Free Uncle Ted!
By bigbrother ~ October 29th, 2008. Filed under: Daily Communique.
Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska was convicted on Monday of not reporting several gifts received on Senate ethics disclosure forms. About a quarter million dollars worth of renovations were done on his house and the Senator’s wife paid $160,000 to the oil services firm that performed the work. Senator Stevens says every bill his family received was paid, and it was his wife’s responsibility. In his house, the wife does the bill-paying and he distributes the pork. He, like Big Brother , cannot understand why he should be held accountable. The Senator, like the firm that did the work, is not a housing contractor and could not possibly have appraised the true value of those improvements. What does adding a second floor to a chalet cost anyway?
The Senator was vigorous in his own defense, and testified on his own behalf in court. In reference to a massage chair the Senator received as a gift (which he was not even indicted for, BTW), Stevens said: “(A friend) bought that chair as a gift, but I refused it as a gift. He put it there and said it was my chair. I told him I would not accept it as a gift. We have lots of things in our house that don’t belong to us.”
Big Brother understands. Are there not indeed many things around your own house that admirers and hangers-on have left behind? A cursory glance around Big Brother’s compound unveils a plethora of unclaimed treasures: one Manolo pump, color blue, abandoned by some Cinderella. Those run about $700 a pair. Dare you accuse Big Brother of improper receipt of a $350 gift? Further searching uncovers a Michel Perchin accidentally left by a former Secretary of State. Was the Secretary leaving Big Brother a $3500 bribe?
Ah, the bribe. That is what this is all about, is it not? Who cares about gifts to a Senator; was there a quid pro quo?? Big Brother contends there was not. Everyone knows Ted Stevens has been the best friend of the oil industry for forty years. Where is the crime in finally receiving a small show of gratitude?
That is All,
Big Brother
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