March 5, 2008

Don Siegelman

This week we are turning over the BuzzFlash Wings of Justice Award to our colleague, tireless advocate for fair voting and justice, author and professor Mark Crispin Miller:

"Prior to the race for the 2000 presidential nominations, Siegelman, then governor of Alabama -- and a Democrat -- spoke honestly about what he believed to be the incapacity of his fellow governor, George W. Bush, to serve as U.S. president. For this he earned the enmity of Karl Rove, who then engineered the theft of Siegelman's re-election in 2002, and, subsequently, two federal indictments, the first of which came to nothing, and the second of which resulted in a seven-year sentence on a charge of bribery.

"In fact, Siegelman received no bribe; Republicans in Alabama were not prosecuted for the same crime (which the evidence suggests that they DID commit); the witnesses against him had been coached by Bush/Cheney's Justice Department -- and Siegelman was hustled off to federal prison, where he's been held incommunicado, and, on a preposterous technicality, denied the right of appeal. He has been clearly victimized by the Bush White House, working closely with Alabama's federal justice system, which is a partisan machine from top to bottom.

"Termed, rightly, by Scott Horton of Harper's Magazine as 'the Man in the Iron Mask,' Siegelman deserves this special recognition, not only for his long ordeal, which he has suffered bravely, but for his consistent openness in speaking publicly about his treatment by the Bush machine. It is also to be hoped that this honor will, in however small a way, help focus national attention on his plight, and thereby help to bring it to an end, and bring his tormenters to justice."

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