Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire

The day after the Men in Black lit a blow torch under Uncle Ted, the papers are predictably filled with the panderings of fellow politicians and others who have benefited from his dodgy behavior and/or are cut of the same cloth.

Under the lead line, Deserved Respect, the News Minus shamelessly suggests that perhaps this little indictment matter is insufficient reason not to re-elect the not-Senator-for-Life; can we really say we are surprised by that editorial drift? As if the billions he has directed our way should override the fact that he was actively selling our interests to, apparently, the lowest bidder.

As an aside, Stevens is following the same “cheap trick ” vein as Kott. After all, you would think the longest-seated Senator in US history would be more expensive than some renovations to a 1970’s suburban box – oh but I forgot, there is no implied qui pro quo here, these were simply gifts*.

Or, as the (not-so) Honorable Stevens says:” [I] paid every bill that [I] was given”. Ah, but that’s the rub, isn’t it? It's those bills Uncle Ted should have been given by VECO contractors that are causing the problems here. I wonder how much in legal fees that masterful sentence quoted above cost him.

And that’s the thing of it. Lying and obfuscation has become so much the norm in this administration, it's just business as usual. Perhaps it's best said by Dubyah, who had this to say about Senator Stevens back in ’02: “There is no question. You know where he stands in the great Alaskan, and for that matter, the great Texas tradition.” Uh, that tradition wouldn’t happen to involve being deceitful, greedy, arrogant and lackeys of Big Oil, now would it Mr. Prez? Like always recognizes like.

Bottom line is, there is no excuse for cheating or lying. Isn’t that what we teach our kids? It flies in the face of family values they like to espouse for the News Miner and other conservatives to suggest that Stevens' long history of bringing home the bacon is reason to keep him in office. It is not up to Alaskans to mitigate or minimize the severity of a federal criminal indictment through "respectful debate or discussion" as the paper’s editor suggests. There is no discussion to be had.

There is only one person responsible for the loss of respect, privilege and advantage and for the tarnishing – if not outright shellacking – of a career that could have ended very nobly indeed, and that is Ted. Personal responsibility. Another family value.

I always did think that the Anchorage International Airport was a very serviceable name.

*Personally I find the cheap rate at which our legislators and congressional delegation “allegedly” (that’s getting to be a word that is hard to use with a straight face anymore when it comes to the even dozen politicians under investigation) traded influence and votes for to be embarrassing – if you are going to be an “alleged” crook, at least do it in high style, and go for something that is worth hiding offshore.