This morning, presumed Senator for Life Ted Stevens was indicted on seven charges of falsifying income. The charges relate to renovations of his house completed and gifts received, detailed so well in the ADN. Cough. VECO. Again.
Who really thought, back when the FBI first kicked open the door on the sad, Big Oil co-opted mess of Alaskan politics, that they might actually get to any of Big Three? Sure, a state representative here, maybe a lobbyist there -- but so long had Senator Ted Stevens, (former) Sen. Frank Murkowski and Rep. Don Young been in charge, not only could no one else really recall anyone else doing the job, we cynical, "Red State" progressives could not imagine that they might actually be vulnerable to anything other than, say, their own mortality.
That's why we call him Senator For Life Ted Stevens.
And it is funny, not in a "ha ha" way, but in a peculiar way, that what might be his undoing is not any of the big stuff like the Abramoff scandal or some of the dodgier fisheries stuff, no, it comes back to Bill Allen and what was the oil industry giant, VECO, our in-state mess.
And that all started in a room at the Baranof Hotel with some of our legislators selling themselves on the cheap, swilling booze and using language more commonly associated with a construction site, all recorded on tape. The FBI has built this case very carefully, starting with the little fish and slowly moving up the food chain. (Edited on 7-29 to remove insane mixed metaphor.)
Time to update Flic's list, which I must confess, forgot to include State Sen. John Cowdery. In our defense, there were so many, who can keep track?
Tom Anderson :
Bill Allen:
Rick Smith:
Pete Kott:
Bruce Weyhrauch:
John Cowdery:
Vic Kohring:
Ben Stevens:
Ted Stevens:
Don Young:
Frank Murkowski:
Jim Clark:
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