Shelley's office, Shelley had no money for a legal fund (--tells you something about Shelley), he couldn't do his job, under the circumstances, and he resigned. (A sub-story is that the new leadership of the Democratic legislature totally caved on this--failed to support Shelley, colluded with corrupt county election officials, and cooperated with Schwarzenegger's appointment of a Republican, and Diebold shill, as Sec of State. The voters recently threw that bastard out, and elected Debra Bowen--an election reformer--one of the miracles of the '06 elections.)

My point is that, in BushWorld, we must not simply ask: Is the Democrat who is being accused, or prosecuted, by Bushbots (or forces aligned with Bush, such as Diebold/ES&S), guilty or not guilty? We must ALSO ask, is the accusation even true--and then, is it FAIR in our current political scene? Is it entirely trumped up? Is it relatively minor? Is it entrapment? Are Bushbots doing the same thing, only a hundred times worse, with THEIR crimes being ignored? We must further ask, is Rove using NSA spy information either to catch Democrats, or set them up?

One other thing we must ask: Are our war profiteering corporate news monopolies giving us anything even close to the truth regarding accusations, prosecutions and/or convictions of Democrats or other Bush/Cheney opposition? Look at how unreliable they have been on so many things--on the Libby case, on the case against Lt. James Yee, on the case against Saddam Hussein on the WMDs, on our thoroughly corrupted vote "counting" system, and in general on the massive, unbelievable corruption of the Bush Junta. Can we trust even the barest facts from these lying, deceitful, fascist "news" sources?

We are living through a time when a terrible crime gang has seized our government. We cannot trust anything they do or say. I don't approve of corruption of any kind--especially the really BIG corruption. The Cheney corruption. The Abramoff corruption. The Halliburton corruption. The Exxon-Mobile corruption. The Diebold/ES&S corruption. The Iraq War corruption. The Blackwater mercenary corruption. The credit card companies' corruption. This does not excuse any Democratic corruption. But until our government is released from these massively corrupt hands, we really cannot determine if the prosecution of a Democrat is fair or not. And, anyway, the RELATIVELY minor corruption that goes on in campaign financing is nothing compared to the corruption--that both parties are guilty of--that is considered LEGAL. (NAFTA comes to mind--and Pentagon spending--one hundred more BILLION dollars to the Iraq War. Who is benefiting? And who is going to be sitting on whose boards of directors, at what benefit to their own pocketbooks, after they leave "public service"?)

It's just not simple, still_one. The whole thing (our political system) is so corrupt, it boggles the mind. ADD in Karl Rove and his manipulative evil, and you have a colossal, tangled, chaotic, huge political disaster, rotting the foundations of our democracy. We cannot keep track of the scandals. And there is no entity to whom we can appeal--not the courts, not the so-called Justice Dept., not Congress, not the president, not the FBI, and certainly not the corporate-run lapdog press, to sort it out. We have a FEW Congress members who may be honest enough to follow some of it up. And we, the people. That's it.

Ask Iraqis about "simple." The chaos principle is also being used there, and has been from the beginning. Create enough corruption and disarray, and nothing can function right, in the interests of the people and good government. It is deliberate. ('Freedom = the freedom to loot.' --Donald Rumsfeld.)

[lonestarnot]

51. Why in the hell is nepotism permitted within the same state in the U.S. Attorney's office?

:shrug:

[nealmhughes]

54. Oh, the stories I could tell about Alice Martin, a millionaire industrialist's wife who plays lawyer

A very close friend was one of her nannies and Alice and hubby went to Nashville fro a dinner one evening and did not return for two days, and were incommunicado while she was expecting them back that morning when she left for her college classes. . .

To say she was a "political appointment" is to put it mildly. Never a prosecutor or a judge -- flat out campaigner.

Her family is not very popular in thier hometown after shutting down Martin Industries a few years ago after 3 generations for movement to Mexico.

But on the bright side, she could not win election as a garbage scow deckhand in our county, as Democratic as there is in the South. . .the 5th Alabama.

[19jet54]

58. He said, She said?

... hope there is more than that!

[L. Coyote]

62. Money changed hands and the "quid pro quo" is shaky at best. Why did the $$$$

change hands? To pay for the campaign to establish a state lottery to fund college students. This is not a Randy Cunningham bilking millions for his own bankroll. It is a progressive trying to put "certain people" through college in a southern state, and a bunch of felonious gambler lobbyists protecting their financial interests, with throwing the opposition in jail seemingly being the end justifying the means.

Why is it that those who allege the quid pro quo are not handcuffing the current politicos? We have a classic case in the post above.

[L. Coyote]

61. Does anyone have a detailed timeline of the USA offices involved in this?

From Jan. 2001 forward, what is happening with personnel in the upper ranks involved in this litigation?

What are their links to Bush, Cheney, Rove, Reed, Falwell, Scanlon, Abramoff?

[Judi Lynn]

64. Just googled and found DU'er L.Coyote's G.D. post from last night:

This looks REALLY helpful: lot of information....

Abramoff and Kark Rove Linked to Prosecution of Ex-Alabama Governor and Campaign Finances

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1023111

[L. Coyote]

66. Logical agroupation, a key Google rank ingredient, just like searching. "Abramoff Siegelman"

That thread was produced from a single Google search "Abramoff Siegelman" and an hour of online reading, nothing more.

I noticed that Time had omitted a key ingredient of the story, Abramoff! So, I turned to Google.

My apologies Mr. Siegelman for combining you with Abramoff. :rofl: Hope it helps.

[Judi Lynn]

68. Ouch! Embarrassment. Was distracted enough to have not noticed the name of the poster

to whom I sent the post concerning finding your thread from last night. Oh, nooooo!

[L. Coyote]

73. Google has shrunk the world to our size. OR No Longer Gullible Travelers

We walk like giants in the information age, to anywhere and everywhere in an instant, no longer Gullible Travelers.



Hey, good context placement for the link nonetheless.

[L. Coyote]

63. Does anyone have a detailed understading of the vote counting controversy

that swung the election from Seigelman to Riley at the last moment?

In the article: "Riley, a former Congressman, initially found himself behind by several thousand votes, he had pulled ahead at the last minute when disputed ballots were tallied in his favor."

[Demeter]

70. Rove Linked to Prosecution of Ex-Alabama Governor

Source: Time

Friday, Jun. 01, 2007
Rove Linked to Prosecution of Ex-Alabama Governor
By Adam Zagorin/Washington

In the rough and tumble of Alabama politics, the scramble for power is often a blood sport. At the moment, the state's former Democratic governor, Don Siegelman, stands convicted of bribery and conspiracy charges and faces a sentence of up to 30 years in prison. Siegelman has long claimed that his prosecution was driven by politically motivated, Republican-appointed U.S. attorneys.

Now Karl Rove, the President's top political strategist, has been implicated in the controversy. A longtime Republican lawyer in Alabama swears she heard a top G.O.P. operative in the state say that Rove "had spoken with the Department of Justice" about "pursuing" Siegelman, with help from two of Alabama's U.S. attorneys.

The allegation was made by Dana Jill Simpson, a lifelong Republican and lawyer who practices in Alabama. She made the charges in a May 21 affidavit, obtained by TIME, in which she describes a conference call on November 18, 2002, which involved a group of senior aides to Bob Riley, who had just narrowly defeated Siegelman in a bitterly contested election for governor. Though Republican Riley, a former Congressman, initially found himself behind by several thousand votes, he had pulled ahead at the last minute when disputed ballots were tallied in his favor. After the abrupt vote turnaround, Siegelman sought a recount. The Simpson affidavit says the conference call focused on how the Riley campaign could get Siegelman to withdraw his challenge.

According to Simpson's statement, William Canary, a senior G.O.P. political operative and Riley adviser who was on the conference call, said "not to worry about Don Siegelman" because "'his girls' would take care of" the governor. Canary then made clear that "his girls" was a reference to his wife, Leura Canary, the U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Alabama, and Alice Martin, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama.



Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1627427,00.html?xid=rss-nation

---

Not Very Long, and Well Worth the Read!

How many more smoking guns do we need? Get a Special Prosecutor--stat!

[MissWaverly]

71. he was charged for reappointing somebody with no

personal money rec'd, hmmm, me thinks this sounds like the Wisconsin case, with Georgia Thompson was convicted and later found
innocent for simply awarding a travel contract. This definitely should be looked into.

[youngdem]

72. 30 YEARS.

Karl Rove needs to be imprisoned before he does anymore damage.

[L. Coyote]

75. Remember when we were asking, "What did the USAs who were not fired do?"

This scandal gives more insight into what the Congressional Committees have been up to with the politization focus. I was wondering why there wasn't some focus on election fraud. It is all wrapped up in one package here, it seems, USAs, election fraud, Rove, Abramoff, Scanlon, Reed, defrauding Indians, illegal campaign funding, Delay, the White House, Riley, gambling, Christian conservatives, a Canary, bribery and conspiracy, Gonzales.

Am I leaving anything out? Oh yeah, whose gang is this and what is their color?

=========
Times are a changing fast, as more info is connected.
Not even a month has passed since this compilation started:

US Attorney Firing: Voter Fraud, Medicare Fraud, WHICH IS IT ???
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x853813