Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Longest Serving Republican Senator Ted Stevens Faces Indictment

Senator Ted Stevens from you guessed it Alaska is being indicted on charges of lying about taking large value gifts from VECO company a big oil company. Oh my, I am just so shocked and surprised... Has ethics in the Republican Party truly turned so bad that even during an election year they can not stay out of the press with a scandal.

For weeks now the republican candidates have been pushing new drilling in fragile Alaskan environments and now it comes out that one of their longest seated Senators who is from Alaska is taking gifts from an oil company. Is it just me or does this sound more then a little out of line? Prosecutors said Stevens “took multiple steps to continue receiving things from oil services company VECO Corp and its founder, Bill Allen.”

The Justice Department is allowing Senator Stevens to turn himself in. Senator Harry Raid said that he believes in the American system of justice and everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty. I personally think that an ethics training course should be administered before the swearing in of any Senator or Congressmen. Any Senator should at the very least understand that even the appearance of unethical behavior is harmful to the reputation of the U.S. Senate.