NEWS: Alabama: Our Fascist State

POLITICS: Alabama: Our Fascist State

On Sunday night, "60 minutes" broadcast a report that could have easily come straight out of Pakistan, instead of the great state of Alabama. The frightening aspect of this story is not that it occurred, but that it was done so brazenly. It is, quite simply, fascism, right here in the good old US of A. The story goes back years, but the most frightening part of the tale occurred on Sunday night, when the program was supposed to air on "60 Minutes". Many in Alabama never saw it because big brother shut it down.

Alabama is obviously a very Republican state. Nearly every big politician is a Republican, except for one very popular Democrat named Don Siegelman. Don used to be governor, but then Republicans targeted him for destruction. Now he sits in prison. Karl Rove started the ball rolling in 2001, when he made a request to Republican lawyer and activist Jill Simpson.

Well, it worked on Clinton and the Republicans were never punished, so why would they stop? Simpson could not produce the photos because Siegelman wasn’t fucking his aides. So, the Republicans switched to the courts to take down Siegelman and they succeeded. This is why the Attorney General scandal is so important. The Bush Administration has turned the independent branch of government responsible for justice into a Republican weapon. We no longer live in a country where laws apply equally to everyone.

Siegelman was investigated for bribery during his re-election campaign in 2002. Local prosecutors charged Siegelman and the case went to trial. The trial lasted an hour or so, before the judge tossed it out because there was absolutely no evidence. But the damage was done to Siegelman and he lost the election.

Siegelman decided to run for governor again in 2004 and the Republican machine went back to work. This time the Department of Justice decided to get their hands dirty, or as Karl Rove said to Jill Simpson:

On of the “girls” Karl spoke of was US Attorney Leura Canary, who just happened to be married to William Canary, a Republican campaign consultant. They built a case out of nothing. First they flipped a “witness.” The guy was a Republican named Nick Bailey, who just happened to have committed a few crimes and was looking at a long time in jail. The Republicans offered him a lot less time in jail and in return, all he had to do was lie in court.

Bailey worked for Siegelman, but the governor was not involved in his crimes and had no knowledge of them. Bailey told US Attorneys what they wanted to hear, or they told him what he would say: That he had seen Siegelman take a check in return for an appointed position on the state hospital oversight board. The Department of Justice claimed this was a crime. It is not. If it were, Karl Rove and George Bush would be in prison for their “Pioneers” and “Rangers” fundraising operation. People who donated $100,000 or more to the Bush campaign received one of those awesome titles and many were appointed to government offices, like an ambassadorship. 146 Bush donors were appointed to government offices after making large donations. There were zero prosecutions in those “cases.”

Okay, so ignore that it was a not even a crime. And ignore the fact that Siegelman didn’t even receive the check because it was made out to the Alabama Education Foundation, a vehicle the governor created to run a campaign for a state education lottery. Ignore that stuff and focus on this: The Republicans actually manufactured the not illegal evidence against Siegelman. They couldn't even decently frame the guy, and yet it worked. Bailey story was that he witnessed the check being handed to Siegelman. Total bullshit. It was actually pathetically false.

The check was cut days after the meeting and prosecutors knew it. Maybe that’s why they had to train their witness. According to Bailey, he was getting the story so mixed up during preparation they made him write it down over and over and over, until he got it right. That’s usually how the truth works; you have to get it right using a rudimentary memorization technique. Prosecutors then illegally withheld Bailey’s writings from the defense, because his false testimony it would have been devastated under cross-examination.

The Rove machines also attempted to force another Republican to testify in the case, but he refused. Jefferson County Republican Commissioner Gary White was pressured to back up Bailey’s claim. He refused to do so because,

Wow, a guy going to jail wouldn't back up their bullshit story.

Coincidentally, the federal judge overseeing the case was appointed by a fella named George W. Bush. Judge Mark Fuller was also a former member of the Alabama GOP’s Executive Committee and once claimed that Siegelman had a grudge against him. For some reason he refused to recuse himself from the case. Go figure.

Siegelman was convicted and sentenced to seven years in jail. Usually, when a person is convicted of a crime such as bribery, he is allowed 48 hours to get his affairs in order. Not Siegelman. He had his hands and feet shackled, and was immediately taken to prison. Republican prosecutor Grant Woods said he had never in his career seen someone other than a violent criminal treated in this way.

Woods is co-chair of the McCain for President leadership committee and a former Arizona Attorney General. Dude is a hard core Republican and this is what he had to say about Siegelman’s prosecution:

It’s a big deal when a Republican heavy hitter comes out to attack his own party’s actions. Besides Woods, 52 former attorneys general have called Congress to investigate the case. The Department of Justice, of course, refused to speak to 60 Minutes and refused to allow Bailey to be interviewed on camera. That’s a sign that the government has done something on the up and up. Oh, but it’s worse than that. The Justice Department would only issue a “no comment” to CBS in response to the accusation of false evidence. It was also recently revealed that two career prosecutors refused to move forward with the Siegelman case due to a lack of evidence. Both of their careers stalled.

I feel like this is a good time to remind you that the White House and Karl Rove deleted over 10 million emails. How about that? I'm sure they are all the simple, "What's doing Karl?", "Nothing, LOL!" type of emails. No way are there emails about the Siegelman case. That's why they were deleted.

Now, this is where this story gets really creepy. This entire scandal was detailed Sunday night on "60 Minutes". Most of the nation watched, except in Northern Alabama – where the screen suddenly went black. Residents of Huntsville and Mobile did not see the broadcast.

Because bloggers are not retarded, one called CBS in New York to find the source of the problem that was blocking transmission in Alabama. Turns out nothing, according to CBS in New York.

Nice. Siegelman is a political prisoner. When evidence of his illegal prosecution was presented to the people of his state, it was blacked out. Feel free to explain to me how that is not a fascist maneuver.

The New York Times points out the similarities to a certain Asian country.

Luckily, during the original broadcast they had the problem worked out in time for the "60 Minutes" segment following the Siegelman story. And the station made good by airing the story at 10 p.m. -- right in the middle of The Oscars, one of the most watched TV programs of the year.

The station that blocked the transmission, WHNT, is owned by Oak Hill Partners, which is owned by the Bass Family. The Bass Family are big, big contributors to the Republican Party and a man named George W. Bush. They are long time friends and the Bass family has bailed out George on more than one occasion.

Now they Bass family is shutting down public airwaves, so the people of Alabama won’t hear the truth. And the action just happens to protect Karl Rove.

Time to be afraid. Not because to the act itself, but the brazenness of the undertaking. They know, as do many of us, that they will not be punished. This lack of justice will lead to a heightening of their shamelessness and an increase in their risk taking. The only question is, “When is it too late?”

Home, sweet home.

I'm not shocked. No, I didn't hear the details before, because I wasn't watching TV on Sunday, but nothing that happens in Rovian Republican politics surprises me.

I am surprised that the whole case hasn't been thrown out on appeal, simply on the judge not recusing himself.

When I first read this I got pissed off. What the fuck is going on in America? That is, I assume, a rational response to such acts that fly in the face of the ideals this country was supposed to be about. Then a wave of apathy hit me. After all, we are talking about the group that brought us the PATRIOT ACT, the Iraq war, tortures POWs, got rid of habeas corpus, hired Michael Brown, and is actively spying on us. What are the chances of any real justice being done? That wave of apathy is what scares me.

In Birmingham, they hate the govnah.
These days Birmingham != Alabama as a general rule, since Bham is dominantly Democrat. The moment you get outside the perimeter (outside of I-459 and I-65), though you will see that the ratio takes a dramatic shift.

Kool, There talking about alabama. YAY!!!!!!. LOL. But why does it have to be negative news.

This whole thread is hype. Why? Because there are just as many, if not more, Democrat instigated police-state type activities being run by avowed democrats. And I doubt that "60 minutes" would be a very profitable show if they stopped "ginning up" news "Rathergate, anyone?" That would be like going to the National Review website and trying to find a news article that is pro-abortion.

Good coverage of this FTR. It hit all the points well. While the US can easily be called a fascist state, this wasn't a fascist action. Fascism is more akin to the USA PATRIOT version one going through when it did. The insidiousness of fascism is the participation of the people, to whatever level.

This is corruption. Not as sexy, but very old and powerful.

The key is:

A functioning judiciary has power over corruption (but not at 100% efficiency). It takes many to work together to push against fascism. It may take many to work together to regain a functioning judiciary as well.

Good job. You compare a case if bad research to a blatant miscarriage of justice. Good job. Way to miss everything.

I must admit, you are getting better at FAILING in spectacular ways.

scary

But the link between this administration and fascism has been made before.

For what it's worth, this is not an isolated incident within the Bush DoJ.

This whole administration scares me. Whether you are a Republican or Democrat, we have got to vote them OUT in November.

Slightly terrified, more than slightly offended and pissed. Good article as always.

I like the list. Some of this will be in the history books. They won't call it fascism, but it (hopefully) will be a dark spot in our history when it is brought up.

that's something i'm hoping for as well

Could you go ahead and maybe tell us how your uncited allegations make the actions taken against Siegelman somehow okay?

jesus man, whats wrong with you? if someone else does something bad/illegal, its ok for everyone else to do it.

Maybe he's in the camp of people who say "Two wrongs do make a right."