# Stevens delivers final Senate Speech **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 21, 2008, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stevens-delivers-final-senate-speech/473766 "2008-11-21T01:51:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stevens-delivers-final-senate-speech/473766/1 "2008-11-21T01:51:14Z")
[http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081121/ap\_on\_go\_co/senate\_stevens](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… ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stevens-delivers-final-senate-speech/473766/2 "2008-11-21T02:06:03Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Orbifold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orbifold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orbifold)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stevens-delivers-final-senate-speech/473766/3 "2008-11-21T02:44:55Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stevens-delivers-final-senate-speech/473766/4 "2008-11-21T07:26:06Z")
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”. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stevens-delivers-final-senate-speech/473766/5 "2008-11-21T11:30:00Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > Why the cheers? They’d like to receive the same sendoff if they were convicted of felony corruption. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stevens-delivers-final-senate-speech/473766/6 "2008-11-21T17:38:20Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081121/ap\_on\_go\_co/senate\_stevens](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.. 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. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stevens-delivers-final-senate-speech/473766/7 "2008-11-21T20:50:11Z")
Shouldn’t there be some kind of traditional [degradation ceremony](http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9B02E0DE103AE533A25755C0A9679C94649ED7CF) for this kind of situation? Where they cut off his necktie and shred his voting-keycard, or something? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stevens-delivers-final-senate-speech/473766/8 "2008-11-21T21:15:22Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stevens-delivers-final-senate-speech/473766/9 "2008-11-21T21:25:56Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stevens-delivers-final-senate-speech/473766/10 "2008-11-22T20:45:33Z")
I agree that he was shady a long time. I heard rumors for a while. He just got careless at the end. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stevens-delivers-final-senate-speech/473766/11 "2008-11-22T22:38:27Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > 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!