Former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens Dies in Plane Crash

By Douglas V. Gibbs

News of the plane crash led to stories that Former Alaska Senator Ted "Bridge to Nowhere" Stevens may have been aboard. Later, it was confirmed, and he was counted as one of the victims that perished in the crash. Stevens was 86. I am saddened that Ted Stevens, the man, met the end of his life in this manner.

During his tenure as U.S. Senator, Ted Stevens was one of those GOP members in the Senate that conservatives were glad to see leave Congress. He was one of the princes of pork, funneling billions of dollars into Alaska during his long Senatorial career. His 40 years in Congress, the longest any Republican has served, was testimony to his refusal to be a statesman. He was a politician, rather than a statesman, in every sense of the word, finally unsaddled in 2008 in a close election. The news of losing the election occurred only days after he was convicted of seven felonies involving the failure to disclose personal gifts. The conviction wound up being thrown out. His notorious "bridge to nowhere" in 2005, which came to be known as an example of out-of-control pork spending, along with his ethics troubles regarding personal gifts, became too much for the voters.

Senator Stevens was also known for reaching across the aisle to form alliances with Democrats, which explains why he adopted their tendency to lack ethics that is normally more common with the party of the socialist jackass. . . uh, I mean, donkey.

Busy bringing home federal monies to Alaska, I think that Stevens may have forgotten that the rest of his job as a member of Congress was to enact legislation consistent with the U.S. Constitution for the purpose of protecting, preserving, and promoting the union.

Then again, it seems to me that almost all of Congress has fallen victim to the same lack of Constitutional scrutiny that Stevens had been guilty of prior to his ouster.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Ted Stevens, 86; longtime GOP senator showered funds on Alaska - Washington Post