Alaska's Senator Ted Steven Found Guilty on All Seven Counts

Ben Hoffman's July 29, 2008 cartoon. ( email)

Ted Steven's conviction--it's the top meme today. Here's the report from Erika Bolstad and Richard Mauer at McClatchy's Washington Bureau. The Anchorage Daily News, saying that Stevens lost his moral compass, opines:

Ted Stevens may be Alaskan of the Century but he is not our king. His lifetime of good works for Alaska does not entitle him to ignore the law. If Alaskans have any pride, any integrity, any standards of conduct for their public servants, voters will not reward his arrogance on Election Day.

BOTTOM LINE: The man who has done so much good for Alaska did himself in with his bad judgment.

Michael Stern, who most recently served as Special Counsel for the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence writes in his blog Point of Order: A Discussion of Congressional Legal Issues,

The most difficult issue is what happens if Stevens is convicted and re-elected. While the principle of respecting the decision of the voters would weigh heavily against expulsion, there would also be a countervailing tradition that Members of Congress, when convicted, normally resign their offices. If Stevens were not to follow that tradition, the Committee would have to face a serious question of whether to expel him.

Republican Renzi to run again in Arizona despite indictment

As long ago as April 29, 2007, the conservative East Valley Tribune was calling for Rick Renzi's resignation:

Renzi will be hounded by political opportunists looking to further
undermine his status, and his constituents will receive less than they deserve
while he rallies to protect himself.

The better choice, the honorable choice, would be for Renzi to step aside and let someone else come forward to represent his district and our state in Congress.

Although initially indicating that he might do so and he was indicted February 23 on 35 counts, Ben Pershing of The Washington Post reported that Renzi's office announced yesterday that he intended to run for re-election, although no press release showed up on his website, as of today.

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Today, I attended a luncheon and panel discussion at the National Press Club on the unitary executive sponsored by the Constitution Project. See my post of February 18 for the details. I had the opportunity to talk to Charlie Savage and Louis Fisher, two men whose writing and research I admire greatly.