More Stevens
Watching these Ted Stevens tributes unfold is really shocking. He’s not some veteran Senator retiring after a long and distinguished career. He’s a criminal. He was booted from office by the voters of his state. They did this, in part, because he was convicted by a jury of his peers of serious crimes. Crimes directly connected to his conduct in office. His conduct alongside this bipartisan group now saluting him. It’s sickening to watch. For all the cynicism that unfolds on the Hill, every once in a while members really do put political expedience aside and just do what they think is right. Unfortunately, what they think is right is to lavish praise on their good friend the senator/crook Ted Stevens.
Would be nice to see one of these guys show some concern for, say, a non-violent drug offender sitting in jail somewhere.
41 Responses to “More Stevens”
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November 20th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
He’s not?
November 20th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Maybe they’re being so nice in hopes that they’ll get the same treatment if they’re so booted in office. You know, “there but for the grace of God go I.”
Just maybe Steven’s colleagues recognize they’re all pretty close to convictions if they’re scrutinized closely enough?
November 20th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
sounds saucy. or kinky. i’m not sure which.
November 20th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
How did you ever manage to write a book, not to mention get into (or out of) Harvard? None of these is actually a grammatically correct sentence:
Maybe it’s all just a put-on. Maybe Yglesias actually writes perfectly fine English prose, but for some inexplicable reason he then pays an illiterate baboon to edit his posts.
November 20th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Is Richard Hack around?
Hey, Richard — Stevens will probably get a Club Fed , but do you think his friends should buy some protection for him from the Aryan Brotherhood anyway?
November 20th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
I mean, I would think a US Senator would be the one life form ranked lower than a child molester.
November 20th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Ugh!
This is vile, and video of it will no doubt populate many a documentary decades from now as historians try to explain just how far the US went off the rails at the turn of the century.
November 20th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
J: Matt types really REALLY fast and doesn’t proofread. This is a given. Deal with it. Making it an issue of education or ignorance is just whiny resentment.
November 20th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Jesus. Where did the horde of trolls come from?
November 20th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
I can understand tehe following speak for Stevens
–Murkowski – fellow Alaskan
–McConnell – one of the crappy aspects of being leader
–Byrd and the 2 Dems from Hawaii – also 110+ years old so a form of very senior solidarity
–Craig – misery loves company
For the rest, I assume it’s the corollary of “let he who is without sin cast the first stone,” that being, “if you’ve ever done anything similar [to what Stevens did], then you must get up to eulogize him.” On that basis, I’m assuming that the other 99 will speak on his behalf and some of the newly elected will be asking for time.
November 20th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
On that basis, I’m assuming that the other 99 will speak on his behalf and some of the newly elected will be asking for time.
Other 98. Perhaps that’s why Obama resigned on Sunday?
November 20th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
“Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my plea agreement.”
“Without exception, so ordered.”
November 20th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Puts Trent Lott’s kind words about Strom Thurmond (on his birthday, not post-corruption conviction) into perspective…
November 20th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Stevens is also a decorated WW2 vet who answered his country’s call in wartime. He is a corrupt pol, but give the man his due.
Meanwhile, the law abiding Matt Yglesias couldn’t even be bothered to mention Veteran’s Day in a post.
November 20th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
he’s undoubtedly a veteran senator. his career has been long. obviously you don’t think it’s “distinguished”, but many alaskans and Republicans do think that. Republicans still make up almost half of the senate. So I don’t see why this is so shocking. To almost half the people in the room he is exactly what you say he is not.
As for criminal, this is the argument Republicans make that Ted Kennedy should get no respect. Kennedy was not convicted, but what he very likely did is far far more horrendous. And yet, it is appropriate to respect him for his service in the senate.
No, matt, this is not odd at all. It’s predictable and it’s not the worst thing in the world.
November 20th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
That sentence is gramatically correct. It is nonsense, but it is gammatically correct nonsense.
November 20th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Stevens is also a decorated WW2 vet who answered his country’s call in wartime. He is a corrupt pol, but give the man his due.
Which is why Duke Cunningham got such a warm send-off from his peers. Smarter trolls, please.
November 20th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
“Stevens is also a decorated WW2 vet who answered his country’s call in wartime. He is a corrupt pol, but give the man his due.”
I’m sorry. Could you clarify for us exactly how much of a get-out-of-jail free card being a vet is worth?
Would it allow me to get away with mugging for $50? Rape? Murder?
Does it matter if I was decorated or not?
Does it have to WW2 or would Iraq2 count? Would combat server in Grenada count? How about if I am not lucky to have a war occur while on my watch — does mere service count?
I assume, based on the way Bush was lauded, that National Guard service is every bit as good, for avoiding taking moral responsibility for my actions as actual service during war — is this a correct interpretation?
November 20th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
“Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my plea agreement.”
“Without exception, so ordered.”
Nice.
“Mr. President, I yield the remainder of my time to the gentleman from Nebraska.”
“Without excep…”
“The hell you do!”
November 20th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Remember . . . “it’s a Club!”
Politics . . . No principles – just do what you need to do to get elected and re-elected (and maybe pick up a few perks along the way.)
“Don’t take it personally.” . . . McCain said Saxby Chambliss was wrong to lie about Max Cleland – but, he is down in Dixie now – lying about Saxby’s latest opponent.
Lieberman . . . Most of us wanted him punished. . . Barack is a politician – so he is keeping Joe on. . . It’s all about the votes.
Pelosi and Reid refuse to discuss the criminality of the Bush Administration . . . Don’t stir up the Right Wing too much – We liberals will whine but still go along with them.
They deal with the DC world the way it is . . . not the way it “ought to be.”
November 20th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
I don’t care what service you may have rendered in the past. If you are guilty of a felony conviction that involved corruption in the rendering of your service, you’ve disgraced your service record and do not deserve recognition at your dismissal. The US Senate is one of the most disgusting examples of the privilege of the powerful in modern human society.
November 20th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
That sentence is gramatically correct. It is nonsense, but it is gammatically correct nonsense.
Cf.
November 20th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
I wasn’t saying that the guy should have been re-elected or acquitted. He was convicted and defeated, so he is leaving the Senate, as he should. But the guy is 1000 years old and will probably be dead soon, he is a war veteran, and he was convicted of the type of corruption charges that a good number of these Senators are probably guilty of. What’s the big deal about saying some nice words about him as the door hits him on the way out? What if Charlie Rangel gets in some type of trouble for his multiple rent controlled apartments and unpaid taxes? Wouldn’t you say something nice about him when he left the House? He is a decorated combat vet as well, and would deserve this type of sendoff if he had to leave under the same circumstances.
To Maynard, being a vet is not a get out of jail free card for anything. I pointed it out to show that there are more sides to this man than are being shown and he is deserving of some level of respect. He was not convicted of rape or murder. I would distinguish between violent crimes and corruption such as this.
November 20th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
“Stevens is also a decorated WW2 vet who answered his country’s call in wartime”
I think you’ve made a mistake. Stevens WAS a decorated war vet – that is, until General Washington caught him stealing all the tabaccy out of the Valley Forge depot and selling it to the Injuns. Stevens has still got a piece of Washington’s leather boots lodged deep within his leathery butt-cheeks.
November 20th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
I think this is what made me so angry about Lieberman–these guys serve for decades on end and their loyalties begin to lie with each other instead of the people they are supposed to be serving.
November 21st, 2008 at 12:51 am
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November 21st, 2008 at 4:48 am
Ted Stevens was appointed to the senate the year I attained the right to vote. I have never voted for him. I have worked on campaigns against him nearly every election. I have given money to many of his opponents. I was outraged when it appeared he may have been reelected, and elated when I learned Mark Begich had won.
That being said, the crimes of which Ted Stevens has been convicted do not negate the decades of hard work and good service to the state of Alaska and the United States. He helped bring our state from an impoverished backwater to one with a healthy economy. It was yeoman’s work and involved far more blood, sweat, and tears than the earmarks for which Ted Stevens has lately become infamous.
Ted Stevens, like most of us, is a complex person. He has committed crimes and engaged in corruption. On the other hand, his work has greatly benefit the state he represents, for example legislation to protect Alaskan fisheries resources, to settle Alaskan Native (Eskimoes, Indians, Aleuts, etc.) land claims, to create major national parks and refuges, to bring safe drinking water to Alaska’s rural Native villages (via the Bureau of Indian Affairs) etc. etc. etc.
I welcome Ted Stevens leaving the Senate, but I also honor him for the exemplary representation he has provided to the state of Alaska for 40 years.
November 21st, 2008 at 10:46 am
Doesn’t the illiterate baboon still have another sixty days left?
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December 12th, 2008 at 4:51 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Ted Stevens had a chaotic 85th birthday Tuesday, waiting anxiously to see whether a climactic vote count in Alaska will keep him in Congress long enough for his fellow Republicans to decide whether to expel the
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