Friends?

It is a sad fact of the matter when your friends are really your enemies. I am talking a most recent Anchorage Daily Stool news’ clip about Ted “Pardon Me” Stevens. According to his close friend - Bob Penney - he doubted that Ted wanted closure of the felony conviction by a Bush pardon. Isn’t Penny one of the ring-leaders somewhat responsible for allowing Ted to get in trouble to begin with? Mr. Penney tried to entrap MoanaLisa Murkowski in a land swindling opportunity deal of a lifetime. She grabbed the carrot but was caught in the act and had to surrender the loot, acknowledged by some lame excuse based on exercising the 5th! It is sad when members of Congress must resort to the 5th for clemency. That Amendment is a Constitutional right, for the people and by the people in our everyday trials and tribulations. It is not a tool to be abused by Congress like candy. But abuse seems to be the trademark of the Hill. Bottom-line, for the most part Congressional members get into hot water through entrapment, basically a friendly screwing. “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”, is more then just a prayer. I do believe that Ted’s demise and guilt was fostered by his trusting relationship with his so-called friends. They asked for welfare handouts, he delivered mega-welfare bonuses. Case in point: He was asked one time why he earmarked some research payola for Musk Ox husbandry studies. All the time, it was known that nobody had the “balls” to measure the penis size of the male oxen. That was the research! And the way the herds surround for protection, this measuring of the thing was an impossibility from the get-go, from a research standpoint. So the money was used to build a “private” house. And remember, this is not “loan” money that requires a payback check, but pure unadulterated “grant” abuse money, with no payback. No responsibility, no oversight, no nothing. His comeback was simple and genuine. He thought the research was something worthwhile but was adamant that once the funding is approved he has no authority or control over how the money was spent, based on trust. This is one of those “what happens outside Ted’s office stays outside Ted’s office” scenarios. That was Ted’s biggest problem, as what sounded good most of the time ended up a scam, in so many, many cases. Case in point just in case you don’t get it. Take the Healy “Clean Coal Burning” Power Plant. According to the Daily Stool, this state has spent over 200-million to keep this loosing project from being mothballed. This boondoggle project started on Ted’s watch. It was pork barrel spending towards a failed project before the original paint had time to dry. Engineers warned against a technology that didn’t yet exist and didn’t work yet on the drawing board. But not to worry, lets build our future, as it creates jobs. And Because of “zero” oversight by the regulators, it failed and continues to haunt this state. See, we took ownership of the wreck. This kind of endeavor takes research. This has to be performed in a research rich environment, not out in almost Hillbilly Land Healy! Again, it was something that sounded good but was a loosing proposition. In the end the state got stuck with a sinking ship and for some 20-years by now has been trying to keep it afloat. Again, Ted trusted that it would provide something worthwhile to his constituent state of Alaska, more then just jobs. Just another in the list of failed projects in Alaska funded by the U.S. Taxpayers’ blind trust. Again, these projects all had good intent, in efforts to boost up this state’s infrastructure, but failed, as failure was the intent of the originators. Success was just a suggestion as it was somebody else’s money they were gambling with. But people made money, and lots of it. Especially Ted’s friends, who took advantage of this situation. The Bill Allen relationship, it was built on “Trust”. Ben’s relationship with dad, based on “Trust”. The “Trust” list is so, so long. So Ted deserves maybe not a presidential pardon, but a medal. That he trusted people but that trust was his weakness, in the end it was his fall out. Who to blame? His friends that took advantage of his power and position. So the people of Alaska should ban together and offer Ted a “Medal of Trust”, as a pardon upon his shenanigans, as it seems it was an after-the-fact crime. Had “pork barrel” spending been orchestrated as a “loan” instead of a freebie giveaway “grant” without oversight or payback, Ted may be enjoying another term in the Senate and right now enjoying the fanfare of the inauguration, instead of spending the day cleaning out his office. He may not deserve or want a presidential pardon, but we owe it to him this medal, that he was let down by his so-called “Friends”. Fascinating, that the orange delivery bag for the “Stool” weighs in more then the paper itself! But the “bag” is an all-important weapon against air pollution! See, if people policed their pet dog shit when out trail-blazing, then this stuff would not have the opportunity to dry up and go “blowin’ in the wind”. No different with Ted’s friends, as they have shit all over his legacy and polluted what started out as good intentions. And they continue to play as he pays? Sad, these so-called friends!

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