MY guess is that Bill Minor has had two columns written and ready to print, pending this decision: one that would praise the 5th circuit for its infinite wisdom and another that would blast them for being so stupid.  I guess we will see the latter.

In truth, he’s largely stayed away from any overt involvement.  However, he has had a TON of help keeping the story narrated in the press behind the scenes.

Just sorry he is going to spend his days in relative comfort as jails go.  Wish they would find room for him up in Kentucky so he and good buddy Dickie could ponder things together.  Two sorry ass people, both of them! (apologies for my language).

Too bad he and Dickie are not broke, that is a lot of money they amassed for a few years in jail!

I wish I could say these comments surprise me.

I wandered in here a year or two ago to feel my way around Mississippi politics, or what I thought was Mississippi politics.  I’ve since learned that this site is a misrepresentation of the actual scope of public political sentiment here, but I have been forced to admit, sadly, that it does represent a significant number of peoples’ attitudes.  I don’t believe you are a majority, but you don’t have to be.  If you make enough noise, you’ll sound like one.  And there’s a lot of noise here.  I was not exactly shouted down myself, but I watched you shout others down who defended the thoughts they’d expressed, thoughts that you, collectively, didn’t seem to feel fit into a certain prescribed mold.  It was as if you actually felt you’d scored some kind of victory, instead of the humiliating defeat that kind of thing always is.  Such self-deception.  Such ignorance.  It was a sad thing to watch.

One of the few contributions I made, before I realized I was wasting my time, concerned a Mississippi attorney named Paul Minor.  A man you should clearly be proud of, but manage not to be anyway.  It’s one of my wife’s pet causes, so I’d heard quite a bit about it.  There seemed to be no question the man was a political prisoner, one to rival even Solzhenitzyn.  I expressed sympathy for him.  There was none to be had here. There was instead, a strong sentiment that “he got what he had coming.” It was clear that wasn’t true.  That didn’t seem to matter.

I expect you’ll dismiss Paul Minor’s vindication as Obama doing something wrong.  Continue to participate in that paranoia-fest if you will.  It’s not doing you, or your state, any good however.  Deliberately choosing ignorance over knowledge should embarrass anyone.  For the sake of your state, I sincerely hope that insularity, which you few remaining intransigents cling to, will soon go the way of the dinosaur in Mississippi.  It’s one place that deserves better.

Mississippi is one of the most delightful places in the country, indeed, in the world.  I’ve been all over the world during my long career, often for years at a time.  I know whereof I speak.  And the stereotype of the mean, ignorant Mississippi redneck is grossly unfair.  I now know that it doesn’t represent many Mississippians at all, but if anyone stumbles into this site, and hasn’t seen any of the superior ones, they’ll know that individual is still alive and well here.  I would think that if you loved the state you’d find that distressing but you seem to celebrate it.  My southerner wife has succeeded, in part anyway, in convincing me you’ll even celebrate the fact that I noticed it.  I really don’t know what to say.

You’ll also celebrate my departure of course, as you’ve celebrated the departure of others you’ve driven away for the
crime of non-conformity.  I’m compelled to leave a link anyway, on the outside chance there’s a lurker or two like me, or maybe even a participant, who retains some sense of justice and fair play, and would actually like to trade ignorance for knowledge, as so many other Mississippians have already done:  Link

Good luck to you all.  I mean that sincerely.

General, as you are someone who is admittedly not from here, I can certainly sympthasize with the fact that you think Minor is a political prisoner based on the press generated on his behalf by longtime paid PR professionals that Minor has had working on this issue.

Like I have said, corruption makes an awful racket when it dies.  The fruits of corruption in Mississippi have paid for an awful lot of PR consultants, newspaper/tv ads and campaign contributions.  A lot of those folks have a vested interest in the corrupt ways of the past.

There is no question that Minor was a very smart lawyer.  I don’t doubt he did some good for clients and for the community in his career.  But he also did some very bad things . . . things for which he is paying an appropriate price for.  I don’t think he is evil incarnate, but he was duly convicted by a properly selected jury of his peers with the best criminal defense money could buy.  They appealed and that conviction was largely upheld.  Just as you have to respect the fact that the same jury system found his co-defendant Oliver Diaz not guilty, you have to absolutely respect the fact that Minor was found guilty.  There are lots of people who want to have it both ways, but that’s not how our system works.

Just in case you want to do some of your own research (rather than a RawStory article of all things), let me give you a link to get you on that path.  Instead of castigating those you disagree with as “ignorant”, come back and make an argument based on the data.  It’s out there.  You’ve just got to want to look for it.  You just might find that the “local-yokels” may just know some things you don’t.

http://www.kingsoftort.com/index.php/kot/page/chapter_4

General, as a dumb ass redneck all I can say is he broke the law, massaged it to enrich himself at the cost of all the citizens of Mississippi who had to pay inflated prices for the jackpot justice he and his cohorts instituted in the state.  He put himself out to the public as a protector of their rights… the hero of the common man, but found a need to circumvent that justice system to his benefit.  The courts found he influenced the judicial system through his illegal relationships with the justices he dealt with on an ongoing basis.  To this red neck that equates scum...... I am sure to you it means something else? 
By the way General you are not wrong with everything you report in your comments.  Mississippi is made up of some of the best, brightest, empathetic people in the world. Thank you for noticing!

General, read the Fifth Circuit opinion and then give us your opinion.

Notice no one here is telling you what to think, they are encouraging you to do your own research.

watched you shout others down who defended the thoughts they’d expressed, thoughts that you, collectively, didn’t seem to feel fit into a certain prescribed mold

Interesting.  Someone else defended their own thoughts and since those thoughts politically align with yours, they are held to a different standard.  Those that defended their own thoughts that did not politically align with yours get accused, by you, of “shouting down” others and conforming to a mold.

Frankly, your hypocritical and condescending smugness notwithstanding, I’m very comfortable in my opinion and do not provide much more than passing thought to someone who would attempt to passively insult others he disagrees with through a patronizing, self-aggrandaizing diatribe.

Suggesting one be proud of another who utilizes corruption to be their vehicle as a means to an end defaces any attempt by you to climb atop that pedastal.  My suggestion would be for you to follow your own advice and seek knowledge over your ignorance, should it truly matter, rather than try to spend so much effort in appearing to be an elitist.

You’ve tried paint things in a color of your personal opinion being somehow more important or accurate with the hue of being travelled… but the importance with which the error of one’s personal opinion is heard only exists when reason is allowed to freely combat it.

Yo General!  No one said that Minor is not charming, engaging, talented, generous, or incapable of showing great kindness.  So many of our slave owning ancestors were all that as well.  But underneath his genteel exterior you have a man who has no problem committing serious criminal offenses...offenses that ultimately undermine the hope for justice and a civilized society...kind of like slavery did.

generalj....What exactly did your wife read that made the two of you decide you were living among the ignorant and that Paul Minor was a political prisoner?  Was it facts of the case or the Huffington Post? Was it protests coming from his father? And with this evidence in hand you castigate the whole lot of us who are Conservative as being unintelligent.  Sit back Gen, I have news for you. We who lived among Paul Minor; we who were personally duped/hurt/damaged by Paul Minor(and they are Legion) have first-hand knowledge of his misdeeds! He was a successful lawyer, granted.  That he did anything for the “community” is very, very questionable. He ploted with others currently in jail to corrupt the system of justice.  Is that reason enough for you or is it because you have associated a “title to your name” you feel above the law and therefore assume you know better.  Wouldn’t a prudent man comprehend that when a person breaks the tenants of his release on bond several times and is first admonished, secondly, put in jail during the trial prepration...that maybe, just maybe, you are dealing with a drunk who has no regard for the law?  Trust me, Paul Minor would yell “fire” in a crowded theatre if he needed to get to the bathroom. 
Your comments have insulted me and the State of Mississippi so I have to be very happy you are leaving us.  How small-minded to leap to conclusions and broad-brush us all with your condemnations! And let me very bold and assure you there are countless people on the Coast who can tell you personal stories about how Minor bragged in public about his corruptness.  Would it satisfy you and your wife to learn that because he gave money to the candidacy of one of the sorriest governors we ever had and therefore he was “given” the privilege of choosing who was worthy of being appointed judge when there was a vacancy to be filled? And he bragged, in public about his accendency ..."nobody gets to be judge unless I say so”!
You sit and judge us as being the unworthy and smuggly decide we are too unintelligent to know corruption; it must be that we just didn’t agree with Minor’s political party and somebody told Karl Rove and wham!!!!! Minor is sent to prison for something he didn’t do!  Minor’s dealings with Dickie Srcuggs started him down this public path of deciding he could pay off judges. Many of those Minor joined with in his conspiracies are also in jail on convictions of bribery....doesn’t that ring a bell with you?  And still it doesn’t satisfy you that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals did not find any FACTS, ERRORS OR MIS-DEEDS on behalf of the judge’s guidelines for sentencing(which, by the way, was the original legal basis for his appeal)?  Your assumptions are based on all the PR money spent to” puff-up” his innocence that was widly inaccurate. Do you think everyone and everything in this state is corrupt?
Your tone and comments are insulting to those of us who are law-abiding, honest and who fully understand that corruption of our system of justice is a crime against every person who seeks justice in every courtroom!  Corruption of any kind is dangerous...worse yet are those of you who do not see this as noteworthy and instead turn your back on law and order in the name of Liberalism!

Note to redneck.....Minor is not charming unless he his hand is in your pocket. 

Hey Generalj I’m Master Sergeantb While I am admittedly a redneck and I’m ignorant on a lot of topics, I’m not stupid. And in the South it’s pronounced IGNERT. And no, we will not miss you if you are in fact leaving our backward State. You stated that you ‘’wandered in here a year or to ago’’ Which was it, a year or two?Someone as dissatisfied as you should know how long you’ve been in that state. I think you are damage control for Minor. Most of us in Mississippi are allergic to liberals and bull s--- so go onan live somers else to smear yore ole stanky stuff on. Weuns here ain’t gonna like it narey a bit ,ya hear