http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081121/ap_on_go_co/senate_stevens
I don’t understand the accolades. The guy stands as a convicted felon abusing his office by receiving gifts from lobbyists. He should have been expelled in the lame duck session.
Why the cheers?
And, I’m a Republican…
The Senate loves its own. For better or for worse, he’s practically an institution, along with Strom Thurmond and Robert Byrd. Remember that Daniel Inouye (D-HI) was a character witness for Stevens at his trial.
What Captain Carrot said. The U.S. Senate is a club, and you’re not in it. Consequently, they don’t care about you, except to the extent that you can keep them in the club.
Remember the old joke about the shipwrecked lawyer and the sharks? And the punchline?
“Professional courtesy.”
Works pretty well if you substitute “Congresscritter” for “lawyer”.
They’d like to receive the same sendoff if they were convicted of felony corruption.
He may have been booted after his sentencing. They still would have wrung their hands and lamented on his great service to Alaska. He would have still got an ovation. I prefer tarring and feathering. They admire how he was able to get reelected for nearly half a century. That is the ultimate goal for most of them. A politician’s business is the business of being reelected. He was successful at it.
Shouldn’t there be some kind of traditional degradation ceremony for this kind of situation? Where they cut off his necktie and shred his voting-keycard, or something?
He’s served Alaska in the Senate for 40 years, and has done a lot of good.That’s not saying what he did with this scandal was right, but at the same time, you shouldn’t judge somebody’s entire life by one bad act.
Perhaps. On the other hand, it’s kind of hard to believe that someone suddenly develops a moral weakness at that late stage in life. It’s much easier to imagine that he’s always had a weak moral compass and just now got caught. He’s probably done some good for Alaska. But has he had America’s best interests, or his own, at heart?
I agree that he was shady a long time. I heard rumors for a while. He just got careless at the end.
Whaddaya expect? He’s 86 years old!