Guilty? Who cares?
by Miki Saxon
I wrote a couple of posts about Senator Ted Stevens, King of Pork—more than 3.4 billion dollars worth—and Senator Ted Stevens, convicted felon—all seven counts.
So I thought it only fair to add another chapter just in case you hadn’t kept up.
Stevens was up for re-election and as soon as the conviction was announced he flew straight back to Alaska to campaign.
He refused to resign from the Senate, said he would appeal his conviction and was reelected by a 1% margin—given to him by old (over 30) guys.
Now, I’d always heard that convicted felons had to jump through various hoops, depending on which state they lived in, if they wanted to vote.
“Alaska law states that convicted felons are barred from voting if their crime is one of “moral turpitude,” which in Alaska includes a wide swath of illegal activities.”Receiving a bribe” is listed among them…the Alaska Division of Elections announced that the senator’s crimes were, in fact, of moral turpitude but that a guilty verdict wasn’t enough to make him a convicted felon for purposes of voting.
State law does stipulate that a candidate for the Senate must be a registered voter—and thus not a felon who committed acts of moral turpitude—when he files for the office. But Stevens had not yet been found guilty when he filed.”
Makes your head spin.
There are two things I’m taking away from this.
The first is a question; if a ‘normal’ Alaskan was convicted of moral turpitude would he just continue merrily on his way?
And the second is that this is pretty graphic proof that, to a majority of voters, pork and familiarity trumps ethics any day.
Not that any of this matters. In his final days, George W. will pardon Uncle Ted just as he pardoned Scooter.
Image credit: flickr
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