Free Republic

Did you know that Idaho Senator Larry Craig is going to speak at the Republican convention? Okay, I'm just kidding but can you imagine the reaction from the media if that were the case? We would hear never ending stories about the "culture of corruption" inherent in the Republican party. Well, guess what? Former Alabama governor Don Siegelman who was convicted on bribery and mail fraud charges, is going to be a speaker at the Democratic convention in Denver according to this report from WHNT TV in Huntsville, Alabama. And if you want to know what the media reaction will be to this,...

Jill Simpson is an unusual woman. A lawyer, she has scratched out an uncertain living in DeKalb County, Alabama. Fellow DeKalb County lawyers describe her as "a very strange person" who "lives in her own world." The daughter of rabid Democrats, she has rarely if ever been known to participate in politics as even a low-level volunteer. Yet today, she is a minor celebrity who is unvaryingly described in the press as a "Republican operative." Those who know her in DeKalb County scoff at the idea that she is a Republican at all. Recently, Simpson's house and law office were...

A U.S. Federal Communications Commission official is seeking an inquiry into the blacking out of a politically charged segment of the CBS News magazine "60 Minutes" by a local television station in Alabama. FCC Commissioner Michael Copps said he had asked the chairman of the FCC to open an inquiry into the February 24 incident at WHNT, a CBS affiliate in Huntsville, Alabama, in which civil rights footage from the 1960s was blacked out. "The FCC now needs to find out if something analogous is going on here," Copps said at a luncheon with media watchdog groups. "Was this an...

I'm a latecomer to the controversy over the 60 Minutes story on the supposed machinations of Karl Rove to take down former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman. CBS has posted the story here. On its face, the segment is a remarkably thin piece of work from which to lob serious accusations implicating the integrity of prominent officials including Rove. Rove himself has responded to the story by asking the question that occurred to me after watching the segment: "Seeing where I was working at the time, a reasonable person could ask why I would even take an interest in that case."...

60 Minutes: Woman Says Top Bush Adviser Asked Her To Take Compromising Pictures Of Alabama Gov. Siegelman. (CBS) A Republican operative in Alabama says Karl Rove asked her to try to prove the state’s Democratic governor was unfaithful to his wife in an effort to thwart the highly successful politician’s re-election. Rove’s attempt to smear Don Siegelman was part of a Republican campaign to ruin him that finally succeeded in imprisoning him, says the operative, Jill Simpson. Simpson speaks to Scott Pelley in her first television interview, to be broadcast on "60 MINUTES" Sunday, Feb. 24, at 7 p.m. ET/PT,...

Democratic Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley may not be the only woman running for governor next year. Republican state Sen. Harri Anne Smith says she's seriously considering entering the race. "Over the next couple of months, I'll be traveling the state and meeting with party people and people in the community," she said. Smith, R-Slocomb, said she is so serious that she has had polling done, and she expects to make a decision before the end of the year. No Republican has officially announced yet for the 2006 governor's race, but Gov. Bob Riley and former Chief Justice Roy Moore are...

Siegelman calls for tougher sex offender penalties Saturday, July 23, 2005 By NADIA MOHANDESSI Staff Reporter Former Gov. Don Siegelman called for the Alabama Legislature to toughen a sexual offender bill Friday afternoon and include mandatory castration and the death penalty for persons convicted of violent sex crimes against children under 12. "An ankle bracelet is not going to stay on if a sexual predator wants it off," Siegelman said. "The Legislature has got to get serious about protecting Alabama's children or go home." Many observers expect Siegelman to announce his intention to run for governor again, though no official...