# Ted Stevens found Guilty **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 27, 2008, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-stevens-found-guilty/469834 "2008-10-27T20:15:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [October 28, 2008, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-stevens-found-guilty/469834/41 "2008-10-28T18:03:57Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > No, but they can expel him. I believe they’ve refused to allow people to be seated before, though on sturdier grounds than this. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-stevens-found-guilty/469834/42 "2008-10-28T19:01:32Z")
> [@Doug\_Bowe](#): > > One guy had his name removed from a school. And they haven’t even gone to trial yet. From the fact that they haven’t even gone to trial yet, I glean that the guy is still alive. Ergo, they SHOULD have removed his name from the school.\* There is nothing more crass than allowing an edifice to be named after you while you are still alive. And nothing more toadying and servile than bestowing the name of a living person upon the edifice you are placing into service. It is not within the spirit of Americanism for a public agency to do so. End hijack. \*That goes for the airport in Alaska, too. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-stevens-found-guilty/469834/43 "2008-10-28T19:45:15Z")
> [@](#): > > There is nothing more crass than allowing an edifice to be named after you while you are still alive. [aside]There’s a school a few blocks from my mom’s house that was named after one Joseph M. Gallagher, a still-living member of the school board. I was greatly amused when one of the letters fell off the front of the building, transforming it into the Jose H M Gallagher Middle School. Which is probably more in line with the demographics the school serves, too. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-stevens-found-guilty/469834/44 "2008-10-28T20:19:57Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > Source: [http://www.electoral-vote.com/](http://www.electoral-vote.com/) > > I wouldn’t bet the farm that Stevens will go down in defeat next Tuesday. Alaskans appear to prefer their politicians smell as bad as the fish from an overdue trawler. Or a substantial number of voters suffer from frostbite or numbness to their noses. A completely unfair and unsubstantiated statement. We elect people with full faith that they will perform within the law. When they don’t, we throw them in jail or out of office. Three legislators are now in prison and two more (at least) are under indictment. Our senator is now convicted, his son under investigation, and our rep is under investigation. We fired our governor the last time around and elected Palin, who is also under investigation. Crooks may run for office, or become corrupt after getting into office, but to state that we prefer crooked politicians is insulting and demeaning to a lot of good people who live here. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-stevens-found-guilty/469834/45 "2008-10-28T20:57:14Z")
Ya’ll would do well to cast a cold, gimlet eye on the history of Texas, with particular attention to what happens when Big Oil climbs in bed with the legislature. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-stevens-found-guilty/469834/46 "2008-10-28T21:25:05Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Ya’ll would do well to cast a cold, gimlet eye on the history of Texas, with particular attention to what happens when Big Oil climbs in bed with the legislature. Currently a federal judge has admitted that there are 12 seperate FBI corruption investigations going on in our one county. We don’t have the top firepower that Chefguy has, but we’ll make it up in volume. And Chefguy is right. Don’t blame a whole state for Spenard. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2008, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-stevens-found-guilty/469834/47 "2008-10-29T08:20:33Z")
Alaska has turned out other politicians based on in-state shenanigans. I think that Steven’s will emphasize that the trial was decided outside of Alaska and appeal to the independence of voters. It will be the “outside influence” or the “us” vs. “them” defense. Still too close to call in my opinion. I won’t be sorry to see him go, his influence on redistribution of my tax dollar to his state has bothered me, mostly the blatant crowing about it. Contrary to what our elected Congress persons now believe; their job is not to bring home the bacon; it’s to provide responsible legislation that enhances our freedoms, not burdens us with obligations (I am so naive). ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2008, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-stevens-found-guilty/469834/48 "2008-10-29T14:30:04Z")
Alaska is governed like Detroit. They have the attitude that no outsider has a right to judge them. The insiders look at as an opportunity to put family and friends into high paying and powerful positions,which they are unqualified for. It is a recipe for corruption and disaster. They loot the system with the attitude that it is your fault for making it so easy. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2008, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-stevens-found-guilty/469834/49 "2008-10-29T14:50:16Z")
I’d say the jury got it right, and let me tell you, it couldn’t have happened to a nicer, er, I mean a meaner, more arrogant, pork-ladeling hack. It seems very likely that he’ll be defeated on Tuesday, given the most recent polls, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised by a Bush pardon or commutation as he heads out the White House door. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-stevens-found-guilty/469834.md?page=2)