The Sur-Realist would like to take this opportunity to congratulate and thank Roger Shuler, the brilliant journalist who writes the Legal Schnauzer blog, and Scott Horton, the renowned law professor from Columbia Law School, the writer of Harpers.org. Because of the efforts of these two men, Don Siegelman, the former governor of Alabama, has been released from prison, pending his appeal.

In particular, Roger Shuler has worked tirelessly to uncover the corruption that created the Seigelman case and the Paul Minor / John Whitfield / Wes Teel case where no crime existed. In an extreme simplification, the Republicans (and I’m embarrassed at this time to be a member of the party) felt the need to feather their own nest and found that the easiest way to do that would be to eliminate some of the high rollers in the other party. The belief is that Karl Rove engineered this play, and this has been discussed on MSNBC by Dan Abrams. Scott Horton followed the research begun by Shuler, and he interviewed all the parties involved in the Minor case. He believes that a gross injustice has been done to these men just as it was done to Siegelman. The U. S. House Judiciary Committee will soon be hearing Siegelman's testimony in this matter. Rep. Artur seems very supportive and wants this practice investigated. Hopefully, this means the Minor / Whitfield / Teel case will also be investigated by Congress.

It doesn’t matter if you love or hate Siegelman, Minor, Whitfield, Teel, or any other Americans who were turned into political prisoners in our own country simply because they contributed to the wrong political party. You should be absolutely outraged that we have political prisoners. We have kept our military in constant peril to establish democracy in places that have no concept of a democracy and seemingly no use for one. And behind their backs, our government has sanctioned the persecution and prosecution of people innocent of the crimes of which they stand convicted. Thank God we don’t still burn people at the stake.

Just in case you think you might be safe from the risk of similar persecution, think again. The Sur-Realist has been informed by reliable sources that an arch-nemesis of Wes, a politician, has now started to attack even Wes’ innocent friends and supporters. In Alabama, Roger Shuler is in danger of losing his home simply because the "powers that be" want him to stop blogging. Thank God for people like Shuler and Horton, people who dig up the truth, no matter how obscure, and fearlessly expose evil for what it is and let the rest of us know. They, too, serve to preserve America. God bless them and keep them safe from harm.