Who became so unnerved by Tommy Gallion's book on Alabama political corruption that he (or they) tried to sabotage it by causing a statement to be included on the copyright page of the second edition that the book is a work of fiction? We don't have an answer to that one yet, but Gallion has written a letter to Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon Publishing, in an effort to solve the mystery. We do know, however, what is in Part Three, which was added to the book for the second edition. It focuses largely on victims of what Gallion calls the "Alabama Cabal." Did something about Part Three help spark the act of sabotage? With the title "Reign of Terror," Gallion obviously is serious about the subject matter. Here is part of his work from Part Three:
From Shadow Government, Southern Style, including Part Three ("Reign of Terror") (2020), by Thomas T. Gallion III; available from Amazon and Kindle eBooks:
PART THREE
REIGN OF TERROR
CHAPTER SEVEN: The Cabal's Raping of Freedom of the Press
VICTIMS OF THE CABAL . . .
1. Bob Martin
2. Russ and Dee Fine
3. Richard Scrushy (former CEO of HealthSouth and non-press target)
“Our liberty depends on freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.”
-- Thomas Jefferson
Although I’m often angry with the press, it is the only source to checkmate corrupt politicians. As I
stated earlier, I always wanted to be an investigative journalist and now in the last quarter of the game
of life, I am attempting to do some of that with this book. Perhaps it is my way of fulfilling my bucket list and giving the finger to these corrupt politicians. Perhaps I should be wary, especially where the Rileys are concerned: They put one journalist in jail for five months without bail on an alleged misdemeanor for writing about a member of the their family. This chapter will further scare the Hell out of people who crossed the Rileys. Bob Riley and Rob Riley are as ruthless as Jesse and Frank James, as far as punishing their enemies.
I will start with Bob Martin, one of the finest editors I have ever known. He retired in 2017 as owner and publisher of The Montgomery Independent, a widely read weekly newspaper in Alabama. Martin caught onto Riley’s Indian Casino scam and his attempt to put Milton McGregor out of business while
destroying Tuskegee. Riley, using corrupt FBI agents, tapped Martin’s phone and had the FBI call and
inform him that they had done so. This was nothing but scare tactics to stop Martin from exposing Riley. Martin, the son of a Methodist preacher, remained undaunted and continued to expose the Riley-related corruption.
The Rileys even went after a popular talk-show host and his wife, who exposed the Rileys' blatant
corruption. Russ Fine, PhD, MSPH, and his wife broadcast their conservative talk show out of Birmingham. The Fines are devout Jews and enjoy nationwide respect. Russ, a brilliant individual, is a
graduate of Southern Illinois University, the University of Missouri Medical Center, and the University of Oklahoma Medical Center. Then he became ICRC Director Emeritus Professor of Medicine at the UAB School of Medicine, and Professor of Health Care Organization and Policy at the UAB School of Public Health. His honors are so voluminous that we don’t have room to print them here. Russ and his wife started revealing the Rileys’ corruption and the Rileys tried to get Russ fired from the UAB Medical School. Russ was a tenured professor and too valuable to UAB for them to bow down to the Rileys’pugilistic attempt. However, the Rileys did succeed in having the Fines’ talk show removed from the air.
An investigative reporter, Sandy Frost, on October 11, 2006, published the following: “On Monday,
September 25, two veteran Birmingham, Alabama, radio talk show hosts, Russ and Dee Fine, were fired an hour before their program was scheduled to end, in large part because Alabama Governor Bob Riley is a member of a secret society that is still governed by documents forbidding membership to negroes or other inferior races. Governor Riley was invested with the Rank and Decoration of Knight Commander of the Court of Honor on May 9, 2005, in a private ceremony at the Governor’s Manson ... a reception was held in the Governor’s Mansion, presumably at taxpayer expense.”
After finding this article by Sandy Frost, I became more curious about this Masonic Lodge to which Riley belonged, and I discovered that they disallowed membership to blacks and other minorities. I am of the opinion that everyone has a right to associate with whomever they so desire, but it did not end there. The blacks have a separate nationwide Masonic Lodge system called Prince Hall Masonic Lodge. This lodge tried for years to be recognized by the nationwide Masonic organizations. That has happened over the years but denied in Alabama and a few other Southern states. It was only when Riley was in his last year as governor and on his way out the door that the Prince Hall Masons were recognized in Alabama and Riley’s Ashville, Alabama, lodge.
The question remains: Did Riley use various brothers in the Alabama lodges to infiltrate juries and influence judges? So far, I have found one such instance in the Richard Scrushy jury during his first trial in Birmingham. All jurors except one had voted for acquittal. This one juror would not back down, and after several days of being sequestered, the jury returned for the final day. Scrushy and his wife, who are both devout Christians, had prayed all night. As the bus carrying the jurors pulled into the courthouse parking lot, the Masonic juror became violently ill and regurgitated repeatedly. He was excused from the jury. In less than one hour, the jury came back and found Richard Scrushy not guilty on all counts. The Lord worked in a most mysterious way that time!
Masons do a great deal of good nationwide. My father, grandfather, and many other members of my
family were Masons. However, when you put a man such as Bob Riley in a position of high authority,
you can expect that he will use his affiliations for his own selfish and political reasons. I am of the
opinion that Riley used several of his Masonic brothers to help in his ploy to convict Siegelman and
Scrushy. As I will cover later, I know he did so in trying to convict Scrushy in his trial in federal court in Birmingham.
I want all the Jewish readers to remember Hitler. The Rileys, rather than gas Dr. Fine, tried to destroy
his and his wife’s careers. They wanted to shut them down and take them off the air.