"A Pillar Of Integrity"

Last Fall, Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) was convicted of lying about receiving gifts and huge discounts on his home renovations. A few days later, he lost his bid for re-election in a very close election. Since that time, he has been waiting to learn what his sentence would be.

But yesterday, all of that changed. On orders from Attorney General Eric Holder, the Justice Department has dropped all charges against Stevens, and has asked the trial judge to vacate the verdict. All of the media immediately began to talk about how Stevens was innocent and how he had been railroaded by the Justice Department. Personally, I don't know whether he's innocent or not. At this point, it really doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter because of the egregious errors committed by the Justice Department prosecutors. They were so far out of line that they could have convicted him regardless of whether he was innocent or guilty. It's a vivid portrait of just how far out of line the Justice Department had become under the Bush administration.

With the help and direction of Karl Rove, Bush turned the Justice Department into a group of administration "hit men". They put their loyalty to George Bush ahead of the Constitution and the rule of law. Career attorneys were fired and Bush loyalists were hired, and no one cared how many laws had to be broken or rules had to be bent to get the convictions they wanted.

By the Fall of 2008, it had gotten so bad they were even turning on their own. Once they targeted Stevens they hid evidence from the defense attorneys and who knows what else. It was a matter of getting a conviction at any cost.

When Eric Holder (pictured above) took over as Attorney General, he looked at the Stevens case and at the department Bush had left him, and he realized it stank to high heaven. He knew something had to be done, so he issued the order to drop the charges against Stevens.

Holder said, "I have determined that it is in the interest of justice to dismiss the indictment and not proceed with a new trial." He went on to say that from now on the Justice Department would insure ALL cases would be "handled fairly and consistent with its commitment to justice."

Stevens' attorney called Holder "a pillar of integrity". I believe he's right. Holder's action doesn't just give Stevens a bit of justice -- it sends a message to the entire Justice Department. A message that says the Constitution and rule of law are once again supreme, and all defendants will be treated fairly -- even those from another political party (or religion, race, sex, etc.).

Now that the dark years of the Bush administration are over, we can once again be proud of our Justice Department. It looks like President Obama chose the right man in Eric Holder.

Alaska Seat Up For Grabs

A few months ago, no one believed the Democrats could ever reach the veto-proof magic number of senators -- 60. But yesterday, they took another step to possibly doing that when Alaska's Senator was found guilty of seven counts of violating federal law.

The federal jury convicted Senator Ted Stevens of lying about $250,000 in gifts he had received as a senator. He will not be sentenced until early next year, and could receive anything from probation to 35 years in prison. While it is unlikely the 84 year-old senator would get a 35 year sentence, it is very possible it could affect his chances for re-election.

He was already in a tough fight for his senate seat with popular Democrat Mark Begich. A research poll conducted earlier this month showed the race to be a statistical dead-heat. The guilty verdict could be the thing that puts Begich (pictured above) over the top.

Surely the Alaska voters wouldn't re-elect a convicted felon, who may be booted from the senate even if he's not sent to prison.

Alaska Looking Better For Democrats

Yesterday, things just got a little bit better for Democrats in the state of Alaska. Instead of selecting a new and untarnished candidate in their primary, Alaska Republicans again chose their ethically-challenged current senator -- Ted Stevens.

In a seven-person field of candidates, the 84 year-old senator who is currently under indictment on federal charges, pulled down over 63% of the Republican vote in the primary.

This is great news for the Democrats. They have a capable and very popular candidate to run against Stevens. Alaska Democrats have chosen Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich as their candidate.

A year ago, I don't think anyone would have given the Democrats much chance of winning the senate race in Alaska. Today, it looks like they have a very good chance of doing that.

Alaska Senate Race Now In Play

Even though Democrats thought they had an outside chance of winning the senate race in Alaska this year, most pundits thought it was just wishful thinking. Ted Stevens has held that seat since 1968 and it looked like he would win it again. After all, he's brought a ton of "pork" home to Alaska.

But yesterday, all that changed. Senator Stevens was indicted by a federal grand jury on corruption charges. He has been charged with seven counts of making false statements on his financial disclosure forms. He failed to disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts from Veco and it's CEO Bill Allen. Allen pled guilty in May 2007 to making "corrupt payments" to Alaskan officials.

Now there is some doubt as to whether Stevens can even win the Alaskan primary next month. If he does, he will enter the November elections with the charges hanging over his head. If not, then there will be no incumbent in the election.

This is all very good for the Democrats, especially since their candidate is a pretty popular politician -- Mark Begich, the mayor of Anchorage. With all their ethical lapses, the Republicans just keep trying to make it easier for Democrats this year.

FBI Taped Conversations Of Sen. Stevens

Looks like the FBI has been investigating Alaska Senator Ted Stevens for a while now. Last July, the investigation came to light when the FBI searched Steven's home in a suburb of Anchorage. They were investigating corruption among Alaska state lawmakers, and the investigation spread to include the Republican senator from Alaska.

It seems that Alaska businessman and political patron of Stevens, Bill Allen, told federal prosecutors that he had paid for the renovation of the senator's home. Stevens countered with a "non-denial" denial. He said he had paid all of the bills he received. That may be true, since the bills went to Allen -- not Stevens. Stevens may deny his corruption, but having others pay your bills under the table certainly sounds like corruption to me.

Now it seems that the FBI may have been investigating Stevens before the raid on his ill-gotten house. Government sources have verified that Allen consented to the taping of conversations between him and Stevens. Several conversations were taped.

Allen was cooperating with federal government investigators, because they had evidence he was bribing state officials. Was he also bribing Stevens? Sure looks that way. What else could the taped conversations be about? We may soon find out that the payoffs went beyond a few home renovations. The investigation is still going on.

Republican corruption is the gift that just keeps on giving. Is there any end to it? Just when you think it couldn't get any worse, along comes another Republican guilty of either political or moral corruption.

I can hardly wait for that buffoon Stevens to be charged -- no one deserves it more.