Ted Stevens indicted

or

"These charges are just a series of tubes!"

HuffPo reports on another pillar of GOP ethics:

WASHINGTON — Sen. Ted Stevens, the nation's longest-serving Republican
senator and a major figure in Alaska politics since before statehood, was
indicted Tuesday on seven felony counts of concealing more than a quarter of a
million dollars in house renovations and gifts from a powerful oil contractor
that lobbied him for government aid.

You may remember Stevens as the "Bridge to Nowhere" guy, in which he used his position as chairman of the Senate Appproporiations Comitteee to steer $223 million of taxpayer money to build a bridge to connect a tiny island with a scant population to the mainland. A second Alaskan bridge received about $230 million and was expected to eventually cost up to $1.5 billion.

That's fiscal conservatism for you!

Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma wanted to take Stevens' bridge waste and shift it use for Katrina rebuilding.

Stevens went nuts.

"I don't kid people," Stevens roared. "If the Senate decides to
discriminate
against our state . . . I will resign from this body.

But it's most likely that know Stevens from this performance of legend:



Stevens was already fighting the race of his long political life as this investigation heated up. His Democratic challenger has been running even with him or a point or two ahead, depending on the poll. Obviously, this makes him far more vulnerable. Kos looks at whether the GOP can replace him on the ballot before the election here.

Photo: AP