How long does it take for the wheels of justice to grind ’round to grab a corrupt politician? In Senator Ted Stevens’s case, the answer is “a long time.”
It took a year for the government to charge him with anything, after raiding his Alaska home on July 30, 2007.
Exactly one year later, the senator found himself indicted for failing to report over $250,000 in gifts, including a major renovation of his house courtesy of one of Alaska’s biggest oil field contractors.
I guess I should’ve said the word “alleged” somewhere. But anyone who has studied the career of Mr. Stevens knows that these charges were a long time coming. Back in 2003, I wrote a column for Townhall called “The appearance of corruption.” It was all about Stevens, a man who sure knows how money and politics can work hand in hand.
Corruption?
He’ll no doubt shout “No! No! No!”
But he’s been saying “Yes” to dubious deals for a very long time. He’s been in the Senate for 40 years.
As I wrote in that column I mentioned, the lesson applies, though, to more than just one Alaskan senator: What we have is a “Congress run by career politicians who wield the power of the federal government to thwart competition so they can enrich themselves and their special-interest cronies.”
And that, folks, is corruption.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.