I was listening to an NPR report on the recently convicted Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, who appears to be headed toward a narrow defeat against Democratic challenger Mark Begich, and the question arose: “What’s next for Ted Stevens?”
Well, considering today is Stevens’ 85th birthday, I’m guessing death, political and otherwise. In fact, even had he won reelection—and not been convicted of multiple felonies—the Social Security Administration’s actuarial tables suggest that Stevens would have been unlikely to have survived the coming term.
By the way, the latest batch of ballots have widened Begich’s lead to 2374. Happy birthday, Ted.
…and the Senate doesn’t have the nads to kick him out….LIKE NOW!!
Goldy and Horses Ass has lost its way. WTF is he doing? America has just elected its first black president, and what’s he posting about? People who lost! He’s still blogging about Palin. He’s blogging about Stevens. He’s blogging about Rossi. Jesus fucking Christ, boy, you need to step back and figure out what you want to do with this blog. Do you want it to go down the toilet like Blatherwatch? But I predicted this. I said a few weeks ago, he better hope some Republicans win, otherwise he’s not going to have anything to talk about.
And I smugly would like to announce that I was right.
@2: LOL. I’m sure Goldy appreciates your concern.
Even if the whole government were to fall to the Democrats, there will always be The Seattle Times….
HULK SMASH!
Troll has lost his way. WTF is he doing? Even though nobody cares about the Troll or absolutely anything he has to say, he keeps on posting.
Talk about completely irrelevant. If his goat doesn’t love him, then he is all alone.
Ted is beloved in Alaska but I’d think he’d prefer to “winter” in DC.
Troll @2
And you know what’s even more pathetic than my pathetic posts? The fact that you’re still here reading them.
Geez… get a life.
@7
I like your blog. And I think you do a good job here. And I thought you were even a better talk radio host. I come here because I want to be more politically aware, and learn about the issues, and educate myself. And I think this is a good place to do it. What’s wrong with wanting to learn from you?
Troll @ #8 said: “…What’s wrong with wanting to learn from you?”
And yet, in your posts over the past several weeks, you have included demand after demand that Goldy quit writing about what he wants to write about, and instead write about the topics you select for him!
Before you can learn, you need to disengage the mouth and open the eyes and ears.
Ok, I’ll tell you what. I am going to try to be less of a troll in the future. Less of recalcitrant contrarian.
I am interested to hear Goldy’s opinions on things. I wanted to know if he thought the big 3 should be bailed out. I want to know what he thinks about Sen. Clinton as Sec. of State.
So I really am here to learn, but I often get sidetracked by some of the troll on here like The Piper, etc.
troll is obviously confused. He does not know if he is coming, going, getting there, been there or something in between.
Sad little man he is. He gets slapped by his “hero”, Goldy, and suddenly he reverts to his true self.
A sniveling little coward.
What ever happened to Puddy? Is he still sneaking in here in the middle of the night? Old Pudz hasn’t shown much in the way of courage since the drubbing he and his ilk took on the 4th.
Ted Stevens loses Alaska Senate election.»
The AP reports:
Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens has lost his bid for a seventh term.
The longest-serving Republican in the history of the Senate trailed Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich by 3,724 votes after Tuesday’s count.
That’s an insurmountable lead with only about 2,500 overseas ballots left to be counted.
Troll:
You seem to be complaining about the lack of major issues in the current thread.
There is a thread about the big three bailout, and another one about what the Senate is doing about Senator Lieberman.
It’s difficult to get people worked up about Senator Clinton possibly being the next Secretary of State (I would have preferred Senator Kerry, but think that Senator Clinton will do a good job), or Eric Holder being picked to head up the Justice Department.
A collective sigh of relief that those two departments may actually cease to be national embarrasments is difficult to post in a blog.
So, just like the national news, we’re spending time watching the drama unfolding in Alaska, both with Senator Stevens career implosion, and with the formerly silent Governor Palin, who seems to be running for a Guinness record for most exclusive interviews granted by a recently unknown politician.
Senator Coleman will probably provide us with a bit of amusement, but there isn’t much that we can do to help Mr. Franken. Contrary to the claims of some wingnuts, we don’t go around filling out extra ballots after the election. There’s a good chance that some of the ballots that were originally rejected will be investigated and eventually allowed, but that’s up to the folks in Minnesota.
And I’m not sure that Georgians understand Georgian politics. Combined with the fact that they actually elected Senator Chambliss after having claimed that a disabled war hero was in favor of terrorism against Americans, well, anyone dumb enough to listen to that and not immediately start looking for rotten vegetables to throw at the speaker is so alien to my understanding that I really can’t get excited about their election.
In a reasonable state, we’d be celebrating the reelection of Senator Cleland.
Once the new Congress meets and President Obama is inaugurated, we will have a functioning government. At that point, we’ll have a number of progressives that will find out that Candidate Obama meant what he said when he talked about reaching out to Republicans, and they’ll be angry. The wingnuts will go even crazier as President Obama and his administration actually does a pretty good job of running things, and they’ll come up with all sorts of stuff (remember the Vince Foster stories?)
And we might even come up with a few more important national topics to discuss. Or not, because we really don’t have that much experience blogging about a government that isn’t a national disgrace.
After several years of the Republicans trying to bring down President Clinton, followed by eight years of President Bush, this will be a novel experience.
Uncle Ted is finished!
One more closer to 60!
Franken will almost certainly win MN but Martin in GA?
That’s a toughie but it would be sweet. There are few more despicable than Chambliss.
Yay for Alaska! What a nail-biter that election has been!
I’ve got a question, maybe someone can answer. According to Ted, he is not ‘technically convicted’ because he hasn’t been sentenced yet.
The judge has not yet scheduled a sentencing date. Bush heads back to his tumbleweeds in January. So, in order for Bush to do a Scooter Libby and supply Ted with a pardon, doesn’t there have to be a conviction/sentence in place already for which to “pardon”?
I can’t see the judge being asked or agreeing to rush up on the sentencing date in time before Bush exits – just so convicTED can overrule that same judge’s decision. Especially after the judge had to handle a circus of a trial WRT the jury.
Am I missing something here? Thoughts please.
Actually, the table Goldy cites gives an 85-year-old a residual life expectancy of 6.62 years … making him a favorite to survive a 6-year term (even before we adjust for income, race, grade-A health care, current state of health, and how tough these old coots really are).
Won’t be an issue though, as rising star Mark Begich is leading and not looking back.
RonK,
“the table Goldy cites gives an 85-year-old a residual life expectancy of 6.62 years”
That would be the life expectancy for an 85 year old female. For a male it is 5.45 years.
One point I read in one of many articles I’ve read today (sorry, can’t remember which one to link to) – Ted Stevens said he believed the Republican Party would probably pay for a recount. It’s over the margin where Alaska would pay for the recount. Stevens is reportedly VERY miserly, so I can’t see him doing it out of his own pocket or warchest.
BUT…at this point, I would expect the Repubs are breathing a HUGE sigh of relief that they now don’t have to vote to exclude him from the Senate and look like Mean Folks beating up on a old man.
In many regards, on blogs I’m reading from Alaska, the recount would be welcome even though it makes for a never ending election. Alaskans think the required handcount would give them a true assessment about this election’s odd looking numbers and whether the Diebold machines were tampered with, as was claimed in the 2004 election there.
Faux News has posted that Stevens has been defeated.
Stevens trails by 3,500 votes and there’s only 2,500 ballots left to count so it’s not looking good for him right now! 1 down, 2 to go. Franken probably will win in Minnesota, but Georgia seems uphill. However, just ask yourself this: Why would God go to the trouble of giving us 59 seats and stop short of the 60th?*
* And those stupid Republicans thought God was on their side!!! har har har HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR … !!!
Darryl @ 20 – Right you are, my error.
I’d still hold that the other factors – especially the last – would have made him a favorite to survive the term.
Oh my, this is too funny!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....44642.html
“The president-elect’s stubborn insistence on using complete sentences has already attracted a rebuke from one of his harshest critics, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska.
“Talking with complete sentences there and also too talking in a way that ordinary Americans like Joe the Plumber and Tito the Builder can’t really do there, I think needing to do that isn’t tapping into what Americans are needing also,” she said.” [snipped]
Now if only Obama spoke in iambic pentameter like Lt. G. in Homicide: Life on the Street.
26:
Or in limerick.
“There once was a convict named Ted,
.
.
.
.
(end with red, please.)
Please finish. I like laughing my ass off.
The best part is the democrat is such a loser
that he could only beat a felon by so few votes. If Ted would have put the cash in the freezer he would have won. Thats accepted
practice if you are a democrat. Awesome.
@ 18.
In case anyone else might be interested in my question, a poster on another blog said:
@28
Your side lost another Senate seat.
HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH!