Welcome to Karl Rove's Amerika- Where it is crime to be a Democrat

[kpete]

Sunday :: Feb 3, 2008
Open Thread: Alabama Justice Edition

by Mary
In Alabama, it is crime to be a Democrat because you interfere with the right of the GOP to own the state. And when it's time to arrest the miscreant, it will be done in the most humiliating fashion possible, because justice is a harsh god and no mercy will be shown to the woman being arrested.

The morning calm in the small Alabama town of Toney, located near Huntsville, was broken at 6:15 a.m. yesterday morning. A team of five FBI agents, accompanied by a prison matron, pounded on the door. When the man of the house answered, he was forced into the yard, shirtless in the early morning cold. The team had come for his wife, Sue Schmitz. She was dragged out of her bathroom, where she was taking a shower, handcuffed, breaking her flesh and scraping her wrists, and hustled off to prison.

As a retired civics teacher who ventured into politics, this woman was a dangerous threat to the state and therefore must be humiliated and made an example for other wicked Alabamans who betrayed their masters by being politically active Democrats. http://www.harpers.org/archive/2008/02/hbc-90002293

Welcome to Karl Rove's Amerika.

http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/011874.php

[Joanne98]

1. You got to luv Harpers!

[EV_Ares]

2. Recommended and wasn't Alabama where a democratic governor was

arrested and put in prison in the last election.

[ixion]

4. indeed it was... Don Sieglman was just that guy

a former governor who was thinking about re-entering the political realm.

[beezlebum]

22. was the first thing

i thought of when i saw the op.

[Richard Steele]

3. Grrrecommended

[L. Coyote]

5. This has all the markings of political terrorism, exercising state power to intimidate citizens

in a very purposeful manner, not just to punish the innocent until found guilty and impact the likelihood of being found guilty by a jury of peers witnessing the treatment, but also to impact the behavior and define the politically correct viewpoints of the entire community.

This abuse of power has all the hallmarks of a Stalinist police state, or a Nazi police state, or a Fascist police state, or a Somoza or Southern Cone Military Junta state. We just need a new name now.

Ideas?

A Klan police state?

A Bush Junta police state?

[Divine Discontent]

31. sure sounds like the mid-level doings of a

fascist state, doesn't it?

Good grief, is Dumya going to leave office in 08? One would take it that they're going to make sure even if he does, that McCain gets in and does as he's told is the "best thing for this country", and surely, he'll understand and enjoy being 'President'.


Sure sounds like Nazism to me.

[Baby Snooks]

39. A Bush Junta police state?

At this point a Bush-Pelosi junta police state. Soon to be a Clinton-Pelosi junta police state if Democrats don't wake up.

[angrycarpenter]

6. I am orignially from Ala.

Every news story out of there is a total joke. I will state for the record right now that I am ashamed of my home state. They continually try to use the ignorance of the people to change the place into some kind of evangelical paradise.

I remember the ten commandments fiasco. I was ashamed of them then. Some of the people cling to their ignorance like a shield. Others are too busy working themselves to death for some of the lowest wages in the country. The state government is corrupt with many opportunists switching parties back and forth to get elected.

If my Family did not live there I would never go back. The whole state is a speedtrap because they do not fund law enforcement well. So they have to go out on the highway and shake down the populace for money. Their tax structure is about as upside-down as it gets with the working poor carrying the load.

There is no excuse for the negligent way that state is run.

[The Backlash Cometh]

7. They already have a skeleton crew in place for Alabama's takeover.

And if you think it's just a Republican vs. Democratic issue, you might miss what they want the most: control. Well, in Alabama where they don't seem to have to hide their dirty tricks, it probably is primarily a Republican effort.

If a takeover involves a private organization taking over goverment control, what business group do you suppose would be most suspect in that kind of venture? I'll give you the answer: one that involves property development.

[mod mom]

8. and impeachment is off the table? This is coming from the top.

:mad:

[SalmonChantedEvening]

9. What country is this again?

Once more, the MSM looks away.

:argh: :grr:

[LizW]

12. They don't just look away, they are part of it

The set up for these political prosecutions is done by the major newspapers. The Birmingham News has been setting up the corruption case for well over two years, drilling it into peoples' minds over and over. Ask the most uninformed rube in the state about the two year college system, and he'll say, "Oh, it's crooked. They need to put all those crooks in jail." He may not know one other thing about current events, but he will know that.

The Republican takeover in Alabama is happening on all fronts. The political prosecutions of Siegelman and now the Democratic legislator are just the most outrageous examples.

There is a huge, insidious push to destroy the teacher's union, AEA. The Republican-majority Alabama Supreme Court recently ruled on a teacher http://www.bradleyarant.com/publications_opinions.cfm?ID=4853">tenure case that has terrible ramifications for teacher job security. If the Repugs can dismantle or even significantly weaken teacher tenure, they can kill AEA in a heartbeat. Without AEA, the next thing to happen will be vouchers and privatization, and in will come a tiered system of education with the rich getting the best private, for-profit education money can buy, and the middle class and poor left behind in rotting, underfunded schools.

I have five more years until my last child graduates from high school and we can get the heck out of here. I hope we make it before it is all torn down.

[Iris]

18. Not to mention what it will do to intellectual freedom

:scared:

[JDPriestly]

28. Here is the full story on the arrest.

It is one in a series of arrests of people in this system. http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/120185735776140.xml&coll=2

Schmitz is the latest public official linked to the investigation of Alabama's two-year colleges. In 2006, state Rep. Bryant Melton of Tuscaloosa resigned his elected position and two-year college job after pleading guilty to funneling some of his legislative discretionary grants to himself to help pay gambling debts.

Last week, prosecutors announced a plea deal made with fired college system Chancellor Roy Johnson, who agreed to plead guilty to 15 counts of bribery, money laundering, obstruction, conspiracy and witness tampering. Johnson admitted participating in six conspiracies with businessmen paying kickbacks for his help in obtaining system contracts.

Johnson has agreed to help prosecutors in their investigation, and his help could be significant in the case against Schmitz. She said in an interview with The Birmingham News last year that she asked Johnson to help her find a college job. A special position was created for Schmitz in the college system's Community Intensive Training for Youth, or City, program.

[tblue37]

10. K&R n/t

[L. Coyote]

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

from DU Archive Jun-01-07: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1023111

Rove Linked to Prosecution of Ex-Alabama Governor By ADAM ZAGORIN/WASHINGTON
Friday, Jun. 01, 2007 - http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1627427,00.html?xid=rss-nation

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 long time 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. ..............

========================
From June 3, 2005 by the Boston Globe
Gambling, GOP Politics Intertwine
Casino Payments Seen as Influential
by Michael Kranish - http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0603-08.htm


WASHINGTON -- George W. Bush gave the nation's gambling industry plenty of reason to fear his presidency. .... He wooed religious conservatives by boasting in a presidential debate about his ''strong antigambling record."

But as president, Bush has not spoken out against gambling. .... as Republican lobbyists and activist groups collected tens of millions of dollars from Indian tribes seeking to preserve their casinos. Now those payments are the focus of Senate and Justice Department investigations.

... White House ... annual sessions over a four-year period that were arranged by antitax crusader Grover Norquist ... After Bush dropped his antigambling rhetoric, lobbyists touted their access, and fund-raising from Indian tribes grew exponentially.

...Norquist('s) ... organization received $1.5 million from tribes and fought a tax on Indian casinos; lobbyist Jack Abramoff, a top Bush fund-raiser who earned millions of dollars in fees as a consultant to gaming tribes; and Ralph Reed ... allegedly used some money from Indian gaming tribes to fund his efforts to close down rival casinos and lotteries

.........Bush worked closely with religious conservatives, especially Reed....

..... Tiguas poured tens of thousands of dollars into the campaign of the Democrat running against Bush in 1998 .... Bush redoubled his earlier efforts to shut down the Tigua casino. ... special appropriation ... for the state's attorney general, John Cornyn, now a US senator, to take legal action against the tribe.....

Abramoff, who helped arrange for the rival tribes to give the money to Reed's group, turned around and offered his services to the Tiguas -- for $4.2 million in fees split between himself and a partner

..... Abramoff and his partner in Indian gaming consulting would receive more than $60 million in fees from six different tribes seeking to advance their gambling interests ... Abramoff also told the tribes to give money ... the tribes gave $3 million, two-thirds of it to Republicans

.... Abramoff and Norquist .. worked (for) ... candidate ... following year, Abramoff and Norquist came to Washington together to lead the Republican Party's national effort to recruit college students. Reed soon joined ...


In 1999, Don Siegelman, the Democratic governor of Alabama, proposed a lottery that would have pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into public schools and even provided free college education for most Alabama high school graduates.

Reed, rallying religious conservatives, set out to try to defeat it ... quickly raised $1.15 million .... money came from Norquist's group, Americans for Tax Reform. Norquist ... got the funds from an Indian gaming tribe ...At the time Reed raised the money, he was working for Abramoff ... and Abramoff represented the Mississippi tribe.

Siegelman ..."'I don't know how they can sleep at night taking money from the Indian casinos to deny Alabama schoolchildren...."

.... Abramoff, meanwhile, appears to be the central focus ....Bush has not spoken on the matter.

=========================
ABRAMOFF: Gambling, Indians, Rove, Reed and the Republican Money Machine
...
http://www.taylormarsh.com/archives_view.php?id=1624

No one outside Karl Rove is more responsible for George W. Bush's rise in the south than former Christian Coalition head Ralph Reed, ... he's got some problems coming his way...

.... an Indian tribe with a casino in Mississippi was a source for $1.15 million that Reed helped send to two anti-gambling campaigns in Alabama ...
....Jack Abramoff ... acted as an intermediary for much of the cash.

"Somebody's lying. It's either John Giles or Ralph Reed or both. I think these people are scoundrels," said Siegelman, a Democrat who blames his failure to win re-election on the lottery defeat.....

God and gambling, Christians and casinos, what a powerful pairing, which, when you look at the bottom line, all adds up to big bucks. Big bucks that ran from one Bushie to another, on behalf of God who is against gambling, while Christians make sure casinos don't land in their neck of the woods, as the guys who represent God, the Republicans, cash in big on being consultants.

It's a nifty little racket Rove and Reed, with a lot of help from Delay, Abramoff and even the money man himself, Grover Norquist, have going. The Bushies must be betting God likes gamblers, because they've put it all on the line. .........

=======================
Bush-DeLay-Abramoff Indian Casinos Campaign Money Laundering Operation

Edited on Sat Jun-02-07 03:00 PM by L. Coyote
The Bush-DeLay-Indian Casinos Campaign Money Laundering Operation
(Wampum ‘til they’re dead)
by Laurence A. Toenjes
http://www.opednews.com/toenjes_101504_Bush_DeLay.htm


The largest single flow of monies into the DeLay nexus is from the set of six Indian tribes who “hired” Jack Abramoff and Mike Scanlon to help promote the tribes’ interests. .... they managed to extract from the tribes is at $66 million and counting. This is the amount estimated by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee to have been paid to Scanlon alone. .....

.... there is enough evidence to draw monetary links among some of these major political players. ...................

[Subdivisions]

13. And those of us on the outside will just

sit at our desks, railing daily of the injustice, never feeling complelled to do anything about it.

[duhneece]

24. I don't know WHAT to do

except keep working at the local level to elect more Democrats who will (hopefully) aim for more justice.
I have to admit, I feel impotent this morning...and sad. Maybe it's because I've had two bouts of a cold/virus in as many months.

[JDPriestly]

32. What can we do?

We write our Congressmen, but they don't listen. They view us as on the fringe. They think they know better than we do. They are deaf to anything that might force them to confront wrongdoing. Look at the volumes of data on the misdeeds of the Bush administration that Congressman Waxman has amassed. But what does he do with it? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. And when the White House refuses to produce documents, Congress squawks but takes not action. Congress doesn't even take the stories on the road and tell the American people what is going on.

And Leahy, is the weakest of the lot. He has not even bothered to find out whatever happened to the investigation into the attempts on his own life -- the anthrax investigation. That puzzles me the most. He must have Alzheimer's if he can't remember that he should try to find out who tried to kill him and let the American people know. Joe Schmoo does not know how to prepare anthrax for mailing. That took someone with expertise.

I tried to get John Edwards elected. I don't know of anything more effective than that that I can do.

[NJCher]

57. I don't know how much you are for fringe theories

But I was listening to this interview with a guy by the name of Sean David Morton. This guy does predictions. He's got a pretty good track record but he sometimes doesn't get it all--like he didn't pick up on the mudslides in CA and he even lives there. He does get a lot right on the economy, though.

He says that bush and cheney have a plan called "Gambit." Gambit would be some sort of assault on a major American city(ies), along the lines of 9/11. They are using Gambit to hold off prosecution. If they get away without being prosecuted for their crimes, they will not carry out Gambit. If the Dems come after them, Gambit goes into effect.

Now, suspend judgment for just a moment and imagine if that were true. It sure would explain a lot of the Dems' reluctance to prosecute.

I told this story to a very mainstream, practical lawyer today. He said a few years ago he would have laughed at that story but says that now he thinks it could be true and that he would put nothing past bush and cheney because they are both sociopaths.



Cher

[scarletwoman]

36. Well, obviously what we have to do is "liberate" Alabama!

I say, drop bombs on the Governor's Mansion. What's YOUR idea?

[leftofthedial]

14. What's Rove got to do

got to do with it?

[L. Coyote]

15. Words of warning for November: "the ballot box doesn’t figure very prominently"

"... this activity has one clear-cut beneficiary: the Alabama G.O.P. and its plans “to take control of” the state legislature. Funny, but the ballot box doesn’t figure very prominently in that effort."

This is just one instance in manipulation of events to manipulate political outcomes. These counter-democratic efforts are run on ALL fronts of activity controlled by partisans seeking complete take-over/control of government. The effort seeks to end-run democratic process by manipulating how people vote.

I'm just saying, "Give them an Osama tape" a few days before the vote is a lot cheaper than campaign advertising! and more effective than campaigning? Expect the worst (best?) of 'tail wags dog' tricks if that's what the situation requires as the vote approaches.

[alfredo]

16. Is there a defense fund for her?

[L. Coyote]

17. Hide and Seek With the Justice Department

One more thing to investigate in Alabama, perhaps one reason it is happening right now!

We are being waterboarded; the strategy is to "drown" us in uncountable investigations!!

=============
Hide and Seek With the Justice Department
http://harpers.org/archive/2008/02/hbc-90002301


"Conyers is demanding that Mukasey appear before the Committee fully briefed and prepared to answer questions about the Siegelman matter."

"I think I can venture a guess as to how Mukasey will handle this when his day under the lights appears. I believe that the Siegelman case will get the “waterboarding” treatment—that is, Mukasey will refuse to say anything about it. What was done to Siegelman is no less reprehensible than the torture policies which Justice officially blessed and continues to sustain. In fact, they are two aspects of the same thing—a view that the president is præses lupus–that he stands above the law, and is accountable to no one, least of all to Congress."

[varelse]

19. Recommended and bookmarked...

...time to start hoarding ammo for the aftermath of the Presidential Primary selection.

"what, you won't vote for the Democratic nominee???"

"Well here's some reasons to reconsider that position:"



Hmm maybe I need a spreadsheet for this :P

[progressoid]

20. I'm subscribing to Harpers today.

Good God, what have we become.

[L. Coyote]

21. WEB ONLY = Scott Horton WRITER OF 1147 Blog Posts since April 2007

I check the web only content almost daily

Scott Horton = http://harpers.org/subjects/ScottHorton
WRITER OF 1147 Blog Posts since April 2007
http://harpers.org/subjects/ScottHorton/WriterOf/BlogEntry

Also, search for "Siegelman" or "Gonzales" etc.

[progressoid]

40. Thanks, I'll have to keep an eye on their site too.

[Divine Discontent]

33. I concur...

Good God, what have we become?!

This story is beyond unacceptable in America today, with the outreach we have via the TV, radio, print, cell, and net.

Where's some major American activists to get involved with this, like Jesse or President Carter.

They need to be voicing major concern over the Justice Department not getting this cleared up fast. It appears like politico junta-ism and yet we hear we are short people in the department to look into more pressing matters.

[never_get_over_it]

23. Let's not forget Bernie Ward

who is facing 15 years in prison on internet child pornography charges which he says and apparently the Gov't doesn't dispute was for research he was doing for a book.

His voice has been silenced on KGO as he has been fired

and God only knows if he will actually get sentenced to 15 years in prison

and I know a lot of people don't buy the I was doing research - BUT this internet usage was for a brief time MORE than three years ago - they have found NO other evidence of ANY child pornography - nothing was even on his hard drive. I have listened to him for years and I know know know that he is not a child pornographer

What I do know is he is a huge critic of the repunks - and sometimes the Dems and they conveniently pressed the charges right before the Presidential race heated up...

just saying....

[Michigan-Arizona]

43. Bernie Ward

The thing I find so strange is that it took them 3 year's to do anything. I miss Bernie & fear for Ray T. being he is as vocal on the issue's himself.

[never_get_over_it]

44. I miss Bernie so much I could cry

it is such a set up....and don't think they won't or aren't trying to shut Ray up too....if he wasn't on in the middle of the night he'd probably already be gone....

[Michigan-Arizona]

46. Bernie & Ray

Yes, middle of the night is probably a big factor has to why Ray is not gone but I still think they'll try to find a way to silence him sooner or later. What a shame hey? I feel so bad for his family as well. I was so impressed with them both that I went out & bought me a good radio just to listen to them. Let's hope for the best for him!

[cascadiance]

55. I wonder if Bush's warrantless domestic spying aided in this "targeted" arrest of him!

I'm guessing they have a log of many people they feel as threats of things they can go after them with in a timely fashion as you suggest.

[JDPriestly]

25. We need John Edwards as president to set Alabama straight.

What do you think Clinton or Obama will do about Alabma's justice system?

I would wager that they will do nothing.

[JDPriestly]

26. Where is Fredda Weinberg?

Does anyone doubt that we are entering into a fascist era?

[Canuckistanian]

52. I miss her calm, soothing voice

Telling us that we're all just hallucinating, that there's nothing to worry about.

It must be nice to be comfortably numb.

[Fredda Weinberg]

59. I'm not numb at all ... in fact, I read up on the case

Schmitz is the latest in a string of state officials swept up in an investigation of the Alabama Department of Postsecondary Education.

The former head of the system, Roy Johnson, agreed to plead guilty and assist investigators in a deal made public last week. In all, eight people have either pleaded guilty or been convicted in the probe.

http://www.wiat.com/news/local/15106906.html

BTW, this is why I wouldn't take any government $$$ for my work with the kids, cops and computers program ... never give 'em an excuse - so please, I'm not complacent.

But in this case, the press wasn't notified of the arrest, so it wasn't exactly a frog march ... and another article makes clear Ms Schmitz had time to dress before she was taken downtown.

[mnhtnbb]

27. Unbelievable. Unf*cking believable. It's getting scarier every day.

in this country.

[Enthusiast]

35. I ask myself................

I ask myself, just what kind of country do these Republicans want to live in? Either they are not aware of this level of corruption or they want to live with fascism. It is one or the other. I know most Republicans would be alarmed if they only knew. The chances of Faux News suddenly enlightening them doesn't seem too likely to me.

[lisainmilo]

61. fear

scared, terror, that is the current administrations tactics. That was also Hitlers tactics. Sociopaths, yes!

[Bozita]

29. Recommended. ... Strongly!

[Divine Discontent]

30. you've got to be disgusted like me after reading that

what utter bullshit. this country is inundated with right wing nuts who are blatantly using their temporary power to harm the lives of others.

bastards... may they face justice soon.

[Divine Discontent]

34. I just subscribed to Harper's also. Spread the word about them. n/t

[AzDar]

37. K & R....

:kick:

[Mnemosyne]

38. KnR n/t

[L. Coyote]

41. K & R

[cascadiance]

42. K&R

[Vattel]

45. Free Siegelman Now!

I hope the first thing the next president does is to commute Siegelman's sentence. Siegelman can't even appeal his conviction because the republican judge in the case (Fuller) won't provide the necessary court transcripts. I don't know anything about the case in the OP, but the Siegelman case is a travesty. What happened to the investigation of the politicization of the justice dept? I know a civil rights lawyer who left DOJ because of the abuses of Bush appointees. He hoped that Congress would get off its collective ass and do something about it. But they confirmed the next asshole AG instead, even though he wouldn't offer an opinion on the legality of waterboarding.

[midnight]

51. I can't hardly believe that the Democrates are not doing anything

about this.

[Initech]

47. Why hasn't Karl Rove been tried for treason yet?

[Liberty Belle]

48. Where's the ACLU? They should take on this case pro bono.

[McCamy Taylor]

49. Where is Congress? This is more of Gonzales' politicized DOJ.

[LaStrega]

50. sickening and horrifying k&r n/t

[annabanana]

53. This will just get worse & worse until a new AG, a new President (D)

and a more robust Congress can get into gear. This is not the first time that the rotten apples in States legislatures have filled Dixie's barrels.

[f the letter]

54. Way to go, Alabama republicans. n/t

[eridani]

56. Contact the DNC about this ASAP

http://www.democrats.org/page/s/contactissues

[OwnedByFerrets]

58. And how long before they come for US......

the more militant of the democratic party?? Would anyone do anything?? Would anyone care??

[FlyingSquirrel]

60. Welcome To Amerika:

(Lyrics by FlyingSquirrel, Music by ???? - still looking!)

-----

Once our leaders were elected
We still vote but now they’re selected
For us

The press has been consolidated
The truth is much too complicated, don’t
Bore us

Welcome to America

The laws are changed with a signing statement
Against all reason our president
Ignores us

The bodies lie where our flag’s unfurled
But we don’t understand why the world
Abhors us

Welcome to America

What’s the Constitution
Just a Goddamned piece of paper
Let the Congress stand and watch
As the oil barons rape her
Don’t you dare try to resist
Or we’ll put you on a list
Say goodbye to all your freedoms
As they all go up in vapor...

(Solo?)

Welcome to America

I wrote this song I hoped you’d listen
But now I’m locked in a secret prison
Why....
Why, oh why....
They won’t let me die
I’ll never see the sky
Why....
Please tell me why.....
Why.......

America, goodbye.

[Kablooie]

62. She allegedly took $177,000 in salary for work she didn't do.

Aren't people usually FIRED in cases like this?

Since when are people sent to PRISON for screwing up on the job?

And at taxpayer expense?

(The salary was for $50,000 a year. The $177,000 was over several years.)

[Vattel]

65. the general strategy

has been to target democrats who receive benefits from, or provide benefits to, political allies or donors. An appearance of impropriety is translated into bribery or other political corruption charges. (Note: As we all know, Republicans never hand out political favors to supporters.) They got Siegelman for appointing to a regulatory board someone who facilitated a donation to a campaign for a state lottery (something Siegelman supported). It was crazy because the last few governors had also appointed him to that board. Siegelman got seven years in prison, way more than a republican governor of AL got for pocketing a $200,000 bribe (in that case the prosecution recommended probation). The case at hand may be more of the same. (I don't know much about it.)

[Name removed]

63. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[A HERETIC I AM]

69. Welcome to DU

Enjoy your (what will be) short stay.

[hatrack]

70. Gots to LOVE that alert button!

Goodbye, twit.

[Botany]

64. Hello Nancy P?

As I have posted a thousand times before ....

The NSA/ATT/Verizon/...... were used to spy on us
and the DoJ was used as muscle.

[Pacifist Patriot]

66. I must confess skepticism regardless of sources. I'm baffled!

I'm not inclined to take any single article as evidence of truth even if it is from a perspective with with I feel more sympathy. I suppose because I have been misquoted too many times. I've read too many articles about events in which I participated that did not remotely reflect the reality of the occasion. From "both sides of the aisle."

I would really appreciate some help understanding the situation in Alabama.

I saw that this is the culmination of a two-year investigation. I also saw a news article that claims Schmitz is best known for introducing a bill to give Alabama a new official insect by replacing the monarch butterfly with the queen honey bee. WTF?

Is the Republican party entrapping democrats, planting evidence, trumping up bogus charges? Is it possible these democrats really are guilty of the charges and should be held accountable? Are republicans doing the same things and this is a case of inconsistent application of the law? What the heck is going on? Thanks for any help!

As an aside, the conversations here are quite interesting http://www.leftinalabama.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1113

[Vattel]

71. God loves a skeptic

You are right to remain skeptical until details are provided. The Harpers article was short on details, and so suspending judgment is the way to go.

[Wednesdays]

67. Just like "driving while black"

you can now be arrested for "breathing while Democratic."

:scared:

[cgrindley]

68. This article is merely opinion, not news... it looks like she's probably guilty

I'm reserving final judgment until I see it in a few more sterile environments.

http://www.whnt.com/Global/story.asp?S=7803357
http://wsfa.com/Global/story.asp?S=7804130
http://birmingham.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel08/bh013108.htm
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080131/APN/801310732

[L. Coyote]

72. Quit Bitchin' In other countries being liberal gets you a bullet to the head!

If this wasn't inside the USA, Siegelman would be fish bait or in an unmarked grave. And the USG pays for the ammo, all too often.

Isn't Amerikkka wonderful? We've paid to have liberals executed everywhere, but we still have Dems! :rofl:

George Bush Sr. May Face Charges: Conspiring to Kidnap and Murder Political Activists
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2459135

To understand what the son is doing and covering up, first you need to know about the crimes of the father!

[wishlist]

73. Rovian/fundamentalist spin is that Dems are the evil ones to be feared

I was visiting with a neighbor (registered Dem but converted to James Dobson fundamentalist religion) who told me the joke about Chelsea asking a college group what their concerns were to which a college kid replied "Osama, Obama, and yo Mama." Amazing how even though 9/11 and the biggest budget deficit in history and highest energy prices happened under Bush, the right wing has succeeded in brainwashing so many Americans into being afraid that a Dem in the White House will cause terrorist attacks and financial catastrophe.

[Froward69]

74. Fucking evil bastards.

[OwnedByFerrets]

75. I am so ashamed of my state....nt