Sen. Ted "Pocket Lint" Stevens Should Resign

Politicans convicted of criminal corruption should take responsibility and resign in disgrace. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, has the "disgrace" element down pat. Now it's time for him to do the "resign" part.

Stevens – I’m not going to use the honorific of his title again – was convicted yesterday by a jury of his peers of accepting grundles of goodies from a major oil contractor. What’s a “grundle?” In this case, more than $250,000 worth.

Stevens’ defense was that he didn’t consider these things gifts, but “unwanted indulgences.” And as to the home improvements – his wife was in charge of that, he really wasn’t paying attention.

He said this stuff with a straight face. He demanded a trial and expected the jury to buy it. Being possessed of more common sense, judgment and character than the defendant, the jury declined to accept his sophistry.

I am outraged, furious, spitting mad. This lobbyist pocket lint doesn’t deserve another day in office, not a dime of his ill-earned pension.

To those in my beloved GOP who will point out that there’s an election a week away, with the Senate in the balance, I offer this reply:

Stevens is not what the Party of Lincoln is all about. It’s time for us to rise up and shout “Enough!” to those whose view public service as some kind of infomercial plan to achieve power and wealth.

We need to be about truth and honor. We need to act in a way that inspires confidence, not derision and cynicism. This case was not about a single lapse of judgment, an isolated mistake. This case was about many instances of misconduct over many years by a man who became accustomed to the idea that he was entitled.

We are what we choose to do when our principles call us to act in a way that harms our interests. To quote John McCain, “there are more important things that winning elections.”