The railroading of Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman

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Back in October, a nationally known print journalist told Harpers’ Scott Horton, “I’ve never seen anything quite like this,” remarked a nationally known print journalist in a conversation three weeks ago. “Everything I’ve been told by the convicted defendants checks out as the gospel truth. And everything I’m told by federal prosecutors who pushed the case turns out either to be an outrageous lie or at least a very serious distortion. And the local journalists who wrote the most about the case all behave like they’re accessories after the fact in a criminal investigation.”

The journalist was describing the Don Siegelman case in Alabama, and doing a pretty good job of it.

60 Minutes interview

There’s been quite a bit of buzz in recent weeks about the report “60 Minutes” had been preparing on the controversy and, after having seen it, I’m delighted CBS has made it available for embedding. Please take a few minutes, even if you’ve heard the Siegelman story before, to take a look.

We haven’t struggled for examples of the Bush White House and the Republican Machine making a mockery of our justice system and the rule of law, but this is one of those examples that just leaves one shaking their head. No one wants to believe GOP corruption on this scale is even possible, and yet, it’s not only possible, it actually happened.

http://harpers.org/archive/2007/10/hbc-90001359