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Stevens: Don't Make Me Angry
The latest edition of The New Republic takes a look at Sen. Ted Stevens' (R-AK) "twisted genius for getting what he wants" and the political atmosphere that has let him get away with it for so long.
The key to the most senior Republican senator's success seems to be his tactical use of his extreme temper. In conversations with Alaska locals, I've heard that the legend of Stevens' temper dates back to the death of his wife in 1978 when the couple's plane crashed landing at the Anchorage airport. TNR fleshes out how Stevens' first response to the tragic incident was to lash out at Sen. Mike Gravel (D-AK), grumbling that if it weren't for Gravel, he and his wife wouldn't have needed to rush to a meeting over a piece of legislation Gravel was trying to block.
His accusation became more specific in what a former Senate aide who was present calls "one of the most horrifying moments in the modern Senate." According to the aide (the story was also chronicled by The Washington Post at the time), Stevens hobbled into a Senate committee hearing a couple of months later on crutches and in bandages. With Gravel present, Stevens raised the topic of his reason for flying that fateful day. "I don't want to get personal about it," he told the stunned audience, "but I think if that bill had passed, I might have a wife sitting at home when I get home tonight, too."
Stevens has certainly embraced his reputation, once telling his Senate colleagues that he is a "mean, miserable S.O.B." He also likens himself to a mythical, green monster.
While some people wear their personalities on their sleeve, the 83-year-old Stevens wears his around his neck, in the form of an Incredible Hulk necktie he dons for votes that will require his full fury. In 2003, Marvel Comics even threw a reception for Stevens to celebrate a new Hulk movie, at which one Hulk artist observed to a reporter, "The monster is basically fueled by aggression. If you stop him from being angry, then he gets weaker."
Josh
Zachary
Don’t confuse self-loathing with unadulterated greed
Stevens' RICO enterprise in Alaska made insiders clairvoyant on taxpayers dollars and they harvested a piece for themselves consistently
September 7, 2007 11:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
Anyone with a three-year-old knows that you can't just give in to temper-tantrums.
September 7, 2007 11:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yosemite Sam
September 7, 2007 12:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Only a miserable piece of shit would blame someone else for the incompetent and totally inept piloting which led to his wife's death. What a piece of crap this guy is!! The "Party of Personal Responsiblity" spawns another repulsive sack of offal in human form.
September 7, 2007 12:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
What a pathetic man. Talk about karma; this man is now getting everything he deserves.
September 7, 2007 12:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
"twisted genius for getting what he wants"
Where'd this come from? Being a thief is not a quality of a genious. This guy is nothing more than a common crook. If you want to have a look at the intelligence aspect of the whole fiasco, you need to look at the other end and ask, "Just how stupid and/or nonchalant are the voters, media, watchdogs, and everyone else who have been privey to this guy's behavior for 30 years!"
I seriously believe that "the bridge to nowhere" and these current episodes are just an aberration.
I, for one, do not believe any of these crooks we've been putting into office are anything but average intelligent people. Rather, it is "We the People" who have put aside our god given intelligence and hire people who have qualities such as:
"Wow... I just love his acting!"
"Isn't he great looking!"
"This country needs a woman president!"
"He's a Christian!"
... all the time knowing perfectly well that as soon as these people open their mouths, we are being conned... IMHO
September 7, 2007 12:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
How soon before Ted's down the Tubes?
September 7, 2007 1:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
According to the NTSB, Stevens' airplane prematurely stalled (lost the ability to remain in the air) well prior to the expected touchdown of the aircraft. The weather conditions were favorable for visibility but there was likely some icing on the flight surfaces which, combined with a strong crosswind, should have caused the pilot in command to anticipate a higher-than-normal stall speed.
For each knot of crosswind component, the stall speed may be raised by up to 4 knots, depending on the aircraft and other conditions. The pilot did not compensate. Perhaps Stevens' rush, called in aviation terms "Go fever", put pressure on the flight crew against their experience-based cautions.
In the end, the pilot was blamed for the accident which included attempting to land with a 31 knot crosswind (well above the LearJet's specified limits under ideal conditions), and "improper operation of brakes and/or flight controls".
The pilot, not Mike Gravel, was responsible for the accident.
Ted Stevens is responsible for being an idiot.
It would be poetic if Mike Gravel returns as President while Ted is carted off to a prison where his corruption surely ought to take him.
September 7, 2007 1:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ted is a walking nightmare; a borderline personality holding elected office in a huge oil-rich state.
September 7, 2007 1:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
is that a recent picture? he's the best-looking 83-year-old around.
September 7, 2007 1:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
In 2006 Stevens was so pissed off at Washington Senator Maria Cantwell for opposing drilling in ANWR that he promise to spend every weekend in Washington campaigning against her. Saner heads prevailed (which doesn’t happen a lot with Republicans) as local Republicans urged Stevens to help Cantwell’s opponent, insurance executive Mike McGavick, by staying as far away from Washington state as possible.
September 7, 2007 1:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, the good news is that this miserable, corrupt greedy lying fuck will be dead before too long and he can go scream at his wife for all eternity.
September 7, 2007 3:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe Gravel should make a run to return to the Senate.
September 7, 2007 3:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Perhaps his wife's dying thought was, "Thank gawd I'm finally getting away from this mean, miserable son of a bitch."
I guess it's okay for gold star mothers to lash out at Stevens, isn't it? I mean, if it weren't for him ...
September 7, 2007 5:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Somewhere in the State Museum's collection in Juneau are photos I took of the 1977 Klondike Park dedication in Skagway. Because I was documenting the event for the Museum, I had access to the VIP areas long enough to take photos. The Senator was accompanied everywhere that 2 or 3 days not by his wife, but by a female staffer --- who is now his current wife.
Security code part, as in so far we've only seen part of the Stevens picture.
September 8, 2007 1:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
I hope he has a pair of Hulk underoo's handy for when he's sentenced.
He's going to need them to stem the shit flow when the reality hits.
September 8, 2007 9:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
BTW, the picture here is very flattering. He doesn't look that good in person. The last few months have been very hard on him.
He has always been crotchety and mean. Ann's death didn't cause it.
Re HarpboyAK post: you will also remember that the aide and TS got married just in time for the baby to be born. (Not the baby's fault.)
And yes, we are looking forward to the election. Time to vote the rascals and thieves out. TS has overspent his time; he needs to leave as does Don Young.
September 9, 2007 11:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
http://2002ties.com/ties/super-heroes/hulk-red.jpg
Any photochoppers out there?
September 9, 2007 10:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Alaska used to have senators like Ted Gruening and Mike Gravel. What happened?
September 10, 2007 12:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
couple quick thoughts -
Sen. Ernest Gruening was defeated for reelection because of his opposition to VietNam War. (He knew early on it was costly failure, but was tarred as a pinko.) He was a good and brave man and we will not see his like again, any time soon.
My late husband was piloting a commercial a/c that landed about an hour before Ted Stevens plane that crashed. Husband came home and said it was the worst cross wind he had ever landed in, and he had thousands of hours. Stevens was in a private LearJet flying with a pilot who had hundreds of hours and had no business landing under those conditions. In fact, tower was warning pilots to "land at your own risk." Pilot chose to land - clearly pilot error. Was he pushed by "get home-itis" from his friends/passenger's? Who knows? From all accounts, Anne Stevens was a lovely woman, well-liked by those who met her. Ted (like so many widowers) managed to over-come his grief and remarry within an amazingly short time. (Okay, so that's typical of many men...)
May I suggest that Ted Stevens Int'l Airport be renamed for Gov.Jay Hammond, a true statesman, public servant, and the man who helped creat the Alaska Permanant Fund?
Just a little back story.
October 3, 2007 3:30 PM | Reply | Permalink