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Pat Roberts stands by convicted felon

By tfk on October 29, 2008.

i-6403cafa71cae19d4f5c918d9900344c-200610042022.jpgSenator Pat "Memory Pills" Roberts seems to have forgotten that ethics matter for a United States Senator. After his close friend, Sen. Ted "Effing Moron" Stevens was convicted of seven different corrupt acts, everyone from John McCain to the Senate Minority Leader have called on Stevens to resign his seat.
Pat Roberts chose to buck his party, common sense, and basic ethics in standing by Stevens, saying he should not resign. His party's leader, Mitch McConnell, says that, if Stevens doesn't resign, "there is a 100 percent certainty that he would be expelled from the Senate." But Roberts sits on the ethics panel where such a move would begin. Will all the junkets that Roberts took on Stevens' dime pay off here? Could Roberts let his corrupt colleague stay in the Senate?

Jim Slattery, a former Representative who is running to replace Pat Roberts' failed Senatorship says that "Stevens should resign immediately from public office and if he refuses, Sen. Roberts and members of the U.S. Senate must stand up to their friend and colleague and insist that he resign." Slattery added that "Sen. Roberts has an obligation to the voters of Kansas to hold Sen. Stevens accountable for his actions."

Roberts has a history of conveniently forgetting such obligations. A report on abuse of intelligence in the runup to the Iraq war languished under Roberts' leadership, as did inquiries into illegal warrantless wiretapping of American citizens. It's time for a change.

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Policy and Politics

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Slattery is right. Stevens is a disgrace to public office - frankly, to common decency! And if Roberts thinks that he should not resign - well, he's crazy! Roberts has done so much wrong, though, why should I expect anything different? Let's get rid of them both!

Slattery For Senate!!!

FWIW, an NPR report on this the other day claimed that by tradition, the Senate wouldn't likely move against Stevens until he exhausted all appeals. Hopefully he won't be re-elected, and we won't have to wait that long.

Stevens has said that he hasn't been convicted of anything (apparently, he thinks his intentions to appeal mean the verdict is merely pending). Sounds like another confused Alaskan politician.

But as you may remember Pat Roberts was a Marine and their motto is Semper Fidelis, Always Faithful...