Reply #51: To answer your questions and correct your misperceptions [View All]

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

...the first two references are based on the smear job by the journalist who did not do his job to begin with and who did not have the courage to stand with his source. So, dare I say they are not relevent.

The first link predates the release of Mark Singer's book by more than a year.
ndsn.org link: dated February 2005 (per ndsn.org)
Citizen K: released Oct 22, 1996 (per Amazon.com)

These links establish that Kimberlin was convicted of crimes beyond mere pot dealing, which you belittled as my main concern. I give fuck-all about pot dealers. But then none that I have known have been convicted of planting bombs.
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I am stunned that you would link to Senator Levin's letter, but actually cite a line and not the most damning parts of the letter.

I linked Sen. Levin's letter because it gives the most thorough and credible overview of the 1988 situation, which the Democrats considered using as ammunition against the GOP in the 1992 campaign. My line is not a quote from it, it is a summary of Kimberlin's legal status in 1988. There is no denying that Kimberlin was punished for his efforts to hold a press conference. My point is, he was already an inmate at the time he was placed in solitary confinement. He was not imprisoned for his allegations; his imprisonment was made worse.

To state it another way: his status as a political prisoner had nothing to do with the bombings for which he was originally convicted.

To state it yet another way: Political detention bad. Bombing and maiming also bad. Two bads don't make a good guy.
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So we are left with the original crime, which he served 8 of his 51 year sentence... odd, no?

Is it? And was it only eight years?

"Brett Kimberlin was sentenced to fifty years after his convictions related to the distribution of marijuana and some bombings in Indiana. Like me, he was convicted under the old law, which meant that he was eligible for parole after he had served ten years. Kimberlin brought some loud publicity to his life, however, and as a consequence of his having made some powerful enemies, he did not receive favorable parole consideration until after he had served 15 years. Under today's more punitive system, he would have served significantly longer."
http://www.michaelsantos.net/citizenk.html
Michael Santos is a long-term federal prisoner who met Kimberlin when they were both incarcerated at a facility in Oklahoma. His statement about Kimberlin's eligibility for parole is backed up by the AP story reprinted in Hemp News.
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Kimberlin is not some innocent college dope dealer who was shanghaied on a bombing charge because somehow the Feds knew he was selling pot to a future Vice President back in the early 70s. Whatever his secret settlements, they are not related to the crime for which he was originally convicted, the crime which raises my most serious concerns:

"Kimberlin was serving time for placing and detonating a series of explosive devices in Sept. 1978 in Speedway, Indiana. In the most serious incident, Kimberlin left a gym bag in the parking lot of the Speedway High School. Carl Delong picked up the bag and the explosives detonated, tearing off his lower right leg and two fingers. Delong's wife also suffered serious injury from bomb fragments. Kimberlin is also serving time for other offenses, including impersonating a federal officer, illegal use of the Department of Defense insignia, illegal use of the Presidential seal, receipt of explosives, and conspiracy to distribute marijuana." (per ndsn.org)

edit: typo