Alabama Democrats are Under Attack

If you are not familiar with the Don Siegelman case, then you have some catching up to do. See HERE and read through the links.

Now for the latest nightmare -- the brown-shirts arrive. Honestly, this is so unreal, I have no words (emphasis mine):

"Montgomery, AL -- Alabama Democratic Party Executive Director Jim Spearman today called into question the method by which U.S. Marshals attempted to serve legislators subpoenas to appear to testify in a grand jury proceeding. Reporters were apparently tipped off by calls stating U.S. Marshals were coming to the Alabama Statehouse to serve some legislators.   "The drama surrounding these actions and the U.S.

Department of Justice's disruption of a legislative session for the routine serving of a summons to appear in court sends a poor signal to Alabama citizens who are already complaining about partisan political interference into the federal prosecution of former Democratic Governor Don Siegelman," says Spearman.

These ladies and gentlemen have not been charged with a crime and could have been served by other means in their local communities, not in Montgomery during a legislative session in front of TV cameras and reporters." Spearman stated. State law actually prohibits serving members of the legislature while they are in session. Section 29-1-7 of the Alabama Code protects members from this kind of action by U.S. Marshals yesterday. In fact, the Marshals could have violated this law by their disruption of the session and have been charged with a misdemeanor.

Thursday's action only strengthens our resolve to insist that the U.S House and Senate as well as the U.S. Attorney General immediately launch an inquiry into Alabama's federal justice system to assure Alabama citizens that politics and partisanship have not been used in prosecutions or in the serving of subpoenas. If Republican operatives had any advance knowledge of yesterday's serving of subpoenas at the Statehouse, they should have to testify before Congress under oath." Spearman concluded."

Exactly. This a subpoena to appear before a grand jury (and strangely, for quite a few Democratic state legislators). This is NOT a failure to comply with a subpoena (like Miers, Rove, and Bolton have done). So why were US Marshals used as part of this spectacle and on whose authority?

Once again I ask, why are Democrats the target of these investigations? Where the hell is Congress? When will these police-state tactics be enough finally? Or do we just wait for the rest of the brown shirts to arrive?

Time to head to Alabama folks, a state in our union that appears to be under siege.

I am not very good at organizing anything, but perhaps this request might just be enough. Let's go to Montgomery and occupy every corner of it with our peaceful bodies and shut the city down. No business. No government. No school. Nothing, but orange scarves and ourselves, just simply sitting it out until Congress finally acts. If you care even just a little about defending the Constitution -- as is your duty as a citizen of this country -- I ask that you now show your patriotism in a peaceful way and get up, get in your cars, get on a plane, get on a train, but just get going. If you do not, then your words of outrage are nothing but hollow complacency and you deserve to lose the most precious of freedoms. I am not a Democrat. But I am an American. Are you?

Comments

[SamEllison]

If they can get Spitzer, they can get anybody.

[deminmo]

I am a Democrat, who believes what the Constitution says
about our rights. I wish I could get in my car and be a part
of this peaceful demonstration of Democratic process.
Right now, it's literally all I can do to put gas in my car to
get the distance I drive to work. If prayers will help I will
happily contribute. Money however is in extreemly short
supply.
Good luck to all that can be a part of this.

[jhNY]

Incredible. Horrible people doing horrible things. And in America!

As for your line "it appears our union is under siege', I give you a pass since you came here from overseas. Alabama was brought back into the union by force of arms 140+ years ago, and to this day, many of its most hidebound residents are resentful of the reintroduction, and resist its institutions and values.

Keep in mind, to such folk, Huey Long's big failure was that he ran as a democrat, which is just a msunderstanding of history and the history of the democratic party in the south before passage of the civil rights act made the best people republicans. The use of state troopers to serve subpoenas to legislators or beat rivals with large sticks would trouble them not a lot.

[Querent]

You go to Alabama at your peril. Alabama is not a part of the US. It is part of the South. It is one of the epicenters of facism in America. If you come into confilct with the law in Alabama, you will not be afforded the rights of an American citizen, nor treated legally nor with any respect for your person. Going to Alabama to protest would be like throwing yourself under the wheels of a truck. Reconsider.

[JacobSinger]

HuffPost's Pick

And what exactly do you base this opinion on?

It is possible that you could encounter that sort of attitude in a remote rural area, but not in any of the larger towns/cities [such is unlikely to be encountered in Birmingham, Mobile, Montgomery, Selma, etc.]

In a earlier post I advised folks to try to get any protests going at a local level, as out-of-staters would likely meet with much [non-violent] hostility; but I also stated that the citizens of that state get a bum rap from the rest of the US, and your post is a perfect example.

In the modern day less racism and hostility is present in Alabama cities than most other states where the citizens think themselves far more progressive [Birmingham is a perfect example]. The stereotypical statements made above illustrate a presumptive acceptance of stereotypes in general and an ignorance most often displayed by arrogant pseudo-progressives.

[jackassa]

Another person under attack is the Legal Schnauzer blogger. He's been a great source of information about the rank corruption and selective prosecutions in the Alabama courts. Apparently there are ongoing attempts to shut him down and sieze his property. Another case is the 60 year old democrat representative/schoolteacher who was dragged from her home in shackles at 6:00 am.

It's a shame is that most americans today are suffering from the "economic uncertainty package" installed by Greenspan. Go out and spend!! Do your consumerist duty!! Well, we did, and now we are the serfs of our corporate debtholders, who feed us media that keeps us docile. We see political prosecutions and are afraid to speak out because one bad choice could cause us to lose everything. Here's the simple equation of the Bush economy: Money = Speech

The sad truth is that we are so busy clinging tentatively to our little piece of the american dream that we don't notice that it's very foundations are being chipped away.

As the schnauzer said, "thank god for blogs"

[BobbyJoe]

I lived in Alabama for seven years, and finally moved four years ago. Alabama is perhaps the most corrupt and bigotted state in the union. The good folks there struggle, but there's such an awful and entrenched system in place, it will be hard to dislodge short of intense federal investigation and pressure (which the Bush administration will never do). Frankly, it's time to give that state what they wanted a hundred and fifty years ago, and force them to secede from the USA. The country would be greatly improved by the loss of that political cesspool.

[TScheisskopf]

HuffPost's Pick

Does anyone else marvel at the fact that an emigre' from The Soviet Union is schooling Americans on civics and governmental ethics in the US? And doing a go-to-hell fine job of it too?

It was a great day when Lala joined us here. A great day indeed.

[LeftRight]

Isn't this Unconstitutional? I know that federal legislators cannot be arrested or harmed while in session, or while traveling from session to their homes, or while traveling from their homes to the session.

[outnow]

My relatives moved to Alabama in 1820. They were in politics. They are Democrats. I have been there enough to know what goes on. It is hard to believe that the corruption is so profound.

[JacobSinger]

My earliest traceable ancestor [from Ireland] came into the US through the Carolinas, purchased a Native American wife, and headed south to the settlement at St. Stephens, a river town built around an old Spanish fort in the southern Alabama territory [I believe it was around 1809].

I left the state FOREVER [at least as a resident] in September 2004; I had been very vocal in my protest of all thing NeoConservative, from the stolen election to the invasion of Iraq--needless to say, I was a minority in my opinions of BushCo's criminal activities. With exceptions for brief periods of travel and working out of state, I was officially a lifetime resident.

Alabama gets a lot of undeserved bias and criticism directed at its citizens; it is a state that has seen its share of political corruption and socio-economic / political upheaval, and as a result has become, in many ways, far more progressive socially than other southeastern states. And just as Siegelman was trying to drive the state into the 21st century, along came BushCo--it has been all down hill since then, IMO.

There is much I love about my home state, but I refuse to have anything to do with it until the people there in the state and local governments have decided to expunge the idiots who have embraced BushCo & Rovian political coercion.

There are two major universities in the state [the University of Alabama & Auburn University], and I would imagine there are quite a few Obama supporters on those two campuses. Any serious organizing for protests should start there. Out-of-state protesters will raise far more ire than indigenous protesters, so anyone deciding to get involved should take that into account.

[jackassa]

I've read some postings about Siegelman from the AL school papers, and the ones that even cared enough to write about it took a sort of "looksee" attitude with the political angle, but were pretty sure he was guilty as charged.

I also agree that people coming in from out of state would be a point of dismissal by the repubs, saying it was some lefty group like daily Kos meddling in local issues.

So where are the protests? I'm sure there have been some, but if it's not on TV it didn't happen, and we know how well the AL media has covered this issue.

[jhNY]

And you base your opinion on exactly what? Your own experience in Alabama is pertinent, but where else have you been long enough to make your comparison? Is Birmingham more progressive than Atlanta? "Far more progressive than other southeastern states" and not yet operating in the 21st century?

I'm from Nashville, TN and one of my best friends came from Birmingham. Even as a citizen of backward Nashville, I felt like I'd fallen backwards in time while I sat on the veranda of a country club with him down there, sipping a drink the white-coated old Black servant brought me on a silver tray...

And if Selma is now progressive, it's come a long way baby, and in a very short period of time.

I'm all for a fellow defending his origins, but not merely by declaration of what he'd prefer to believe. You voted with your feet. Me too. Remember why.