Putin-Stevens exchange

Isengard.Gov

From the most important Alaskan of the 20th Century (Anchorage Daily News' assessment in 2000) to laughingstock in just five years: Uncle Ted always wanted a national profile, now he's got one. Too bad he didn't bow out of his last race and let Democratic nominee Theresa Obermeyer take over the seat (we'd at least have known what we were getting). Now Steven Pearlstein suggests in the Washington Post letting Alaska go back to Russian so Steven will fit in better (well worth reading the whole thing). Here's a choice quote:

… what I like most about the idea of selling Alaska back to the Russians -- the cultural fit, so important in any acquisition. Let's face it: Although it's been American territory for nearly 140 years, Alaska has more in common with post-Soviet Russia, where government remains at the center of the economy and political power is in the hands of a small, shadowy group of oligarchs, who use it to enrich friends and family. It's a milieu in which Alaska's reigning oligarch, Ted Stevens, should feel very much at home.
…
Lately, all the attention brought on by his son's activities and the "bridges to nowhere" has generated unflattering coverage for the elder Stevens, prompting outbursts and threats to resign from the Senate. But I'm sure that once Alaska is reunited with the Russian empire and Commissar Stevens has settled into his new office at the Kremlin, those problems will magically disappear.

Meanwhile, back in Anchorage, here's what family embarrassment "Doctor" Nick Begich has to say about Ted and Ben on today's letters page:

My family has been in government in Alaska since the 1950s, with Dad serving in Congress with Ted Stevens in Washington, D.C., in the early 1970s. In recent years I have met hundreds of Alaskans who actually fear Ted and Ben Stevens as their senators and will not speak against them. Reminds me of how people feel about living in communist China. Power corrupts absolutely and in my opinion the Stevens boys are absolutely corrupted.

A little tougher for little brother to make nice with those big, scary men today than it was yesterday. Wonder if Nick handed out his letter at Thanksgiving dinner?

One final item to note from that same letters page. There are, TOO, good reasons to build our two bridges. You all Outsiders are so dense (this is a real, live letter):

Sure, it makes sense to build a bridge to nowhere. The reason that it is nowhere is that people cannot get from somewhere to nowhere. When the bridge is built and we can travel from somewhere to nowhere, then nowhere will become a somewhere. Duh.