Monday Quick Hits

Our Blue Girl is traveling today--she sent me a text message last night that can best be described as a blood-curdling scream of misery. She said she was stuck on a dirty train with screaming children in the heart of Texas. We are hoping she has a better trip home than the trip down to Austin was for her, but so far, I think we all need to wish a little harder on her behalf.

Update: She's in St Louis, enjoying some quiet time before the train ride home!

Crooks & Liars got to sit down with former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman: On Friday, I had the opportunity to catch up with Governor Siegelman after his main-stage interview with Air America Radio host Sam Seder. Throughout our conversation, Siegelman was clear about the stakes: “This is not about Don Siegelman. It’s about restoring justice and protecting our democracy.” No doubt, Siegelman’s tale is a horror story. Seder detailed the ten-year war waged by Karl Rove and the Alabama Republican Party against the Democratic Governor dating back to the mid-1990s. After denying his 2002 reelection courtesy of election night ballot counting irregularities, the U.S. attorney’s office in Alabama finally succeeded in prosecuting Siegelman in 2006. (Back in February, CBS 60 Minutes detailed the case, involving businessman Richard Scrushy’s appointment to a state board after his contribution to a state education lottery fund.) His legal fees have already reached a staggering $2.5 million. For his part, Siegelman believes the issue in his case is “the preservation of our democracy” which “cannot exist if the government can prosecute people they don’t like.” And one of his greatest challenges has been getting the American people to come to grips with a seemingly unimaginable nightmare scenario: “No one wants to believe the President lied to get into war, that elections can manipulated or stolen, and that the Department of Justice was used as a political weapon. People just don’t want to believe it.”

Brandon Friedman has a better quick hits roundup than I do, so check it out.

More later--we're a blogger down and we're gonna put our efforts into a few more things before the day is out...

Friday? What the hell is wrong with me?

--WS