Andrew Krieg reports that the Supreme Court denied Don Siegelman's appeal.
Now Siegelman faces serving a 20 year sentence, one that Obama and DOJ Eric Holder pushed for, beyond the 7 years he was originally sentenced to serve.
Krieg writes at OpEdNews.com:
In 2009, the Obama Justice Department requested that Fuller sentence Siegelman to 20 more years in prison when his appeals were concluded. Presumably, but not certainly, some sense of shame at DOJ as well as cost-benefit recognition of the enormous costs of prosecution and imprisonment will encourage Obama officials to reduce that request. On June 7, my weekly radio show MTL Washington Update is scheduled to host Montgomery Independent Editor and Publisher Bob Martin, among other guests, to discuss next steps with co-host Scott Draughon and me. The show is June 7 at noon (EDT), and available nationally. Click here to listen to the interview live nationwide on the MTL radio network or by archive.
Krieg says:
The new administration stood shoulder-to-shoulder with its Bush predecessors in continuing the frame-up and cover-up. This was part of a "look forward, not backward" mantra that President Obama articulated most famously in avoiding accountability for Bush-era torture and cover-up. But events make clear that the cover-ups obviously applied also to Bush political prosecutions...
Siegelman, whose Karl Rove-inspired prosecution helped gut Alabama's once-competitive Democratic Party, served nearly a year of his term before release on bond when whistleblowers and legal experts helped show in 2007 and 2008 that he had been targeted for political reasons. As trial judge, Fuller paved the way for conviction with innumerable pro-prosecution rulings that ignored clear-cut legal irregularities plus allegations of monumental scandal.The prominent, blunt-speaking Alabama businessman Luther "Stan" Pate has said his fellow Republicans clearly framed Siegelman. But Fuller, Rove and the vast bulk of other politicians and judges have denied wrongdoing or irregularities.
What am I not getting here? My understanding of the political process, post-high school text book, is that you have two sides lined up against each other - the two party system - and each side takes care of its own. If the people on either sides see themselves being thrown to the wolves, chaos results. People will not invest lifetimes working their hearts out for the party.
Anyone who reads me much knows I am not happy with the Democratic Party, but if there is a Democrat I always liked, it's Don Siegelman.
I thought it was beyond clear that Siegelman's prosecution was political, masterminded by Karl Rove. Would Republicans join in the persecution of one of their own? Or is it just a Democrat thing?
Maybe the better questions are: Does anyone remember who Don Siegelman is, or what he did for this crew? Where is the heart? Is that all there is, my friend?