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Ted "A Series of Tubes" Stevens Found Guilty
techmuse writes "According to a series of tubes sites, Senator Ted Stevens has been found guilty of lying about free home renovations that he received from an oil contractor. He faces up to 5 years in jail, and the outcome of his current reelection bid is now in doubt. 'The conviction came after a tumultuous week in the jury room. First there were complaints about an unruly juror, then another had to be replaced when she left Washington following the death of her father. Finally, jurors on Monday discovered a discrepancy in the indictment that had been overlooked by prosecutors. Jury deliberations in this historic trial have at times been as contentious as some of the proceedings The Justice Department indicted Stevens on July 29, and the Alaska Republican took a huge legal gamble and asked for a speedy trial in order to resolve the charges before Election Day. Judge Emmet Sullivan complied with Stevens' request, and in less than three months from the time of his indictment, Stevens was found guilty.'"
Dubya will pardon him on his way out
Scooter will get a full pardon too (in addition to the sentence commutation he already got)
'pubs will take care of their own, don't you worry
I would celebrate, but I know in my heart he'll be replaced by someone just as bad. Our body politic is rotten to the core.
So your a Senator of one of the largest oil producing states, an you hire an oil services company to renovate your house, instead of say, a home builder.
Yea that doesn't look odd at all.
The truely sad thing is that if he is reelected then he can serve. Forgetting there being no law against a felon holding office. Shouldn't there be some law to protect the American people from legislators who commit felonies relating to their position?
This pretty much ruined Ted's shot of being reelected, but will this hurt the image of political figures from Alaska? So close to election day, could this affect Sarah Palin's image? Morality? (Which has already been questioned).
So what could this do to John McCain's campaign?
(Probably already missed first post)
If he isn't pardoned he'll probably do 6 months and probation if he behaves himself in the 'joint.
OTOH, one has to think that a guy that can't control his household might be over the edges. That he is so much a part of the Washington Elite, that he might not distinguish between what is done to benefit the country and what is done to enrich himself. It really speaks to the accumulation of power, and the corruption that accompanies it. One can imagine that a dictator might not be such a bad thing, except eventually the accumulated power and privilege ends up warping the sense of reality to a mentally deformed image. It is kind of the story of this election, can a guy with 8 houses and 13 cars and a corporate jet and a young rich second wife really represent the bulk of the people who do not have any of these. I don't know. It will be a change in Alaska, and we will see if they can make it. If they have been broken from their benevolent benefactor, or freed from their father figure. I sure he did good, but perhaps did not get out when the good he did was not overwhelming.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
...a presidential pardon in 85 days.
"False hope is why we'll never run out of natural resources!" - Lewis Black
... there is no rule barring felons from serving in Congress.
Aren't felons barred from voting? So, they can't be trusted enough to cast one vote in several millions, but they can be trusted enough to be a Senator?
If felons were barred from serving in the Senate / Congress, then all you'd have to do is get people you don't like convicted of little petty things which may technically be felonies (due to their positions) and you could control who was in charge. It's probably for the best things are this way. The leaders of the Senate can kick him out if they want, as that MSN article says.
Should a few parking tickets get someone kicked out of congress? I'm not supporting being a scoff-law about them, but would that really necessitate removing them from office?
That said, I'd support a mandatory recall election on representatives who are convicted of felonies.
Or I would if he wasn't up for re-election in less than 2 weeks anyway.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
232 years and counting, and that still hasn't happened. But sure, the next one will do the trick.
Corruption is a problem of availability, not so much moral strength.
Separate temptation from politicians and you will see fewer troubles. It would be far cheaper to grant politicians in key positions generous allowances for the rest of their lives and to clear all expenses over certain through some sort of oversight board forbidden to have any contact with the people they are overseeing. They should be very well taken care of and at the same time, isolated from their keepers. Then let the special interests make their arguments for legislation and let it be balanced against public interest groups and may legislators then make fair and balanced choices, actions and decisions.
No more revolving doors. No more contributions from special interests. Once a politician enters public service, he should never again need to consider private sector life and would therefore have less tempting him now and in the future.
Alright, I'm certainly happy to see Ted Stevens convicted. He probably deserves it. I am in fact a far left winger. I'm always happy to see any Republican convicted of anything.
With that said:
Give Ted Stevens a break on the "series of tubes" analogy. He was trying to describe saturation of available bandwidth in terms of water going through a pipe. It is a particularly good analogy given that educational metaphor for electrical systems are usually in terms of water in a pipe (or tube). All the snickering about "tubes" makes us look stupid to the community that knows about these things. Among the slashdot community it is just self-degrading. We should know better and attack him with points of merit.
To sum up...Ted Steven's tubes refer to capacity of bandwidth to carry data. He does not seem to think that the internet is a bunch of vacuum tube technology. To persist with this insult makes the critic look stupid, not the target.
Sure, how about pirating music?
From here:
" Among the articles of faith of "progressivism" is the theory - which never yields to experience - that you can fill the sea with enormous quantities of fresh red meat and then, Moses-like, successfully command the sharks not to devour it."
"As long as Uncle Sam continues to stock the Potomac by ripping from the body politic such enormous quantities of flesh and muscle - now more than three trillion dollars worth annually - sharks and vultures will inevitably swarm throughout Washington in a competitive struggle to gorge themselves on this unfortunate feast."
It would be far cheaper to grant politicians in key positions generous allowances for the rest of their lives
Indeed. Instead, we have many people (including many on Slashdot) advocating for term limits, which force those politicians to immediately start thinking about their income post-service, and what they can do now to ensure it.
I've always thought that being a lifetime public servant, if your constituents allow it, is far better than being another revolving door politician heading from a law degree into a cushy PR position at a company paying for the laws you gave them.
Obviously Ted Stevens decided he could keep the office and get the payback, too; he should have retired six years ago, after which time he could have gotten all the house upgrades he desired for the work he'd already performed for the oil industry.
It doesn't hurt to be nice.
Oh, that why cube farms feel somewhat like a prison?
I can take no pleasure in the thought of an 84-year-old man going to federal prison. Were he a younger man guilty of a more heinous crime, I could see the necessity or prudence of it. As it is, I will do no more than shrug and say "Let justice be served."
Virtue finds and chooses the mean.
Aristotle, Ethica Nichomachea
Comprimising our democracy for money? There can be no more heinous crime. For a member of Congress to take such a bribe should be a death penalty offense.
I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
What do you think are the odds of him getting a pardon?
I mean, really, why else would he want to have the trial finished before the election?
Yes there have always been corrupt politicians from all parties. The difference is Tom Delay and the K street project institutionalized corruption. That's why the Republican party is going down so hard in this election.
Either that or the government is in worse condition than we know and and the republicans want to make sure there are no republicans anywhere near government for the next four years. I don't know how else to explain the terrible campaigns being run by all republicans this year.
Because if he won, his re-election chances would be very high. If he still had it hanging over his head, his opponent could use it against him. It was a big gamble, and he lost the bet, and now he'll probably lose the election.
You can never go home again... but I guess you can shop there.
>term limits
no No NO NO dammit NO!
Term limits guarantee that the only long-term (read as permanent) power structure IS THE LOBBYISTS.
Is that what you want? Really?
What we *need* is to make what is called "lobbying" illegal, the way it is in most countries (that is, giving money to a politician is a bribe, whether the FEC tracks the paperwork or not).
Comprimising our democracy for money? There can be no more heinous crime. For a member of Congress to take such a bribe should be a death penalty offense.
Well, unless it's in the name of lobbying or campaign "donations". Then it's free speech.
This story belongs in the political section at best. Even better, it belongs in the "I hate Republicans and limited government" section.
I haven't seen YRO articles on Cold Cash Jefferson (URL:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_J._Jefferson) or Alcee Hastings (URL:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcee_Hastings) or even recently Tim Mahoney (URL:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Mahoney).
Taco, if I want political BS, I'll visit the DNC/RNC/MOVEON/NRO websites, not slashdot.
Keep slashdot neutral, or at least keep the articles in the correct forum (which I block).
My opinion,
Enjoy.
It's just the normal noises in here.
> For a member of Congress to take such a bribe should be a death penalty offense.
Well Congress would be pretty frickin' empty..... But if they couldn't make a Quorum nothing could get done and I for one could live with that. :)
Seriously, I'm a Republican (and have the flamebait mods for questioning The Chosen One to prove it) and think today is a great day for Justice. Crooks need to go, regardless of party.
Now if we could just clean out the assholes who caused this current economic meltdown that started at Freddie and Fannie.... Sens Dodd (Banking Cmmt Chairman) and Obama (#2 lifetime money take in only four years), Rep Frank (Chief House cheerleader for subprime lending while fucking the guy in charge of subprime lending for close to decade while overseeing em), etc.
Or just take Open Secrets:All Recipients of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Campaign Contributions, 1989-2008 and work yer way down the top twenty or so.
Democrat delenda est
No, I'd put destroying the fabric of democracy as worse than rape or murder. Maybe not above genocide, but quite comparable to it. And that goes no matter which side of the aisle it comes from.
I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
What is this fear some of you right wing Americans have of communists. Its as if they will sneak in while you are not looking or something? Its all a bit silly.
The people that you really have to fear from are the ones that do not hide. The ones that proudly state their hatred.
Control is an illusion, order our comforting lie. From chaos, through chaos, into chaos we fly
Now if we could just clean out the assholes who caused this current economic meltdown that started at Freddie and Fannie
Don't forget Phil Gramm. He's in this up to his eyeballs.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
Not a bad analysis, but you got the Administration wrong. This was begun way before Bush (granted, he didn't stop it, but one assumes he had other things to do, War in Iraq and all.)
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
Hey, thanks for responding in a non-inflammatory manner.
So, when did it become possible to sell mortgage-backed securities, and why did it go into overdrive around 2002, 2003?
I've heard and seen plenty of source on the radio and web that lays the blame at Bush's feet. I've heard that deregulation started with Clinton, but later heard ( which corroborated my own memory ) that they basically outlawed redlining, which is simply the refusal to make loans in certain neighborhoods, regardless of income, assets, or credit history -- nothing that would have caused out situation today. What's your story, and can you provide me some links?
Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.
-- Pablo Picasso
I disagree - while this may seem "common sense" - most if not all communist revolutions (and most revolutions in general) are done very much in the open - with public support (not neccessarly majority, but critical mass - ie not all segments of the population are equally important to win over). After all popular support is the life blood of any revolution... its where the resources and recruits come from. Revolutions that are contrived by a small cabal without the public support are, and will remain safely in the conspiracy theory bucket.
Your media infiltration scenario is also a bit bizarre given the availability of right wing news outlets in the US.
Control is an illusion, order our comforting lie. From chaos, through chaos, into chaos we fly
Problem was they added the GST, but didn't remove all the other taxes, so it became essentially just one more tax. Implementation is everything, don't let it go ahead unless and until all those other taxes go away in the same bill.
Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
Republicans don't let Republicans go to jail.
What a short memory you have. Democrats don't let Democrats go to jail either. There is a long history of presidents doing odd things on their way way out - just because they can. This is not about Republicans or Democrats.