Hen's teeth

Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. - Philip K. Dick

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Parsley

Once upon a time, long ago, there was a girl who lived with her mother in a small cottage in the forest. She was called Parsley because she went to gather parsley every day for her mother, who was very sick. One day, while she was out picking parsley, her fairy godmother appeared and told her the prince was looking for a bride, and that there was to be three balls for him to find one. Parsley knew she couldn’t go because she was poor and had no dress to wear. Well, her fairy godmother said that she was a good girl and deserved to go. So she waved her magic wand and suddenly Parsley was dressed in a silver gown that sparkled like the stars. She went to the ball, and everyone wondered who the mysterious girl was, but the prince was enchanted with her, and they danced all night.

The next night, there was another ball, and her fairy godmother came again. Once again, she waved her magic wand and suddenly Parsley was dressed in a white gown that glowed like the moon. She went to the ball and danced with the prince.

The next night, was the third, and final, ball. Her fairy godmother came again, and this time, she was dressed in a yellow gown that shone like the sun. It was even more beautiful than the last gown. When the prince saw her, he danced with her, and asked her to be his wife. Parsley said yes. Soon after, Parsley’s mother was well, and the prince and Parsley got married.

Then they stepped on a piece of tin, the tin bent, and the story ent.



This is my retelling, of my mother's retelling, of a story her grandmother told her. We don't know where she heard the story, or if she made it up herself. She closed all of her stories with the tin bent line.

My great grandmother was of German descent, born in New Orleans around 1880. She spent some time in an orphanage, and also traveled the country as an entertainer.

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Sunday, June 03, 2007

Oh what a tangled web

Riddle:
What do Karl Rove, a contested election, US Attorneys, criminal prosecution of a Democrat, and a singing Canary have in common?

Answer:
They are all mentioned in an affidavit obtained by TIME magazine about the 2002 Alabama Governor’s election.

The White House scandals have spread so extensively, they are beginning to interact with each other. Some of the threads have been brought together in the May 21, 2007 affidavit made by Dana Jill Simpson.

Time article

The Players:
Karl Rove – Political consultant
Don Siegelman – Governor of Alabama 1999-2003
Bob Riley – Governor of Alabama 2003-present
William Canary - Riley adviser
Leura Canary – wife of William Canary, and US Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama
Alice Martin - US Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama
Dana Jill Simpson – Lawyer and volunteer in Riley's 2002 campaign

History:
The 2002 Alabama Governor’s election, was between Don Siegelman (incumbent) and Bob Riley. The initial returns showed Riley narrowly losing to Siegelman. A recount of the Baldwin County votes, after Democratic Party observers had gone home for the night, put Riley in the lead. Siegelman requested a recount. The recount was rejected by the Alabama Court System. Siegelman considered appealing to Federal courts, but decided to concede.

Don Siegelman was the subject of various corruption investigations. One ended in a one-day trial. Charges were dropped after the judge, the third one assigned, threw out most of the evidence. In September 2005, Siegelman announced that he was running for governor in 2006 election. The next month Siegelman, and others, were indicted on new charges of racketeering, bribery, and extortion. On June 6, 2006, Siegelman lost the Democratic primary to Lucy Baxley. On June 29, 2006, he was convicted in 7 of the 33 counts. He was acquitted on indictment's most serious allegations of a widespread RICO conspiracy.

Allegations in the affidavit:
The affidavit describes a conference call on November 18, 2002, which involved a group of senior aides to Bob Riley. The call focused on how the Riley campaign could get Siegelman to withdraw his challenge to the 2002 results.

According to Simpson's statement, William Canary, said "not to worry about Don Siegelman" because "'his girls' would take care of" the governor. Canary then made clear that "his girls" was a reference to his wife, Leura Canary, the U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Alabama, and Alice Martin, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama. William Canary also stated that he had the help of a powerful friend in Washington, Karl Rove. Rove had spoken to the Department of Justice, and they were already pursuing Siegelman on a variety of charges.

So now,
we have Karl Rove, election tampering, and US Attorneys implicated together in an affidavit given by a Republican political worker.
Can we impeach them yet?

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