Something important happened at the Alabama Democratic Party's Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in Birmingham Friday night. General Wesley Clark was the keynote speaker, introduced by Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks, and there's no question that Clark feels right at home in Alabama. He spent a lot of time helping Democratic candidates here in 2006 and knows the politics, the people and the politicians quite well -- including former Gov. Don Siegelman.
Clark made very interesting statements on a couple of hot topics -- the first being football. While Clark didn't actually mention Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville by name, it was pretty clear who he was talking about when he said Alabama and Arkansas have a lot in common:
We're both Southern states. We both like football. Now there's a rumor going around ... You know, we've been loaning you, over the years, a lot of football coaches down here. You know, the Bear came from Fordyce, Arkansas -- and we never got him back.
And now, some of y'all saying Roll Tide -- you might be really happy 'cause the rumor is we might get a guy from Camden back.
I can't announce it. I mean I don't know. But we're really excited about it in Arkansas.
Tuberville is from Camden, Arkansas, of course and It was pretty clear that Clark relished the thought of the successful Auburn coach coming back home to Arkansas. Rumor is, if it's happening, it's gonna happen real soon.
It's hard to imagine a hotter topic than college football in Alabama right now, but former Gov. Don Siegelman's conviction and imprisonment on bribery charges might measure up. If you recall, Siegelman has been in federal prison since last June while his legal team works to file an appeal. The appeal can't be filed yet because the transcript of the trial isn't complete -- 17 months after the trial ended -- and his application for release pending appeal continues to bounce back and forth between the 11th Circuit Court and Judge Mark Fuller. It's the perfect definition of legal limbo, or possibly even political prisoner.
Clark made no attempt to finesse his opinion of the situation:
One of the people who most represents Alabama to me is a guy named Don Siegelman. [applause]
I happen to believe Don Siegelman was not only a great governor, but I believe he is a great American, and I believe he's an honest man, and I believe he's been unjustly confined.
Won't you stand up and recognize Gov. Don Siegelman? [standing applause]
I wish he could hear your applause but maybe he will. Thank you ladies and gentlemen.
I want to thank especially Congressman Artur Davis [applause] for your work, sir in getting Don Siegelman's case looked at in the highest levels of government. It needs to be.
But you know, for all our blessings we are a nation at war. And not only at war abroad, but at war at home. There's been a systematic campaign that's gone on for 20 years to overturn the ideas and the principles, the beliefs, the patterns, the hopes, the opportunities that we've labored so hard to put in place in this country.
I know about those. I was 12 years old in Little Rock, Arkansas when we went through the first desegregation crisis. I was one of those young people who understood, intrinsically that there's a difference between right and wrong, that people are equal, they have to be treated fairly, that you have to have respect, you have to have justice in your life.
We're seeing a 20 year campaign to polarize and partisanize this country and take away the basic fundamentals that we fought so hard to put in place. It's true. I mean it's happening right here, right now. It's this prosecuting attorney's scandal.
It's the use of executive power to put in wiretaps and other spying on the American peple to take away our fundamental liberties.
It's the wholesale politicization of the Department of Justice, it's a stench of corruption that has run from the White House, through Jack Abramhoff and I'm hearing rumors of it right her, in this state of Alabama, and we've got to get rid of it ...
This is unprecedented and I think it's a milestone in the Siegelman case. Up to now, Congressman Artur Davis (he was at the JJ Dinner, too) was the highest profile Democrat to call for scrutiny of Don Siegelman's investigation and prosecution, and Davis has taken some heat for it here in Alabama. For a while, many Democrats even acted like Siegelman's supporters were kooky, looney or just overly loyal to keep calling attention to his case. The local media still acts that way.
Gen. Clark isn't running for office right now (Clinton/Clark 08 signs notwithstanding) so technically he isn't putting his political career on the line, but he's a high profile, well respected Democrat and nobody can call him a sentimental kook. He's a hard nosed, respected, reality based, straight talking military guy, even when he's in a civilian suit. His opinion carries weight in some influential circles and if he says Siegelman is an "honest man ... unjustly confined" I think we'll see a good number of the "serious people" taking another look at what happened to Gov. Siegelman.
It's rumored that the Siegelman segment on 60 Minutes will finally air in the next couple of weeks. That should kick things up yet another notch. It can't happen too soon.
