# Is Ted Stevens toast?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [October 21, 2008, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851 "2008-10-21T03:17:19Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2008, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/1 "2008-10-21T03:17:19Z")
> **[Prosecutor Confronts Alaska Senator in Ethics Trial (Published 2008)](https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/21/us/21stevens.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin)**
>
> Senator Ted Stevens was confronted by a federal prosecutor on his last day on the stand at his ethics trial.
Sometimes it is too hard to believe. The judge asked Stevens if he was given a chair as a gift. He responded that it was bought as a gift but he did not receive it as a gift. The judge asked if it was in his house. He says it is stored there. It boggles the mind.
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2008, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/2 "2008-10-21T03:25:41Z")
It boggles your mind that a politician is lying?
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### Author:  [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2008, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/3 "2008-10-21T03:39:46Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#):
>
> It boggles your mind that a politician is lying?
It boggles the mind that a politician who has been in government for 40 years is so inartful at it.
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### Author:  [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2008, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/4 "2008-10-21T03:46:53Z")
Moved from GQ.
**samclem** Moderator, GQ.
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### Author:  [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2008, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/5 "2008-10-21T04:47:44Z")
He is lying to a judge, not just a reporter or voter. He is 84. He is too old to go to jail.
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### Author:  [@anya\_marie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anya_marie)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2008, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/6 "2008-10-21T07:59:44Z")
> [@gonzomax](#):
>
> He is lying to a judge, not just a reporter or voter. He is 84. He is too old to go to jail.
It’s an excellent year to be canned.
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### Author:  [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2008, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/7 "2008-10-21T15:29:26Z")
> [@anya\_marie](#):
>
> It’s an excellent year to be canned.
Do you mean caned? He is a bad tempered old goat who thinks he has the right to what ever he wants. He tells off any one who gets in his way. The judge is in his way. They should muzzle him.His temper will get him in legal trouble.
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2008, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/8 "2008-10-21T15:35:16Z")
He is presently leading in the polls here for this election. A recent TV poll shows that the outcome of the trial will in no way affect how people will vote. He’s had that huge an impact on money coming into the state.
As to his circular logic about how “it’s not a gift if you don’t consider it a gift, but you keep it anyway”, or “I told him I didn’t want it, but he wouldn’t take it back, so I still have it, but it’s not a gift”, there aren’t enough rolleyes in the world to describe how I feel about that. I hope they burn him, but have my doubts. Proving intent is a really tough call for any prosecutor or jury.
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### Author:  [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2008, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/9 "2008-10-21T15:35:50Z")
> [@gonzomax](#):
>
> He is 84. He is too old to go to jail.
Oldest new inmate I’ve seen was 87. We’ve a few in their 90’s now too, in the system from their younger days.
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### Author:  [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2008, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/10 "2008-10-21T17:38:48Z")
He can not win this trial, can he?
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2008, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/11 "2008-10-21T17:42:35Z")
> [@Chefguy](#):
>
> He is presently leading in the polls here for this election.
:eek: What is it about Alaskans?!
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### Author:  [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2008, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/12 "2008-10-21T17:46:26Z")
[http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/735119.html](http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/735119.html) Heres the prosecutors closing arguments.
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2008, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/13 "2008-10-21T18:50:31Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#):
>
> :eek: What is it about Alaskans?!
The guy has been a cash cow for the state and a staunch supporter of Native rights, which apparently matters more than a few pesky legal issues to a lot of people.
**gonzomax** : Of course he can win. The prosecution had serious problems with the judge and with their evidence. It’s not enough to prove that he has the items still in his possession. The prosecution has to prove _intent to commit a crime._ How do you prove someone’s mental state?
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### Author:  [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2008, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/14 "2008-10-21T18:55:53Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#):
>
> Oldest new inmate I’ve seen was 87. We’ve a few in their 90’s now too, in the system from their younger days.
Do they still receive their SS check?
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2008, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/15 "2008-10-21T19:37:02Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#):
>
> :eek: What is it about Alaskans?!
Why does it have to do with Alaskans? For all of Ted Kennedy’s failings, Massachusetts never saw fit to replace him. Idaho residents apparently weren’t all that upset with Larry Craig or Louisianans with David Vitter, or, hell, anything else that’s happened in Louisiana. If you get elected Governor of Illinois you’re basically guaranteed four years in office and then a couple of years in prison, and there haven’t been riots or anything.
I probably didn’t need to take that at face value. 😉
**ChefGuy** : I don’t want to cite [538.com](http://538.com) for everything, even though they make sense to me, but they actually have Stevens as an almost 2-to-1 underdog. What do the polls you’re seeing say?
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### Author:  [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2008, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/16 "2008-10-21T19:41:47Z")
> [@gonzomax](#):
>
> [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/21/us/21stevens.html?\_r=1&hp&oref=slogin](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/21/us/21stevens.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin)
> Sometimes it is too hard to believe. The judge asked Stevens if he was given a chair as a gift. He responded that it was bought as a gift but he did not receive it as a gift. The judge asked if it was in his house. He says it is stored there. It boggles the mind.
[Bill Hicks] **S’cuse me, s’cuse me. A man with balls is coming through**![/Bill Hicks]
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### Author:  [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2008, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/17 "2008-10-21T19:48:37Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#):
>
> Oldest new inmate I’ve seen was 87.
You might not be able to say and I’d certainly understand. Trying to think of what trouble an 87 y.o. could get into bad enough to land in prison though has me thinking murder of a spouse.
Chefguy, what’s Tony Knowles doing nowadays? Is he a possible replacement for Stevens?
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2008, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/18 "2008-10-21T20:03:59Z")
I will not countenance any mean-spirited criticism of Sen. Ted Stevens.
He’s brought untold millions in federal tax dollars back to his home state, so that Alaskans can remain independent and proud.
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### Author:  [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2008, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/19 "2008-10-21T22:39:59Z")
> [@vetbridge](#):
>
> Do they still receive their SS check?
No idea. Does SS cut you off when you’re incarcerated? If not, then I suppose they still do.
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2008, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/20 "2008-10-21T22:41:12Z")
> [@Marley23](#):
>
> Why does it have to do with Alaskans? For all of Ted Kennedy’s failings, Massachusetts never saw fit to replace him. Idaho residents apparently weren’t all that upset with Larry Craig or Louisianans with David Vitter, or, hell, anything else that’s happened in Louisiana. If you get elected Governor of Illinois you’re basically guaranteed four years in office and then a couple of years in prison, and there haven’t been riots or anything.
>
> I probably didn’t need to take that at face value. 😉
>
> **ChefGuy** : I don’t want to cite [538.com](http://538.com) for everything, even though they make sense to me, but they actually have Stevens as an almost 2-to-1 underdog. What do the polls you’re seeing say?
The last local poll I saw (not the TV poll) said 49-48 for Stevens. That may have changed. It’s surprisingly difficult to find that information on local news sources. I would be ecstatic if you’re right.
**lieu** : No idea what Tony is up to these days, but I would rather have Mark Begich any day. Knowles is too far to the right and too cozy with the oil industry for my liking, even though he’s supposedly a Dem.
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