Political Insider

By MrLiberty

July 2, 2007 3:35 PM | Link to this

I never knew this “once popular” democrat governor, but has it ever occurred to anyone, especially in the media, that what makes them popular are the very things that cause them to end up in federal prison?

Just look at the current crop of candidates for the presidency (well, all except Ron Paul). They are “loved” by one group or another, generally because they have proven themselves quite capable of stealing on behalf of special interest groups. They “help” the poor by stealing from everyone else in the form of taxation. They “keep us safe” by stealing from the hard working middle class and giving the proceeds to ther friends in the military industrial, security, complex. They “protect” us by passing laws that reduce comptetition for their friends and thus make prices higher for all of us. Once you get used to this kind against yoour frllow man. Just don’t expect anything else so long as even this amount power is availablre.. Reducing governmnet size and power are the only answers, an dOnlya RonPauls represents REAL change in the right direction.

By Alvin Rosenbaum

July 3, 2007 9:47 AM | Link to this

I first met Don Siegelman when he was running the 1972 McGovern for President campaign in Alabama. I was doing work for the campaign in Washington and, being from Alabama, we became friends and stayed in touch for the next 25 years. I would help with fund raising for Don’s various campaigns among Alabama folks living in Washington and we would chat about politics on the phone from time to time. Don Siegelman represented good civil society against the corruption and cynicism in Washington and Montgomery and Alabama was fortunate to have a man of his caliber in public office.

I moved to Washington from Alabama in the late 1960s and it became clear almost immediately that there were those who came here to “game the system,” to weld power and accumulate money, and those who came to serve the public good, make a decent living, and raise a family. Obviously, the first group have always pretended to also be part of the second group; but becoming both rich and powerful through Washington politics involves lies and corruption, plain and simple. Given the wages of elected officials in Montgomery, the same is also true in Alabama.

Don Siegelman obviously lost his way on the road to becoming Alabama’s governor. He was a good man who wanted the good Mountain Brook life, a life seemingly only money can buy. If he simply practiced law, I’m sure he would have done well; but he seemed to want it both ways: to do well by also doing good. It’s possible to do, but not as governor of Alabama. Whatever the injustices of his indictment, trial and sentence,
Don Siegelman as Alabama’s governor was not the man I knew in 1972.