Bush’s Paper Thin Court Rebuke Shows 2006 Elections Critical

For the past 230 years since the United States won independence from the British monarchy and set up a Democracy where people matter more than kings, it has fallen to the U.S. Supreme Court - as the final arbiter of law - to save Democracy from politicians eager to trash freedom to please the mob.

The 5-3 ruling this week from the John Roberts court striking down the Bush administration’s right to try so-called “enemy combatants” in military tribunals in violation of U.S. law and the Geneva Conventions shows just how close America is to losing Democratic rights and slipping back into a monarchy-like system where the president acts as king, with whatever rights he deems divine.

If Chief Justice Roberts had not recused himself, the ruling would have been 5-4. If the Republicans maintain majorities in the U.S. House and Senate in November 2006, the odds are that President George W. Bush will be in a position to appoint at least one more Supreme Court justice before he heads back to the ranch and joins the Carlyle Group as an ex-president.

If that is allowed to happen, freedom lovers everywhere can kiss the American experiment in Democracy goodbye, most likely forever.

So if you are a freedom lover of any kind - Democrat, Republican, independent, libertarian - it is imperative that you get involved somehow in the political process and fight with whatever means you have to save American Democracy.

Here are a couple of analysis pieces on the subject. Educate yourself and DO SOMETHING, ANYTHING to join and help win this fight.

ConsortiumNews.Com: Bush’s Court Rebuke Shows High Stakes for 2006 Elections

Washington Post Analysis: Tribunal Decision Strikes at Bush’s Core

by Glynn Wilson

Former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman and deposed HealthSouth founder Richard Scrushy were convicted of bribery, conspiracy and mail fraud Thursday afternoon in Montgomery by a diverse federal jury that had reported a deadlock after only a few days deliberating.

Photo by Glynn Wilson

Don Siegelman: Guilty

Siegelman was convicted on seven counts, including five instances of mail fraud and one instance of bribery involving his dealings with Scrushy, along with conspiracy and obstruction of justice. He was acquitted on 25 other charges, including racketeering and extortion.

The conviction came in a show trial by the Bush Justice Department that will more than likely end Siegelman’s life-long political career, which began at the University of Alabama when he was the machine fraternity candidate who served as president of the Student Government Association in the early 1970s.

He went on to serve as executive secretary of the Alabama Democratic Party before getting elected to his first political office, secretary of state in 1978. He also served as attorney general and lieutenant governor before becoming governor and fulfilling his life-long dream in 1998.

Siegelman smiled when he exited the courthouse and talked to the media. He said he was shocked by the verdict and indicated confidence it will be overturned.

“We got a fair trial by a good judge and a great jury,” Siegelman said. “This is round one. The truth is we did pretty good in round one. I will take it to the U.S. Supreme Court if I have to.”

Siegelman’s attorney Vince Kilborn said he doesn’t expect the conviction to end Siegelman’s political career.

“He’s devoted to his philosophy and to the people of Alabama and I don’t think he’ll ever give that up,” Kilborn said.

“If I’m really guilty of this, then every other person in public office ought to look out because everybody is raising money and putting people on boards and commissions,” he said. “We’re going to win this case on appeal.”

Photo by Glynn Wilson

Richard Scrushy: Guilty

Scrushy, who became the most wealthy and celebrated businessman in Alabama in the 1980s and 1990s, was convicted on all six mail fraud and bribery counts leveled against him, along with conspiracy for ostensibly buying a seat on a state health board with $500,000 in contributions to Siegelman’s lottery campaign war chest.

Scrushy also said he will be vindicated on appeal.

“This is not right,” he said. “I’m very shocked by this.”

“This is the worst miscarriage of justice since General Sherman burned Atlanta,” Scrushy’s attorney Terry Butts said.

Federal prosecutor Louis Franklin told the Associated Press he hopes the verdict sends a message to the political world.

“You shouldn’t take bribes,” he said. “You shouldn’t trade on your office.”

Siegelman’s former driver and then chief of staff Paul Hamrick, and state transportation director Mack Roberts, were found not guilty on all the charges leveled against them.

U.S. District Judge Mark Fuller allowed Siegelman and Scrushy to remain free on bond, the amount undisclosed, and gave attorneys time to file final motions in the case.

Siegelman said the legal costs for the Montgomery case have topped $1 million and supporters have not kicked in much to help this time around, as they did in his bid-rigging case in Tuscaloosa in 2004. He said he only earned about $20,000 last year practicing law.

“I’ve cashed in all my savings to do the trial,” Siegelman said. “You can’t expect people to support someone under indictment and going to trial.”

Alabama Democratic Party Chairman Joe Turnham reacted to the verdict today by saying everyone’s prayers are with Siegelman and his family “during this difficult time.”

“The Alabama Democratic Party has great faith in our jury system. While saddened for former Gov Don Siegelman, Democrats vow to continue working in a bipartisan way to rid our political system of any unethical behavior,” he said. “Just as Alabama recovered quickly after the felony conviction of Republican Gov. Guy Hunt, the citizens of Alabama will recover again and look with open hearts and minds at candidates with high integrity and vision in fall elections.”

He said the recent U.S. Senate Committee Report containing allegations that $13 million in Indian casino money was funneled for Bob Riley’s 2002 election, Alabama voters deserve a fresh ethical start and a real commitment to honest and transparent government.

“Lt. Governor Lucy Baxley is the only candidate for governor who has not been implicated in benefiting from illicit campaign contributions,” he said in a statement. “We are proud of Lt. Governor Baxley and all our Democratic nominees and know our Democratic team to be some of the most honest and ethical candidates to offer themselves for public office in many years.”

Former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman and deposed HealthSouth founder Richard Scrushy have been found guilty of bribery, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and mail fraud by the federal jury in Montgomery.

Here’s the AP story.

The harsh right-wing attacks on the New York Times for publishing articles about the Bush administration’s secret monitoring of phone calls and financial transactions mark a new phase in the long neoconservative battle to intimidate and dominate the U.S. news media. But the struggle has dangerous implications as well for the future of the American Republic.

Read the full story on how the neocons are trying to consolidate their control over American perceptions at the independent ConsortiumNews.Com.

Will the Bush administration’s daily harangue of the “liberal press” help Republicans in their mid-term reelection bid in November? We doubt it, especially since we now know the architect of modern day liberal press bashing, Rush Limbaugh, needs Viagra to get it up these days.

Here are a couple of pieces to flesh out the debate for the initiated and uninitiated alike. Don’t be fooled people. This is nothing but politics.

Bush administration officials have been lining up to condemn The New York Times for revealing a program to track financial transactions as part of the war on terrorism. But if the Times’ revelation about a program to monitor international exchanges is so damaging, why has the administration been chattering about efforts to monitor domestic transactions for nearly five years?

White House NYT Bashers Hypocrites

President Bush calls the conduct of the New York Times “disgraceful.” Vice President Cheney objects to the paper having won a Pulitzer Prize. A Republican congressman wants the Times prosecuted. National Review says its press credentials should be yanked. Radio commentator Tammy Bruce likens the paper to Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

Even by modern standards of media-bashing, the volume of vitriol being heaped upon the editors on Manhattan’s West 43rd Street is remarkable - especially considering that the Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal also published accounts Friday of a secret administration program to monitor the financial transactions of terror suspects. So, in its later editions, did The Washington Post.

Piling On the Liberal Press for Story on Secret Program

Need we say more?