SIEGELMAN SPEAKS! EX-GOV CALLS '02 ELECTION "STOLEN" BY THE WHITE HOUSE!

[babylonsister]

Monday, December 17, 2007
SIEGELMAN SPEAKS! EX-GOV CALLS '02 ELECTION "STOLEN" BY THE WHITE HOUSE! EXCLUSIVE TO NEWS FROM UNDERGROUND

Here is some amazing video: a very candid interview with Don Siegelman, who spoke to Julie Sigwart of Take Back the Media on Sept. 13, 2004--months before the Governor was finally put away on trumped-up charges by the Alabama GOP.

As he himself makes clear, Siegelman's ordeal began back in 2000, when he came out early on, and publicly, against the presidential bid of his fellow governor, George W. Bush, and backed Al Gore instead. It was a move that Karl Rove never did forget, and never would forgive, says Siegelman.

Rove's long drive to destroy the Alabama governor resulted in the theft of the 2002 election for Republican Bob Riley. Here Siegelman describes that theft--which took place primarily in Baldwin County--and also talks about his handling of that matter.

So far, the mainstream press coverage of Don Siegelman's ordeal has pointedly ignored the theft of the 2002 election. Clearly, Siegelman himself does not regard that theft as a side issue, but as a major crime, and one that is quite relevant to his whole story.

Today, the Alabama governor is not allowed to speak up on his own behalf. He's locked away inside a federal prison cell, and, for good measure, has been silenced by the Alabama courts. As Scott Horton has so aptly put it, Don Siegelman is the Man in the Iron Mask.

So let's do everything we can to get this interview played far and wide, so that his fellow citizens can finally hear him, and see him, talk about the criminal campaign against him.

Video at link~

http://markcrispinmiller.blogspot.com/2007/12/siegelman-speaks-ex-gov-calls-02.html




Video courtesy of:

http://www.takebackthemedia.com

[robinlynne]

1. k&r and bookmarking to watch after the FISA fiasco.

[Disturbed]

3. Would someone please send this to Dan Abrhams.

He might run it on his show.

[symbolman]

31. We've called Keith Olbermann's producer about the footage

As they say, "A picture tells a thousand tales.." we could write all day long about it, but the man whose very VOICE is imprisoned tells it best..

Abrams had done some great work on this, I'd think a Real Reporter would find this Invaluable :)

[orleans]

55. is there a part three to this? i can hear the interviewer (julie?) asking

or talking to him about opti scans and then the video cuts off.

i looked on youtube for part 3 but couldn't find it. do you know?

[walldude]

2. Raw Story is doing a series on this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2480620

As usual I'm not going to get my hopes up but considering there have been some break ins and the whistle blowers house was burned down I'd say they have something they are trying to hide...

[whatdoyouthink]

4. Wow a

Political Prisoner - who would have thought here in America
I don't know how they can shut him up! from speaking to family / friends and his Lawyers - then again? I quit asking what next!

[flashl]

5. K&R n/t

[Stephanie]

6. A transcript of this would really help.

I can't watch video right now - is there a transcript anywhere?

[babylonsister]

7. Not that I know of, at least not at that link. nt

[demobabe]

8. Transcript will be up on Take Back The Media in about ten minutes n/t

:)

[Stephanie]

18. thanks!

:hi:

[MelissaB]

9. Sounds like Ohio with Kerry, too.

:kick:

[mod mom]

13. guess they need a less conspicuous practice run (both w rove at the helm)

[symbolman]

16. It's really

SO OBVIOUS, so Simple that anyone can understand it, and to think of this kind and gentle man in danger as he's shuttled about the south, makes me sick to my stomach.

This is a Crime, pure and simple.

[mod mom]

26. Of course anyone who states otherwise isn't even interested in evidence.

i

[blm]

33. Here's what KILLS me, sym, the DNC knew about the theft in 2000 and 2002 and what

did they do? They pretended like it never happened, and never went to bat for Siegelman, Cleland or Barnes, and we KNOW they had the information because THOUSANDS OF US were sending them that information every day as it was learned. They HAD the stats and they had the witnesses. McAuliffe didn't lift a finger for anyone and especially not Siegelman - and never lifted a finger to COUNTER the tactics he KNEW the RNC was pulling state by state at every level where the votes are allowed, cast and counted.

McAuliffe made sure there would be no securing of the election process on HIS watch. Because HIS watch meant keeping 2008 open for Hillary.

[symbolman]

39. My question is

WHERE Are the Democratic Leaders in this as well. Why isn't Bill Clinton at least, knocking on the door of this Jail cell for a high profile visit? Hillary? Obama? Edwards? Hell, I'll take Ron Paul at this juncture..

Where is MSNBC? Anyone who watches that station is subjected to Killers and Rapists telling their life story EVERY NIGHT!!!

They can't produce a One hour story about an ex Governor who once held the Top Four Posts in his State? This isn't NEWS?

They are scared to Death of what Don S. Alludes to is this very interview... Even a WHiff of any impropriety by Riley the goddamned THEIF can't be shown..

Come on you news hounds, grab THIS tiger by the Tail and watch your viewership go through the ceiling.... We Hunger for NEWS, and we've got some for you right HERE!

CBS? Got anyone there left with any balls? Send Mike Wallace or stop broadcasting, we're sick of you wasting our time ...

I am incensed that only the web has access to THE TRUTH
as shown in Living Color right here.

[mod mom]

46. I've thought long & hard on this and this is my hypothesis:

I am convinced that the failure of the DLC to acknowledge Gore's win in 2000 (in fact they blame his "loss" on breaking with the DLC and becoming a populist-i'll post a link below) and their active role in keeping Kerry from challenging Ohio in 2004(thanks to Clinton ally James Carville (also posted below) was calculated as to allow a HRC run in '08. If either would have taken the office they won, then HRC and her corporate cronies would not have had a chance in 2008. Also look how they try to undermine Howard Dean. Anyway, here are some links:

FIRST..GORE BROKE WITH THE DLC TO BECOME A POPULIST:

Published on Sunday, August 20. 2000 in the Boston Globe
Thank You, Al Gore
by Robert Kuttner
A funny thing happened to Al Gore on the way to his surprisingly effective acceptance speech. He became a liberal.

The speech was as liberal as anything FDR or LBJ or Jesse Jackson or one of the Kennedys might have delivered. It was built around a commitment to fight for ordinary people, against large and powerful interests. This, of course, is precisely what made it effective.

The emotional heart of the speech, Gore's honoring of four ordinary American lives, did not just salute the struggles of workaday families, the way Ronald Reagan often did. It identified who was dishonoring their struggles - corporations. He singled out heartless HMOs who pressure a family to sacrifice a child; drug companies that force a pensioner to choose between food and medicine; corporate polluters; corporations that pay workers inadequate wages.

And he identified the solution: strong, reliable public Social Security; better Medicare; welfare reform that rewards work rather than punishing the needy; higher minimum wages; and more investment in public - not voucher - schools, so that working families don't have to send kids to crumbling classrooms.

What is the evil? Corporate power. What is the remedy? Effective government.

-snip
http://www.commondreams.org/views/082000-105.htm

SECOND, AFTER GORE'S WIN THEY BLAME HIS 'LOSS' ON BREAKING WITH THE DLC:

Strange Theory on Why Gore Lost



The so-called Democratic Leadership Council has decided that Al Gore should have acted more like a Republican in order to win the 2000 presidential electoral college vote in addition to his nationwide popular vote victory. This strange finding has drawn some attention, including coverage by the Associated Press and the Environmental News Service -- we have a few excerpts from their reports for you here.
Al Gore, the self-styled environmental candidate in the 2000 Presidential election, lost his bid for the White House because he campaigned on an outdated "populist" platform that was too liberal for most Americans, according to a new report drafted by the Democratic Leadership Council.

The 40-page report, titled "Why Gore Lost, And How Democrats Can Come Back," concludes that the Democratic Party must move towards the political right -- towards the Republicans -- if it wants to regain control of Congress in 2002 and the White House in 2004.

Al From, the DLC's founder and CEO, opened a freewheeling discussion forum by arguing that Democrat Al Gore made a huge tactical mistake by continually emphasizing that he would "fight for the people and not the powerful" as the nation's first president of the 21st Century.

-snip

http://www.progress.org/goredlc2.htm

AND FINALLY, CLINTON ALLY JAMES CARVILLE'S ROLE IN THE QUICK KERRY CONCESSION:

Did Carville Tip Bush Off to Kerry Strategy (Woodward)


By M.J. Rosenberg | bio




On page 344, Woodward describes the doings at the White House in the early morning hours of Wednesday, the day after the '04 election.

Apparently, Kerry had decided not to concede. There were 250,000 outstanding ballots in Ohio.

So Kerry decides to fight. In fact, he considers going to Ohio to camp out with his voters until there is a recount. This is the last thing the White House needs, especially after Florida 2000.

-snip

"Carville told her he had some inside news. The Kerry campaign was going to challenge the provisional ballots in Ohio -- perhaps up to 250,000 of them. 'I don't agree with it, Carville said. I'm just telling you that's what they're talking about.'

-snip

http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/2006/oct/07/did_carville_tip_bush_off_to_kerry_strategy_woodward

[EFerrari]

97. That's horrendous and it makes perfect sense to me.

:(

[blm]

137. Not just for their power but to PROTECT BushInc. They didn't trust Gore and DEFINITELY

knew that Kerry would open the books on IranContra, BCCI and CIA drugrunning as soon as he had the power of the oval office to do it.

Protecting BushInc is a priority now for Clintons as Bill's legacy includes deep-sixing all the investigations that were outstanding when he took office and that came up throughout the 90s.


http://consortiumnews.com/2006/111106.html

[Irishonly]

145. It's Chilling

I think I have gone past anger and now I am raging. I hope Olbermann, Abrams, Rather and others cover it until the MSM cannot ignore the story any longer. I suppose there's about as much of a chance of that happening as there is for me to turn 30 again in the next ten minutes.

[Uncle Joe]

10. Kicked and recommended!

Thanks for the thread, babylonsister.

[symbolman]

11. Transcript is UP at Takebackthemedia.com

for those of you who can't watch since it's being HAMMERED right now.. we've contacted Keith Olbermann's producer about getting this on KO's SHOW, so VOTE this sucker UP, get it on the Greatest Ever Page, and Let's get this MAN OUT OF JAIL!!

This is Dynamite, please tell Everyone you know.. I'm demanding that members of Congress or those that are running for President show some GUTS and go make this man SAFE, Visit him, ALLOW HIM ACCESS to the MEDIA! Get him in a REPUBLICAN PRISON where he can wear Golf Shirts and walk among the pines, write a book.

He's a POLITICAL PRISONER in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA! As of this Moment the Bush REGIME must be considered in the same vein as SOVIET RUSSIA.

FREE DON SIEGELMAN!!

We'll post more about our experiences in Baldwin County, Alabama here and on Take back the Media!

[babylonsister]

12. Thanks, symbolman! nt

[symbolman]

14. Thank you for posting this VERY Important story

This is the most basic election theft, when Riley STOLE the election from Siegelman in the dead of night, it is SO SIMPLE that anyone can understand it, and it has Rove's fingerprints all over it!

The corruption is so deep it's mind boggling, and we are posting this at our peril, I hope to god people realize it.

[babylonsister]

15. It also goes a long way towards explaining why Siegelman is sitting

in jail. I wonder if Rove et al knew this tape had been made? I hope KO takes this seriously and does something with it.

[symbolman]

19. This is right before they SLAMMED him

he really had no idea what was coming...

Sheer hell, no other way to describe it.. I've been in a tiny room with Federal prisoners, people that killed for fun, and I imagine that anyone of them taking down a Former Gov for a trophy, while appalling to hear, may be a distinct possibility, he's in real danger.

[Stephanie]

21. LINK to transcript >>>

http://web.takebackthemedia.com/geeklog/public_html/article.php?story=20071217220028175

[peace frog]

40. Thanks

for the link.

[upi402]

34. wow

thank you so much
i had no idea ...
kick
recommend

[lovuian]

36. The Truth is surfacing everywhere

its going to be so very ugly when its revealed

[orleans]

48. thank you so much. this is really something. n/t

[HCE SuiGeneris]

17. K n R

[Judi Lynn]

20. Thank you, babylonsister. Also, thanks to symbolman, for the transcript.

If only this can get straightened out before it's even more time for _Bush to leave office. He should be confronted for this crime against Siegelman and against the country while he's still in Washington (based on the hope he will leave, some day, and not declare martial law in order to appoint himself permanent President).

Sigelman has been through absolute HELL, and I pray that his struggles will not have been in vain. This nation needs a blazing spotlight on the scum in office like nothing ever before in its history.

[symbolman]

25. Our pleasure

just hope that bastard Rove doesn't add us to his list.. ever heard his way of dealing with people he disagrees with? Goes something like this,

"Were going to fuck that fucker like he's never been fucked before.."

What a nice little piece of the Godhead that guy is, eh?

Demon.

[Stephanie]

22. I'm trying to get MCM to come over here and discuss with us.

He might when he has time.

[symbolman]

24. Great!

Talked to Mark Yesterday, Love that guy, he's got his finger on the pulse of this nation, and is well respected by so many.. an honor to let him spring this on the world..

Hope they're paying attention - Think about it Folks, if they can do it to a Governor, they can sure as hell do it to YOU...

[Stephanie]

28. drop him an email, ask him to stop by DU

oh is this YOUR footage? I can't watch video from here, will check it out later but thanks for the transcript.

[symbolman]

30. Yes it is

my wife shot it a few years ago, while we were doing some investigation for a film on Electronic voting..

Having watched it I'm sickened by what's been done to this man, thanks to Mark we'll be able to spread it far and wide, waiting for KO's People to call back, have contacted 60 minutes as well.. maybe Abrams will pick it up too, he or Olbermann could do a series with this footage, and if he was to Editorialize at the end of the show on this subject I'd be in heaven.

I hope Don S. knows that there are people out here pulling for him, who knows when he'll find out..

Thanks for spreading the word :)

[Stephanie]

32. Is it up at youtube?

Is it over at Kos?

[symbolman]

35. We're working on that

It may be up on YouTube now, we got caught with the link going out early for us, we're in Hawaii, so the time zone thing is significant, playing a little catchup here..

I think my wife has uploaded it to YouTube, we're just trying to find the time to get it up there, and over at KOS...

Maybe it's there, anyone could have posted it I guess, we'll check there too, got some other sites I need to notify, thanks for looking out for us, and Siegelman :)

[blm]

164. Thanks to all of you sticking with the truth instead of letting it slide away.

.

[SammyWinstonJack]

23. K&R

[symbolman]

27. A quick story

and we all know now how the Media works, back in 2000 or so when we first started Takebackthemedia.com we discovered that if EVERYONE on the Web PUSHED a story that the Media had no Choice but to pick it up and run with it..

We actually forced CNN to PUT BACK over 750 words they'd redacted from a Hans Blix report on Iraq IN THE SAME AFTERNOON!

Now THAT is Power, and we need to bring that kind of Liberal LOCKSTEP back, send this link to Everyone you know, get it on so many blogs that the media has NO CHOICE but to run with it, and maybe, just maybe we can FREE an American Political prisoner, or at least for now, give him his VOICE back.

WHERE is his Freedom of speech? WHY do I watch KILLERS on MSNBC tell their story in great detail damn near EVERY NIGHT, but not ONE WORD From Siegelman?

WHO is keeping him from Speaking, and the bigger questions are HOW, and WHY?

It could be YOU that may be next, just remember that.

[blm]

29. THANKYOU TBTM - - ALL OF YOU!!!!

This is exactly what the Dem party leaders KNEW back then, too, but would not pursue.

Why the hell did the DNC give up 2002 and 2004 to BushInc?????

[symbolman]

37. Here's a link if you want to write to Don S.

Send him some words of encouragement, let him know there are people out here pulling for him - it means a lot when you're in there.

http://festville.com/index.php/2007/08/07/how-to-visit-and-write-scrushy-and-siegelman/

[EFerrari]

68. Good call.

Thank you.

[mod mom]

79. Thank you symbolman, will do!

[lame54]

38. I saw it earlier on buzzflash

they have the video in two parts-courtesy of take back the media
http://buzzflash.com/

[Mark_Crispin_Miller]

44. Hi, everybody!

Thanks to all of you for getting into this.

It's absolutely crucial that we spread the word. First of all, and most obviously, we have to free Don Siegelman. That he's been locked up for all this time, held incommunicado—
and in a hardcore federal facility, with murderers for company—is difficult to bear. (I can only imagine what his family's been going through.) We have to free him; and we have
to look throughout Bush/Cheney's "justice" system for other such vendettas, because Don Siegelman is not the only one.

And, second, it is crucial that we spread the word because the mainstream coverage so far (what there is of it) has, as I noted on my blog, avoided mentioning that little matter
of a rigged election. And here too Siegelman's ordeal is only one of many. That year's elections, remember, included Saxby Chambliss's fake "victory" over Max Cleland for the
latter's Senate seat on Georgia (where the governor's race was fixed as well).

Once we start to look at those two (or three) subverted races in '02, we'll have to look as well at Wayne Allard's weird win in Colorado and John Sununu's in New Hampshire,
where the GOP's phone-jamming operation clearly helped the party re-establish its control over the Senate (which Jim Jeffords had taken from them). Diebold played a
role in both those "wins," as well as Chambliss's in Georgia; and I would also take a good hard look at Norm Coleman's ostensible defeat of Walter Mondale—a victory that
I strongly doubt was caused by "the booing of Trent Lott" at Paul Wellstone's memorial service.

This sounds like a digression, but it isn't. The Siegelman affair is like a loose thread dangling from the sleeve of Bush II's shirt. Once we finish pulling on it, Bush, Cheney
and the rest of them will all be standing there buck naked—and it sure won't be a pretty sight.

[Stephanie]

47. Hi Mark

Thanks for dropping by!

[supernova]

51. Welcome to DU, Mark!

Really appreciate all the work you've done on this maladministration.

[JeffR]

56. Nice that you're here, Mark

Thanks for everything you do.

[EFerrari]

57. Hi there, Mark. Amy Goodman has done good work on this case

Here is the link to the transcript of her 8/24 segment devoted to Siegelman:

http://www.democracynow.org/2007/8/24/political_prosecution_justice_dept_holds_onto

[BurtWorm]

58. Are you working on a book about this, Mark?

Is it my imagination or did you get marginalized in the eight years since you started covering Bushism? I remember the NY Times doing stories on you just after the Dyslexicon in early 2001, then--boom! 9/11 happened and every critic got pushed toward the shadows. Or is that my imagination?

PS: What exactly were the charges against Siegelman? Election tampering?

PPS: What does it mean that Siegelman can't speak on his own behalf? He can't speak to the press? What's the legal reason for that, besides it being a judicial ruling? Where is the ruling?

[demobabe]

85. They aren't letting journalists interview Siegelman in prison

So this video is basically his only voice about the matter. This is his chance to speak up about some of what has been done to him.

[BurtWorm]

117. And it was made in 2004.

How are they justifying the gag rule?

[defendandprotect]

59. This is so WAY beyond the electronic computer steals which seem to have

been with us since the mid-1960's . . .
I'm sure you're familiar with VOTESCAM . . . The Stealing of America by Jim & Ken Collier
or see the website

They recognized what was happening in the mid-1960's . . . and investigated the computer
steals for 26 years!

Their book which was suppressed can be scanned or read at the website.

Evidently, just stealing by computer isn't sufficient any longer ---
and they have to intervene in physical ways to move the steals.

This is more dangerous for them -- and it should be easier for us to prove.

I agree with the oddities of the results in the elections you've listed ---

and I would put nothing past this gang of criminals--!!!

Thanks for your books ---
and for discussing "propaganda" --- I think you were the first on it!!

[Patsy Stone]

61. Hi, Mark!

Thanks for everything you've done to get the word out about the sad state of elections in this country. Please keep at it!

[symbolman]

63. Thanks so much for spreading the word

and for working like a dog for the sake of free and fair elections in all the states, and the nation itself. Don said it best near the end of the interview when he was describing the Theft of his Office, and how we've devolved into a third world country, hence Bush and Cheney and their constant onslaught of heinous election processes.

Like you said, He's not the only prisoner, if you think about it long and hard, WE are also political prisoners, of Bush and Cheney and the likes of people like Rove. This is not to dismiss the abject suffering Don Siegelman is subjected to 24 hours a day, and it gets to be a LONG 24 hours in there, like I keep saying, if they can do this to HIM, imagine what they can do to each and every one of us with trumped up charges.

You might say that Don Siegelman has led the way, he could be considered one of the Patron Saints of Election Fraud, those who are utterly destroyed by it, yet ready to rise again like a Phoenix from the ashes when the Legal system is REFORMED, BY US. We cannot allow this, and the media is complicit, just remember as you watch these races, and think about how "Close" the calls are on most of them by the Media. They are bound by money, animals like Rove, and advertising to keep maintaining the ILLUSION that most races are a Horse Race, to be won by a nose. THis allows scum like Rove to take advantage, epecially with no exit polling to give us real numbers, then criminally partisan workers do their jobs behind closed doors. They also try to convince us that the nation is SPLIT on ALL THINGS. A 50/50 Nation. It's not true.

Don Siegelman was the victim of the crudest, and most arrogant of crimes, and make no mistake about it, this was a CONSPIRACY, and ALL of the people who did conspire should be where Siegelman is, not him. Don't let this "Conspiracy Theorist" PC label make you hesitate, sometimes a cigar IS a Cigar after all.

Write to Conyers, or your Senator, and DEMAND that some action be taken by them re:Siegelman - the least they can do is to VISIT him, make this a High Profile case, let them know, the Warden, the Judge, that we are WATCHING them, and holding Don Siegelman CLOSE to our hearts.

We WILL NOT Abandon him, and he will KNOW that we have Heard him, and we are ACTING upon it, like Mark Crispin Miller has, and people like Andy Stephenson, and the many who are vigilant.

My hope is that Don Siegelman will get out early via a speedy Congressional Investigation or Appeal, be Pardoned by an incoming Democratic PRESIDENT, and go on to run for Gov of Alabama again - then PURGE the Legal System of the Federalist Republican Traitorus RATS that have infested it, and sunk to lows no one could even imagine.

Thanks Mark, once again for fighting the good fight, you are a true patriot.

FREE DON SIEGELMAN.

[seemslikeadream]

65. There are a lot of folks here Mark that have been waiting a very long time

A VERY LONG TIME

[Skittles]

66. ! ! !

I just found out about this guy Siegelman YESTERDAY. WFT!!!!!! Thanks Mr. Miller and by the way, you are one of my favorite writers - welcome to DU :hi:

[JackBeck]

67. Hi, Mark. Question about Rove's involvement:

I've been reading about how Rove is immune from violating the Hatch Act, since anyone paid from an appropriation for the Executive Office of the President is exempt from prosecution. Which co-conspirators in this situation would not be immune, and is there any action being taken in order to hold them responsible for cooperating in this conspiracy?

[in_cog_ni_to]

71. What about Chuck Hagel's big win in African American Districts where AAs NEVER elected a republican

before? You may like to look at Hagel and his ES&S evoting machines in those districts. I'm sure you know Hagel's connection to ES&S, so I won't go there. Just an idea. Nice to see you here!

Chuck Hagel first ran for the U.S. Senate in Nebraska in 1996. Electronic voting machines owned by Election Systems & Software (ES&S) reported that he had won both the primaries and the general election in unprecedented victories. His 1996 victory was considered one of the biggest upsets of that election. He was the first Republican to win a Nebraska senatorial campaign in 24 years and won virtually every demographic group, including many largely black communities that had never before voted Republican.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0307/S00147.htm

[hootinholler]

73. Good points all...

Wasn't there a file found on a diebold site named screwgeorgia?

Larisa Alexandrova has done an outstanding series on Seigleman also.

-Hoot

[mod mom]

74. Of course us in Franklin Co OH know all about election theft.

Dan Abrams has had EXCELLENT coverage lately including a hard hitting piece on Tanner tonight. I just posted a thread requesting an up to date email (the one I have gets bounced back). I will gladly request continued pressure.

What about Chairman Conyers? Didn't your parent publish "What went Wrong in Ohio? I say try every angle.

BTW if you'd like to hear more on Sununu talk to Cliff about '88.

Again I would like to suggest the way for this to unravel is to get someone to spill the beans on rove. I would like to suggest Bernadette Noe who is pissed off that her husband is in solitary confinement in prison. (a lot of scheming went down in Lucas County w rove included)

here's background on Bernie's anger (you gotta love the reason she gives why her husband is in jail-none the less they feel mistreated):

NOES GET (PRISON) LIFE LESSON
Bernadette Noe: Tom's In the Hole, She's In the Dark

11 AM

Bernadette Noe was so weary this morning, you could “see” it even over the phone.

“I know that many in Toledo are shocked to find out that a guy who simply gave too much money to George Bush is sitting in solitary confinement and bunk beds with convicted murderers.”

This, from our phone conversation this morning as Bernadette – a lawyer in Florida now -- waited to go into a Miami court. Much of what she said was essentially a repeat of Sunday, when we had an off-the-record phone call in which her panic and fearfulness were easily detected.

The subject of all these conversations, of course, was Bernadette’s notorious husband, Tom Noe -- GOP rainmaker, one-time friend to George Bush and other high ‘n’ mighty Republicans, and now a convicted felon serving time for federal campaign finance violations.

-snip
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070501/BLOGS03/70501020/-1/BLOGS2


Noe was Regional Chairman Of Bush-Cheney Campaign And Frequently Spoke with Rove. As a regional chairman of the campaign, Mr. Noe had frequent contact with Karl Rove, the architect of the President's re-election. And Ohio, it turned out, was the pivotal state in the election, narrowly pushing President Bush to victory.

http://www.democrats.org/a/2006/02/thomas_noe_and.php

[mmonk]

75. Thanks for all you do.

Any suggestions on the best way?

[orleans]

87. i love you mark, but did you have to leave such a wickedly disgusting

image with us?

("Bush, Cheney
and the rest of them will all be standing there buck naked—and it sure won't be a pretty sight.")

:puke: :puke: :puke:

[lame54]

98. now we know what was really on "Sonny's Do List"

blue in a the red state of Georgia

[OzarkDem]

99. Happy to help

I'll help get the word out in my area, even many of our Dem leaders refuse to believe the GOP has rigged the vote here in Ohio.

[Bozita]

113. Dan Abrams (on MSNBC following Olbermann) promised to stay on top of the Siegelman story.

Welcome to DU, Mark.

What took you so long?

[bleever]

126. If by wishing you welcome to DU, I end up on some list, I say

Welcome!

(Of course these days, the list includes everyone, so I wasn't going out on too much of a limb here.)

[robbedvoter]

135. Hi Mark! I posted about all those races reading yours: Bush KISSED all the suspicious winners

at rallies right before the elections. The TV networks trashed their exit polls all together that year (they were "in error" apparently).
Considering what we know of 2004 (and Ohio was only one of the states), the fact that in 2006 they didn't manage to completely overturn the outcome should not come as a comfort. There were stolen races in 2006 as well - and 2008 looks ripe for it.
They are trying to Diebold NY state now - and whatever enclaves of tamper-proof elections there are left in the country.

[hisownpetard]

169. Welcome to DU, and thank you so much for your good work. My blood has been boiling for so long,

by now it's reduced to a glaze: how can Siegelman be in prison, without access to journalists, without any voice to raise
against the likes of Karl Rove and George "Pooty-Poot' Bush who are free to continue their giddy killing sprees
while stealing liberties and elections from the American people? I can hardly believe this is America.
Bush should be in jail, along with Cheney, Rove, Rumsfeld, Rice, Gonzales, Miers - oh, the list is too long and too
sickeningly familiar. Thanks to Bush&Co., we need more words for 'outrage' than the English language offers.

I will forward the articles and info concerning Don Siegelman to every one I know and pray that Keith Olbermann, Dan Abrams and others
will keep on this story until Dan Seigelman is released, the truth is out and the criminals who've been running our country for
six years have been subjected to the full punishment allowed them by law.

Many thanks for pursuing this extremely important story.

[WilliamPitt]

184. YO MARK

If you have a spare moment, shoot me a quick email. I've known Don since I was eight years old and he was AL SecState with a fridge filled with root beer in his office. I'm hoping you can fill me in on a few of the details I think slipped by my in the last couple of months. I'd PM, but you're unable to get PMs just yet.

[email protected]

Thanks much.

[AzDar]

41. Good Gawd, this makes my blood boil.

:grr:

[rockybelt]

42. This is an enlightening video to watch

however, it just brings up the Gore mentality at that time. You know, oh let's not rock the boat and fight for the election, let's just give it to the republicans and go our merry way.

We all know that that is somewhat the wrong approach. The correct approach would have been to grenade the bastards, challenge everything, hold the election in limbo for years if necessary until the REAL outcome was decided.

But, I digress. These days it is not about elections but about the Constitution. You know, let's just give the republicans what they want. they don't want that much. They just want us to be in the prone position forever while they drink all the wine.

Well I say FUCK THEM!

[terisan]

72. Remember how uneasy things were at Bush's inauguration. The political mime

group that did the "street theater."

It was maddening during the recount period that Democrats did not have the organization-thanks to years of McAuliffe's corporate strategy- to march on Washington.

[defendandprotect]

94. ....and would we be ready in 2008 -- if necessary --- ????

[terisan]

149. No we are not yet ready to head off or stop another stolen presidential election. nt

[defendandprotect]

177. And nor are we ready for a meaningful protest if there's another steal ---

Meaningful enough to ensure it would be reversed this time --- !!!

[Sancho]

43. Done...I'm sending this to everyone I know. Put Rove in Jail!

I hope this is on Air American all week.

[Stephanie]

45. kick

[Stephanie]

49. Friends, Mark Crispin Miller is here to discuss this with us.

He posted a reply earlier in the thread (post 44) but it's a little bit buried in the middle of everything. Does anyone have questions for Prof. Miller?

[Elwood P Dowd]

50. I live in Alabama

and remember that night well. Went to bed thinking Don won, and I awaken the next morning to the news of a republican miracle. A thunderstorm caused a computer glitch, but the Republicans met after midnight, behind closed doors, and they corrected this mysterious computer glitch.

The repukes are going after other dems. They've recently been investigating the Turnham family. Joe Turnham is Chairman of the Alabama Democratic Party.

[defendandprotect]

53. So the South is turning blue....? And, computer steals aren't enough . . .?

they have to actually hands-on steal the elections ---
Like 2000 --- ???

[Elwood P Dowd]

64. It's become easy for them to steal elections down here.

Rove helped put repukes in charge of the judicial system.

[defendandprotect]

95. What I was trying to point to .... is that they do not seem to be able to count on the South...

any longer ---

OR, were they ever able to count on the South?

Has it all been a mirage????

[Elwood P Dowd]

104. A recent poll had Bushitler at 45% approval in Alabama.

Even with that, polls still show whoever the repukes nominate will carry the state. It's going to take a severe economic crash to wake these fuckers up. Hell, I've lived here 60 years. Limbaugh, Fox News, and the republican machine now have a stranglehold on this place. I do think a dem has a chance to win some other southern states, but not Alabama. There are just too fucking many brainwashed religious nuts around here, plus the repukes are doing the vote counting.

[defendandprotect]

127. OK -- sad, but good truth to know .... I noticed that there was some looking at ....

Repugs re Hispanics that they talked up/propaganized -- supposed Hispanic move in their
direction which may have not been true at all --- but which they used as a screen to steal
Hispanic votes in last election --- ?????

They're always thinking of the steal . . . amazing!!!

Now, saw an article the other day that Hispanics were moving away from GOP ---

Same with AA ---

Can we really believe that minorities in meaningful numbers are going to vote against
their best interests?

It's weird and I keep asking about it because it makes so little sense.

Like Alabama --

Is any of this still based on racism?

Or is it . . . what?

Note you're citing religion ---

Are you getting any northerners moving into your state?

[demobabe]

76. It's funny you should mention that computer glitch...

...because I've done a little research into it.

Professor Gundlach did a wonderful statistical analysis about how impossible for these results to happen, and for data to get "corrupted" on the cassette that way - the only results that changed were 6000 missing from Siegelman's total. No other candidate's vote tally changed AT ALL, not EVEN BOB RILEY'S or any other Gubernatorial candidate. Just Siegelman.

But all that aside, one thing nobody has looked at much is what was blamed as the cause of the "computer glitch": the Scantron cassette from Magnolia Springs.

Magnolia Springs is a sleepy little riverfront town where they still deliver mail by boat to some homes. They have about 3,000 voters total.

Now I'd assume some of those folks there voted for Siegelman. But wouldn't it have been obvious if there were that number of votes PLUS 6,000 EXTRA VOTES coming from that district? Or if Magnolia Springs reported a NEGATIVE VOTE COUNT?

Wouldn't it have been immediately obvious WHEN THE POLLING LOCATION AT MAGNOLIA SPRINGS REPORTED THEIR RESULTS?

If that doesn't spell fraud, I don't know what does.

[Elwood P Dowd]

82. You're right.

Auburn's Gundlach was on the money if I remember correctly. I wonder why no one has looked into Joe Turnham's loss to Mike Rogers. Some strange shit happened there also.

[symbolman]

89. I'm going to let you all in on a little secret

Demobabe and I LIVED there. My son played with kids IN MAGNOLIA SPRINGS. We Drove all over that place, thinking of Buying a house there - we SAW how UNPOPULATED it is there.

Demobabe has proved to me at least, without a shred of doubt, that it was PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE for Siegelman to HAVE LOST.

Her post needs to be read in CONGRESS at a Hearing, and hopefully, once it dawns on them, the Republicans will squirm in their seats.

Because it is SO SIMPLE.

It was PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE for Riley to WIN. That's why they LOCKED the doors of a COURTHOUSE and STOLE the Election. THAT is why they RUSHED to Certify it, and Cement the LIE.

Riley needs to Leave the Gov mansion and report to the jailhouse now, to switch places with Siegelman.

IMPOSSIBLE.

FREE SIEGELMAN. NOW.

[StephW655]

144. Magnolia Springs

My family is from Magnolia Springs and I've been visiting there since I was a baby. My mom's brother and his family and my stepgrandmother still live there. It is a very small town. They finally got a stop light a few years ago and it was exciting. Most of the people in that area are older retirees and some of those are old dog Democrats. There are certainly not 6,000 people that would have voted that day.

I remember staying up all night watching that election. I was so excited when it was called for Seigelman and then was speechless at what unfolded next. The one image I distinctly remember is Bob Riley's son running up to a camera to emphatically say that something wasn't right and Riley had won. He just looked like he was up to something then. An hour later the Baldwin County results were changed.

I am so glad I left that horrible state. I don't think a Democrat can do anything successfully in that state again. The Republicans have a stranglehold and they can do whatever they want and there aren't enough citizens who will question it. It's sickening.

[Blue_Tires]

157. welcome to the site!

[demobabe]

159. Welcome to the DU!

Thanks for posting! I've been looking for the actual results for Magnolia Springs for the first and second counts. In the Alabama election reports posted online on the state site, it shows 951 votes for Governor in Magnolia Springs. I don't know if those are complete results, but those are the only results Alabama has posted for the 2002 election.

http://www.sos.state.al.us/Elections/2002/primary/precinct.aspx

Looking at the total registered voters in Magnolia Springs, there are about 3100 registered with just under 3000 of them active. Click the dropdown menu under "Find Information On Voting Location" and select Magnolia Springs, Wesleyan Church (36):

http://www.bcconline.co.baldwin.al.us/voters/voterIndex.aspx

[OnTheOtherHand]

167. your link is a primary link -- but

here is Baldwin County's precinct-level report for the 2002 general.

For Magnolia Springs Wesleyan, it shows Riley 910, Siegelman 342 (page 6).

Just eyeballing, that seems sort of in line with the 2000 result for the same polling place.

What is the source of the info that the big change was made in Magnolia Springs?

[demobabe]

172. Thanks for the correct election results

See what I mean? 1,301 total votes cast in Magnolia Springs. That isn't 6,300 votes - not even close.

Source for the Magnolia Springs debacle... I've got a few.

1) New York Times: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9502E2DD1731F93BA35752C1A9649C8B63

These guys got it wrong, but they do mention Magnolia Springs:

The trouble started election night in Magnolia Springs, a town near the Gulf of Mexico, where unofficial poll numbers were released to the news media that erroneously put the incumbent ahead. The mix-up was straightened out a few hours later, but not before Mr. Siegelman declared himself winner, proclaiming, ''How sweet it is!''

State election officials said there was no way he could have won the 7,000 votes he was at first reported to have gained from the Magnolia Springs precinct. Only 1,300 votes were cast there.

Trouble is, Don Siegelman was the only candidate to have their vote count changed. If there was a corruption in the data due to a lightening strike or power surge, it would have generated garbled data, or unreadable data - not data that selectively removes votes from one candidate but doesn't affect the other candidate, or any other race. The second count occurred in a locked courthouse with only Republicans present (which is illegal).

2) The Risks Digest/Mobile Register: http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/22.60.html

The Alabama governor's election in Nov 2002 was irrevocably impeded by an unexplained anomaly in the use of ES&S optical-scan voting equipment in Baldwin County, which reversed the outcome of the election. In this case, the printed results of votes produced in the Magnolia Springs precinct were accurate (when compared with the actual ballots), but the data on the cartridges used to tabulate the final results electronically was seriously in error. Unfortunately for the candidate who should have won based on the acknowledged correct results, the erroneous electronic totals (in which about 6,300 votes for that candidate were missing) were accepted as
official. The official loser "ultimately abandoned his challenge after it became clear that he would not be able to get the statewide vote recount he had sought." Thus, the candidate with the most votes was declared the loser. Three months after the election, it is still unclear why the cassette was missing so many votes disappeared, blamed on a "computer glitch" -- possibly a "power surge at the precinct, static electricity, or something else".

3) I interviewed Professor James Gundlach from Auburn and he talks about it quite extensively. He talks about all the statistical possibilities and the fact that data is not manipulated in that way. I might upload some clips from this interview later...

[LizW]

168. I remember, too

Welcome, Steph!

I remember how the news people at the Riley gathering that night kept saying that Riley's people were telling them something was wrong with the vote. This was just minutes after the numbers came in. This was even while Seigelman was speaking. The news people looked confused.

If I remember correctly, the Repugs were even telling the news people how much they thought the vote was off by. They knew they were going to steal it, and they started the spin right away.

[defendandprotect]

52. VOTESCAM has been in place since the mid-1960's . . .

Please see the thread here on this ---
or go to the website ---

Jim & Ken Collier's book --- a 26 year study of election computer fraud can be scanned or read there.

MEANWHILE . . . Siegelman is a charming man now sitting in a jail somewhere -- and gagged!!!

And the pigs who did this still can manipulate all of us ---

[vanboggie]

54. We're in a fight for our very lives

Look what they've done to someone as high profile as Gov.Siegelman.

We've been fighting these bastards for years, but it's going to take a bigger one to get rid of the roaches. We need John Edwards.

Edited to add that one of my major goals in life is to live long enough to see Rove behind bars...or handed even greater justice.

[Mark_Crispin_Miller]

78. So far we've been fighting all alone

because the press has either not reported on all this election fraud, or has explicitly denied that there's a story to
report. This silence, and/or denial, has had catastrophic consequences.

When people hear what's actually been happening to their votes, they call for justice. The problem is that not
enough of them have heard. So it is really up to us to spread the word, and force the media to spread the word—
and I don't mean the corporate media alone: I mean the left press, too. When, years hence, people look back on
this moment (assuming that the human race is still around), they'll wonder at the stubborn silence of the US press,
both mainstream and left/liberal, around the fundamental evil of election fraud.

For those of you who haven't heard about it, the new paperback edition of my book, FOOLED AGAIN, has a
long afterword that deals meticulously with the lefty press's vast distortion of this story—not just my book,
but all the books and articles intended to illuminate this issue. While the corporate press stayed mostly
silent, such outlets as THE NATION, MOTHER JONES, SALON and TomPaine.com actually attempted to
"debunk" the evidence of fraud; and that drive reconfirmed the corporate press in its complacency, while
millions had been, were being, or soon would be disenfranchised.

In any case, we won't get anywhere unless the people hear the truth. Once they hear that truth, however,
there will be no stopping us, no stopping them.

[EFerrari]

84. David Corn has nearly as much to answer for as Okrent.

"And more, I expect, will be explored and explained in future articles if meaningful allegations can indeed be established as facts. Both Matthew Purdy, the head of The Times’s investigative unit, and Rick Berke, the paper’s Washington editor, assure me that reporters will continue to look into the issue. I’m confident that if they find something, they’ll publish it."

-- Former Public Editor Okrent, Liar.

[OzarkDem]

88. Why did the "lefty" press do that?

Was it a desire to be one of the "kool kids" with the big media, fear of looking like chronic complainers or a good old fashioned lack of understanding of informations sytems and how the system can be hacked?

[EFerrari]

90. Denial. n/t

[OzarkDem]

102. I also think

a lot of them were afraid they would no longer be invited to all the cool cocktail parties inside the Beltway and elsewhere. Not many journalists today have the courage to stand up for truth.

[EFerrari]

105. Sure. They're protecting their access -- which is useless

if it's never used in the service of actual journalism -- except for those buffets. :shrug:

[Mark_Crispin_Miller]

107. That's it—although it's economic, too

Hey, everybody's skating on thin ice these days, and, therefore, all too few reporters, ESPECIALLY on "the left,"
can risk appearing too far Out There. I think this explains, to some extent, why David Corn, Mark Hertsgaard,
Russ Baker and the rest have strained so hard to demonstrate their "moderate" chops on this particular issue.
Not so deep down inside, they would each love to be House Leftist at, say, TIME, or on one of the networks;
and you don't get that kind of gig by validating what the media's parent companies, and the DNC, prefer to
shrug off as "conspiracy theory."

I say this without any claims to moral sanctity. If I were not a tenured prof, I too would probably not be
discussing all of this so frankly.

[orleans]

112. maybe you wouldn't be SO frank--but i think your passion runs high on this issue

you're nearly a lone voice on this publicly--but you are a hero to many of us. i can't thank you enough for your dedication and persistence.

"If I were not a tenured prof, I too would probably not be
discussing all of this so frankly."

thank god for tenured professors!

[orleans]

110. yep. i killed my subscriptions to the nation & mother jones over that

i was absolutely FURIOUS!

[EFerrari]

114. I think I still am. And while Mark is right, at some point we have to realize

we have a choice between living and the tyranny of our safe little bit.

All we really have are the risks we are willing to take for something bigger than we are. That can't be stolen or repossessed or spent to cover our monthly nut or mortgaged. Maybe that's easy for me to say because my sons are men out on their own now. (Knocking on formica! lol)

[Mark_Crispin_Miller]

100. So many good questions!

First of all, I've written two (2) books since THE BUSH DYSLEXICON. First there was CRUEL AND UNUSUAL, about the Busheviks' weird tendency
toward projectivity (and much else besides), and then FOOLED AGAIN, which is about BushCo's theft of the 2004 election: not just in Ohio,
but nationwide. It isn't speculation. It's very, very thoroughly documented. The afterword to the new edition brings the story up through
2006. The fraud was epidemic then as well, although the Democrats were too euphoric over their 29 House seats, and at the same time too
craven, to look into the other 25+ seats that they ALSO won, or would have won, if they had cared to push the point.

Siegelman was not accused of election tampering, but corruption. Larisa's stuff about his case is nonpareil. (Hi, Larisa!) I've been posting
her stuff on my own blog (markcrispinmiller.com). Also, read Scott Horton's pieces in HARPER'S. Horton has been raising holy hell. The
goons at Justice are furious about it.

The question of Rove's legal jeopardy under the Hatch Act begs the larger question of his, and Bush's, and Cheney's, and this whole
regime's astonishing impunity. How many laws have these freaks broken—and broken OPENLY? Has any other US presidency, however
corrupt, committed crimes so BRAZENLY? Of course not; and the simple reason why they keep on flipping us the bird is that they haven't
been afraid of us: i.e., afraid of losing at the polls. Even now, since their alleged "thumpin'" last November, they keep it up, because they
still own Congress, thanks primarily to election fraud.

You mentioned Hagel, for example. Now, as it happens, we do not know exactly what the numbers were in those African-American
and Native American districts where he reportedly did very well. (Someone ought to file a FOIA for those numbers.) All we know for
sure is that (a) Hagel was the CEO of ES&S for four years, right up until the moment when he started running for the Senate; (b) that
they used ES&S machines to count the votes in both the races that he "won"; and (c) that he "won" both times by surprisingly high
margins. Suspicious? It surely would be if it hadn't happened in America.

Hagel is just one such winner. I would reckon that there may well be a dozen others who would not be warming seats there in the
Capitol if there's been fair elections in their states.

[BurtWorm]

103. Is the ruling ordering Siegelman not to talk about the case available on line?

What was the court's reasoning, I wonder?

[Mark_Crispin_Miller]

109. Good question

Scott Horton would know, or Larisa....

[OzarkDem]

111. Shades of Susan McDougal

Did Ken Starr have a hand in this?

[Diamond Dave]

125. Thank you Mark for all you have done and are doing to bring attention to

the breakdown of our democracry. Thank you for coming to DU to talk with us all.

I was privileged to catch you a couple of times on C-Span. You have been like a modern day Paul Revere. What makes any of us believe that the elections will not be stolen again? How do we educate the masses in such a short period of time and how do we stop the downward spiral?

My SO and I are truly very concerned for what our future holds. Thank you once again for all you contribute.

Peace,
Ms. DD

[lala_rawraw]

139. right back at ya:)

[EFerrari]

60. Harvey Wasserman was also on Amy's show today talking about

Ohio 2004, and the new OH report. I don't know if any of this is new to most of you, but Harvey put a lot of information into his segment so it's all in one place:

http://www.democracynow.org/2007/12/17/harvey_wasserman_on_new_ohio_voting

[proud patriot]

62. kick

[Champion Jack]

69. KICKED for later

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

70. Mark:

This ties in with Larisa's recent article, on her blog and here? CBS sitting on some fine investigative journalism by their staff producers, regarding the Siegelman affair?

Because that sho' nuff be how it smells.

[lala_rawraw]

77. Excellent post...

Thanks Mark for digging this up, Symb for doing the transcript, and bab for posting everything here. excellent work folks, keep it up.

[BurtWorm]

80. Thank you, larissa!

:toast: :applause:

[JackBeck]

81. And thank you for all that you do.

I look forward every day to reading about yet another layer you and rawstory are able to peel away.

Jack

[lala_rawraw]

83. the onion is getting pretty stinky by now, eh?

:D

[JackBeck]

101. It has reeked for quite a few years.

What blows is anytime you try to talk to most people about these stories, their eyes glaze over and it's as if you're talking about something that should not matter in their every day lives. I dream of the day when these things start to matter again for most Americans.

[symbolman]

96. DemoBABE :)

was the one who interviewed Mr Siegelman, and I'm so proud of her. She's NAILED the bastards, check out her insightful post above as to WHY it was Physically IMPOSSIBLE for Riley to have won :)

And we're proud of you for all the work you have done to ROOT these bastards out.. I know you'll never quit, never buckle, never stop until the light shines again, one of our DU stars :)

Now Let's go Get those Bush Bastards!

[BurtWorm]

116. Now that is the work of a patriot!

:applause:

[demobabe]

120. You're making me blush

I just this will help Don Siegelman...

One of the most horrible things about all of this is that Siegelman's case is being appealed...

AND THEY DENIED LETTING HIM OUT ON BAIL PENDING TRIAL!

[BurtWorm]

121. It sounds like a fucking banana republic!

:grr:

[libnnc]

118. OT just wanted to compliment you on your blog

I just added the widget to my myspace personal page and my homepage.

You do outstanding work and I want to share it with friends. :hi:

[lala_rawraw]

171. oh thanks...

i did not realize this was to me... then i looked closer at the dotted thread line... thanks:D

[lala_rawraw]

86. Harper's also has a new article up about the case...

by Scott Horton... someone should start a new thread on this:
http://www.harpers.org/archive/2007/12/hbc-90001940

Horton mentions some really interesting things about an Alabama judge and Rove.

[EFerrari]

You should talk to merh. n/t

[BurtWorm]

119. Larissa, what's the story with the gag order? How did they justify shutting him up?

Are lawyers working to ungag him?

[lala_rawraw]

136. there is no gag order

he is being denied access to journalists.

[BurtWorm]

141. How can they do that legally without a gag order?

:wtf:

[lala_rawraw]

170. i have no idea... i assume

talk to the warden? i honestly don't know... but given this entire case, none of it appears to be legit

[demobabe]

173. They can do whatever they want in the prison

If they say you can't talk to someone or the media, that's it. You can't do it, regardless of where the decision comes from. They won't even tell you who makes the order or why.

Ultimately, whatever they want to do, they can do. Just like when they sent Siegelman to prison, they initailly shuttled him around to about five prisons without letting his lawyers know where he was. He was just MIA for about two weeks, I believe.

[BurtWorm]

175. That in itself is outrageous.

Disgusting. How can there be justice in a justice system run by criminals?

[lala_rawraw]

176. right, my point exactly...

we had no access to the prisoner, who is an American citizen convicted of a non-violent crime. in a day and age when serial killers get interviews with the press, this is truly outrageous.

[BurtWorm]

179. Rhetorical question only: Where are the Democrats on this?

Useless tools!

[phoebe]

129. let's not forget the excellent article about Leura Garret Canary and

her role in this - she knows first hand how election fraud can be instigated- her uncle was her role model as well as
her extensive knowledge in defense of FBI, DEA and ATF agents, along with all her other connections...

http://www.harpers.org/archive/2007/10/hbc-90001453

snip

Si Garrett was deeply enmeshed in the murder of Alabama’s attorney general-elect Albert J. Patterson and in the massive scandal that subsequently unfolded surrounding organized crime and government in Phenix City, Alabama. Si had supported Patterson’s opponent, and he worked hard to swing the election by reworking some tally sheets in populous Jefferson County. Garrett had tried to convince the Democratic leadership that Patterson was linked to gambling interests; but in fact it was Si Garrett who had tight connections to the Phenix City organized crime nest. Patterson was a clean government candidate, and the organized crime interests were afraid of him. Still, the vote rigging scheme failed, and after some curious phone calls placed to Garrett out of Phenix City, Albert J. Patterson was mysteriously murdered. After he became the prime target of the murder investigation, Si checked into an insane asylum in Texas to avoid prosecution. (All of that story is brilliantly chronicled in Margaret Anne Barnes’s The Tragedy and the Triumph of Phenix City, Alabama, published by Mercer University Press in 1998; alternately, for a less academic and more lurid account, turn to Gene Wortsman and Edwin Strickland’s Phenix City, The Wickedest City in America. The lazier among you can just go and pull out the classic 1955 film noir “The Phenix City Story,” directed by Phil Karlson.)

So when Leura tells the Advertiser that “My genetic makeup is chock-full of lawyer and law enforcement genes, so I never had a chance of doing anything else in life,” it’s interesting to think of the whole story. Of course, bloodline aside, the focus really needs to be on how Canary conducts herself as U.S. Attorney. Aside from the Siegelman prosecution, which was essentially an elaborate exercise designed to install Bob Riley in the statehouse and then keep him there, we have the disclosures that Adam Zagorin recently made concerning the Lanny Young testimony. Young, it turns out, provided whopping evidence against two leading Alabama Republicans, Senator Jeff Sessions and then-Attorney General and now Judge William Pryor. Both of these gentlemen were Canary clients. And the U.S. Attorney’s office in Montgomery instantly concluded that the charges against Sessions and Pryor were going nowhere. It reached these conclusions without undertaking any follow-up investigation or interviewing any of the key corroborating witnesses. (Doing that would, of course, have been counterproductive: it could have produced more evidence establishing a crime).

Now further evidence of how Leura wields her powers appears, in the pages of the Montgomery Advertiser. In an article today entitled “Critic Sues Riley for Testimony,” we learn more about the Goff litigation, in which deep and well documented allegations of official corruption have been raised against Alabama Governor Bob Riley, former Lieutenant Governor Steve Windom, Insurance Commissioner Walter A. Bell, and a host of other officials. The most striking allegations, however, have Rob Riley using Goff’s private jet plane to pick up bails of cash from Jack Abramoff and former Riley Congressional aide, now convicted felon, Michael Scanlon, in Washington, for use in the Riley gubernatorial campaign. These allegations stack up with the report issued by Senator John McCain in his examination of the Abramoff fraud perpetrated on Indian gaming interests, and suggest that much of this cash came down to Alabama and played a role in state electoral politics. They also point to Rob Riley as the key interface with Abramoff and Scanlon in the money-laundering process. The allegations are absolutely not “wild” or “unsubstantiated.” Most observers who have looked at them think they’re right on the money and explosive. So now, Goff’s attorney has sought the deposition of Rob Riley, the Governor’s son.

[symbolman]

138. Yowza!

This is INSANE, corruption on a scale unseen I think in many years, they seem to revel in their arrogant, deceptive practices, like a dog rolling in his kill - the love, much like Bush & Rove, to rub our faces in it, as they pack the courts with synchophants.

Think ANYONE gets a fair trial in Alabama? Having spent some time down there I highly doubt if, though I must admit there are Some bright, honest, forthright legal minds there, I met a few.. One of my best lawyers, who I took years finding, after wading through the chaff, I lost as she became a Judge, herself. While i was glad for her, and sad for my loss, I feel even WORSE for Her Now.. Christ, to think of what an Honest Judge has to put up with.. And what can those decent legals DO about any if this there?

Even the papers ignore Siegelman, he's the invisible man when it comes to media..

All this is fascinating, and I want to read More, thanks so much for posting!

[L. Coyote]

151. Siegelman, Don = Subject of 41 Blog Posts by SCOTT HORTON June 1 - Aug. 8

http://www.harpers.org/subjects/DonSiegelman/SubjectOf/BlogEntry

For some reason, the Harpers search feature does not return all those after Aug. 8. To view those, go thru this list:

SCOTT HORTON - 1,051 Blog Posts from 2007
http://www.harpers.org/subjects/ScottHorton

Scott Horton is a contributor to Harper's Magazine and writes No Comment for this website.

A New York attorney known for his work in emerging markets and international law, especially human rights law and the law of armed conflict, Horton lectures at Columbia Law School. A life-long human rights advocate, Scott served as counsel to Andrei Sakharov and Elena Bonner, among other activists in the former Soviet Union. He is a co-founder of the American University in Central Asia, and has been involved in some of the most significant foreign investment projects in the Central Eurasian region. Scott recently led a number of studies of abuse issues associated with the conduct of the war on terror for the New York City Bar Association, where he has chaired several committees, including, most recently, the Committee on International Law. He is also a member of the board of the National Institute of Military Justice, the Andrei Sakharov Foundation, the EurasiaGroup and the American Branch of the International Law Association.

[bonito]

91. WHOA!!!

Kicking for prosperity"

[xchrom]

92. thanks mark, symbolman -- everyone working closely

on this.

i hope -- boy do i hope -- this all goes some wgere.

i've never gotten over the 00 election -- so obviously stolen -- huge evidence -- and nothing.

perhaps not this time.

[KoKo]

106. Kick and thanks for this ....Heard Professor Miller speak in Chapel Hill, NC

a couple of years ago. Glad to hear he's onto this and that we might finally have a chance of exposing stolen elections and tampering with Federal Judges.

[EFerrari]

108. I went with some friends to hear him in San Francisco.

I've never seen a random audience so engaged. Excellent discussion.

Go, Mark!

[zabet]

93. K and R

bookmarked

[blogslut]

115. K&R

I shall watch this interview later and shall post the appropriate links on my blog(s).

[suffragette]

122. The part Siegelman said about Riley getting the casino money caught my ear

Then I went to read the Harper's article and, sure enough, Abramoff is connected with this as well.
Thanks to everyone who is keeping on this issue and keeping us informed.

[L. Coyote]

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

There is a series of threads on DU on the Siegelman persecution.
The first one is from when Time broke the story. Here is a teaser, the OP.

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

[L. Coyote]

154. Political Prisoner Don Seigelman: DU Archive compilation threads with numerous links

More from the DU Archive, each a compilation thread with numerous links.

Sep-10-07 = ****** Official Thread Siegelman = "KARL ROVE WAS DEEPLY INVOLVED" *******
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1777924

"2002 election was RIGGED!!!"

Jul-01-07 = GO TO JAIL NOW: Former AL Dem Governor gets 7 years despite ROVE frame-up claim.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1224046

Aug-31-07 = Political Prisoner Don Seigelman: Obstruction Of Justice Accusation Unclear = TPM
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1704777

Sep-09-07 = Political Prisoner Don Seigelman: Republican Lawyer Set To Speak With House Judiciary Under Oath
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1770148

Oct-05-07 = Political Prisoner Don Seigelman: TIME COVER STORY to be Political Prosecutions in Alabama
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1982675

Nov-10-07 = Political Prisoner Don Seigelman: UPDATES. The Curious Case of the Missing Transcript
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2252551

Nov-19-07 = "60 Minutes" preparing report on Siegelman case
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3071885

[suffragette]

155. Abramoff and Scanlon links are deep

Now I see why I missed this part before.
I was moving at the time.
Thanks so much for the link.

Hmmm, how did Riley manage not to get snagged after Abramoff and Scanlon were?
Are they protecting him?
In looking at TPM, it looks like Scanlon's sentencing was delayed until December 7, 2007, so he "continue to assist the investigations of federal prosecutors." http://talkingpointsmemo.com/grandolddocket/abramoff.php#Scanlon

Have you seen any updates on this?

This really encapsulates so much of what has gone on, between the Rove, Abramoff, Scanlon and Delay connections and the politicizing of the DOJ.

[eridani]

123. Where is Max Cleland in all of this?

Weren't his late night number turnarounds also suspicious?

[Old and In the Way]

124. I first read about this over at TPM. I was stunned.

To think a Governor can get his election stolen and then have the Bush Federal Government cook a case to throw him into jail and silence him. And where has the traditional media been on exposing this case? I am amazed to the extent of the media lockdown on this story....I wonder how few Americans really know what happened to this guy? Total abdication of our media to do their job and protect our democracy.

I'd love to get a condensed 1-2 paragraph overview of this story that can be universally seeded in the minds of the American people.

Maybe get a website and fundraising going to finance a short docu-drama, ala "Hunting of a President" (Micheal Moore? Robert Greenwald?) Get someone with star power to do the narrative - Sean Penn, Martin Sheen...I think we could get this outrageous criminal exposed to a critical mass of Americans, just in time for the 2008 election.

[ClayZ]

128. Thanks for fighting the GOOD fight!

K and R

[Echo In Light]

130. It wasn't long ago that dems were trained to deny election theft existed

[DemReadingDU]

131. morning kick

[comtec]

132. who cares!

Look if I thought it would make a different i would be all juiced up!
The problem is that it DOE NOT MATTER BECAUSE THE CONGRESS WILL DO NOTHING!!!!!!

I have become so disenchanted with our system of government.
all the laws, protections, etc are there, but the people WE FUCKING ELECTED AND HAVE THE POWER DO NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!!
so what;s the point.
02 was stolen, it's official, BGDMFBD!
it doesn't matter because nothing will be done about it.
one, JUST ONE special prosecutor wh ois honest is ALL that would be needed to take down the entire * government, everyone in it, everyone associate with it, and halitosis, as well as black-and-evil-water.

but it'll never happen. Hell our OWN LEADERS have told to all but PISS OFF!
When Nancy tells people who want their message UNDERSTOOD, to PISS OFF, we have lost.
they just don't care and im so tired of caring.

I jut got my absentee for California, and all 3 propositions are crap - no on all!

I'm jsut so tired of all the BS.
I'm voting for DK, but he'll loose, and his message will be studiously ignored.

there will be no justice,. I'm afraid there never will be any.

Literally the only thing that keep me any kind fo religious is to literally PRAY FOR A HELL that these horrible monsters, and their un-caring followers will go to.

I say uncaring, because no one can be blind at this point, they can only not care, or think that it'll improve their pathetic lot by supporting the evil bastards.

i suppose yay, we have been proved not crazy, and correct, etc, but so what.
no one in power cares.
we are more and more ignored.
I'm sick of fighting, caring, begging for change, and to be heard, to have the real facts read and believed and acted upon.
I can't care, please someone help, and tell me it can be improved, because the congress, the fucking DEMOCRATIC LED congress does nothing!

Maybe wrong paul will be selected, and destroy everything so we can start from scratch.

[demobabe]

162. People in power do care...

...they care about money. This is their prime motivation.

Understanding this, you have a basis for change. You have two options, a) you make whatever they're doing financially unprofitable for them (like a boycott), or b) you attempt to shame them publicly (get them to act properly out of fear of losing their livelihood).

In the case of Don Siegelman, we're doing the second option.

We have a man in jail, PENDING APPEAL, DENIED BAIL.

What reason on earth would justify leaving this man in prison while he waits for the proper legal process to occur? If he is found innocent in his appeal, then he has been jailed for no reason.

Is the man who has been in Alabama politics for years, having occupied all four top offices a flight risk? Is the public in danger from this man?

There is NO GOOD REASON to deny this man bail. He should at least be allowed to post bail while waiting for trial.

How come Scooter Libby, who betrayed our country and put us all in danger, didn't have to go to prison pending his appeal? Never mind he was pardoned, but still?

[robbedvoter]

133. Reminding everyone : there were SEVERAL suspicious results in 2002 -opposite of polls

The exit polls in that election wee deemed "in error" and thrown away...Texas, Florida (primaries governor and then general), Minnesota senate, Georgia governor and senate - mostly people Bush has kissed at rallies have miraculously won with numbers opposite to the ones from the latest polls...No one paid attention and went on to 2004...very few pay attention to THAT theft and merrily campaign for 2008...
We had a 2004 candidate who had declared "he had no time to shed tears in his teacup for stolen elections". A second one on that ticket - also mum about what happened, wants our vote AFAIN - and nobody ever remembers "hey, whatever happened to the one I gave you last time?"
No...We're playing "election" again.

[Mark_Crispin_Miller]

140. Can you send me something about this?

I mean the exit polls in 2002. If you're still there, please contact me c/o News from Underground (markcrispinmiller.com).

[Beetwasher]

142. Hey Mark! Glad To See You're Still Posting! Question Regarding Your Thinking On HOW The Fraud Is

accomplished, structure-wise. I understand that they have a multitude of "systems" (i.e. from rigged machines and hacking to caging) to accomplish the fraud, but do you think there is a centralized decision making process (via Rove downward?) or is it more of a cell-like, localized structure, with a general wink-nod understanding from top-down that local orgs should purusue it? Or is it a combination of both?

I have not yet read your books on the subject (though I intend to do so), so forgive me if this answer is already in there.

Thanks for everything you're doing!

[Mark_Crispin_Miller]

146. It's not either/or, but both/and

The more we learn about what went on in 2004, and then again in '06, the clearer it becomes
that the fraud was, on the one hand, centralized. The Siegelman story makes it even clearer, as
this was NOT a random, local bit of partisan skulduggery but a careful and deliberate
assassination (so to speak) orchestrated from on high.

I have a new book coming out in February—a collection of writings, by others, on BushCo's election fraud
since 2000. The contributors each zero in on different contests, such as Georgia's Senate race in '02,
Siegelman's re-electoral "defeat" in Alabama that year, and several contests nationwide in the '04
presidential race. What's striking is the similarity of methods used in, say, both Illinois and Arizona.
Such similarities bespeak a guiding hand, and not a broad, spontaneous grass-roots burst of
maverick operations.

That there was such free-lancing there is no doubt. (Indeed, I go into all this, in great detail, in
Fooled Again.) But that alone could never have accomplished what Team Bush pulled off in
opposition to the will of the entire US electorate.

One last point: A lot of people like to call the Bush regime "incompetent," as if, say, Katrina was
so badly handled out of clumsiness. Such failures don't suggest incompetence, however, as
they were not really failures in the eyes of Bush & Co., who did NOT WANT to save that city,
or keep Iraq from sliding into chaos, or honor the intregrity of the DoJ, etc.

To measure their true competence, just take a look at how they've managed those things that
do matter to them—such as, above all, the subversion of American democracy. At that they've
done an absolutely brilliant job.

The new book's title, BTW, is LOSER TAKE ALL: ELECTION FRAUD AND THE SUBVERSION OF
DEMOCRACY, 2000-2008 (from IG Publishing). Contributors will include Steve Freeman,
Bob Fitrakis, Paul Lehto, Brad Friedman, Tova Wang, Larisa Alexandrovna, Lance DeHaven-Smith,
David Moore, Judy Alter and Steve Rosenfeld, among others.

[Beetwasher]

148. Thanks!!

I will be buying your books! :thumbsup:

[stellanoir]

182. Oh Mark

I'm so pleased to see you posting here and thank you for all your investigative work and journalism.

I saw you on CSPAN a while ago and was entirely riveted by your breadth of knowledge.

When I sensed just how systematically efficient the fraud of '04 was, I thought. "sheesh if only they could do anything else with such efficacy."

Alas if only we weren't for the most part entirely bereft of representative leadership 4 corrupted elections later. . .

Because I remember you speaking of broader trends, I thought you might be interested and possibly have not heard of this thoroughly fascinating book.

ttp://www.cosmosandpsyche.com/

[robbedvoter]

174. I found something from NY Times from that time

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9501EEDF113EF935A35752C1A9649C8B63
As recently as yesterday morning, the Voter News Service told its members and subscribers that it planned to report the results of voter surveys with updates at 2 p.m., later in the afternoon and when the polls closed in each state. But the system failed to operate properly from the start. There was no information available by the 2 p.m.deadline. Around 4 o'clock, the service told its members and subscribers that it would not be able to produce any reliable survey results yesterday.

[mirrera]

134. Kick...

[The Wizard]

143. This should

dispel any doubts of Karl Rove's Nazi underpinnings.

[fascisthunter]

147. More Paid Hackery from Corporate Fascists

Who cares about our health and the planet we all share. Money, money, money, money, greed, greed, greed. Fucking nutcases.

[L. Coyote]

150. Rec #120. Goooood Morning DU. Nice GD Headliner!!!!

[demobabe]

160. Great to see you here, L. Coyote!

For anyone who doesn't know, L. Coyote has been following this whole saga relentlessly and has written numerous posts here PACKED with details explaining this whole mess and beyond.

We should add those to this thread - they are such thoughtful and intense postings. You can tell a whole lot of time was invested in writing these and they're must reads.

[donkeyotay]

152. 124th rec. Thanks to all of you, and here's hoping we live to see Rove go to jail. nt

[Blue_Tires]

156. proud kick

i'm very proud and impressed of the tireless work done on this story by you and lala_rawraw...my bookmark folder is overflowing

[Mark_Crispin_Miller]

158. Bless you

[EFerrari]

161. Kick

[Ignis]

163. A big K&R for this one!

Let's make sure to spread the word on this, because the only way the Republicans can keep doing this crap is to ensure that it's dismissed as "conspiracy theory."

[ChiciB1]

165. Getting Ready To Call Bill Nelson In A Few About FISA... Not That He

cares, but I still let him know what I THINK!!

:kick:

[suffragette]

166. kickety

[defendandprotect]

178. Any way to get mail to Siegelman --- ??? Thru his family or lawyers . . .

or at the prison?

[defendandprotect]

180. Is there a legal fund or anything to contribute to --- ????

[Nutmegger]

181. k

[Land Shark]

183. kickin' this post, worth a sustained look for sure.... nt