Report from Birmingham

Congressman Artur Davis has said that the House Democrat’s request for the recently freed Don Siegelman to testify in front of Congress is ill-advised, and that he would strongly advise Siegelman against making this trip to Washington. In published reports, the Congressman was quoted as saying it would be “extremely unwise” for Siegelman to appear because it would expose him to new Republican attacks. To Davis, a Siegelman appearance would not serve the interests of The Party because it would “undermine what we value most.” These words come from the same Democrats who did little or nothing, on a national scale, to address the circumstances of one of their own members being railroaded into prison as the result of a highly questionable investigation and trial. There were few words spoken by prominant fellow Democras, at least until Don Siegelman was already in prison, and not until they could mix the Siegelman situation with their own agendas concerning Karl Rove, and not until dozens of former Attorney Generals–including some Republicans–openly questioned the prosecution. This is the same Democratic Party, that while swirling into the midst of a particularly contentious election cycle, where the leading candidates routinely talk about Change and a new kind of politics, even when the candidates have yet to utter one word in defense of the persecution of one of their own members. It might be understandable that the political party would not want to spend any political capital on a corruption case–no matter how questionable or no matter how wrong–but it would be equally understandable if Governor Siegelman politely declines the advice of Artur Davis, and goes to Washington.

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