Because after all, laws against official corruption were never meant to apply to Democrats.

House leaders are beginning an investigation this week of the prosecution of Don Siegelman, the former Democratic governor of Alabama who was imprisoned in June on federal corruption charges. The case could become the centerpiece of a Democratic effort to show that the Justice Department engaged in political prosecutions.

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In Alabama, a small war of editorial boards has erupted since Mr. Siegelman was sentenced to seven years and four months in prison in late June. Newspapers in the state’s smaller cities have repeatedly raised questions about the former governor’s treatment.

Alabama Democrats are seething over a judge’s decision to have Mr. Siegelman immediately shackled and jailed on the day of sentencing, with no chance for him to seek bond or put his affairs in order. Republicans say the ex-governor is nothing more than a crook who ran a “pay for play” administration.

Mike Hubbard, chairman of the state’s Republican Party, called Ms. Simpson’s allegations “a bunch of hogwash” and said “the state of Alabama was for sale when Don Siegelman was governor.”

Democrats are equally passionate. “My sense is, there is a great unease with what has gone on here,” said Jack Miller, former chairman of the Alabama Democratic Party. “It’s kind of, if it could happen to him, it could happen to anybody.”

I'll tell you what -- I'll be glad to have a probe of politically-motivated prosecutions. Let's put the non-crimes of Scooter Libby at the top of the list, along with the prosecutions of law enforcement officers over incidents with illegal immigrants and drug smugglers. Then we can get around to Siegelman, whose bribery conviction seems a lot more solid.

What we see here, friends, is that the Democrats are chickenhawks when it comes to battling official corruption. They only want their opponents prosecuted, not their own.