BREAKING NEWS: Sen. Stevens Guilty

CNBC is reporting that Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) was found guilty on all counts in his corruption trial. Making this all the more interesting is Stevens is up for reelection next month. I've argued for years that Stevens should resign from the senate mainly because his penchant for pork barrel spending is a contributing factor to our growing national debt. He definitely should have stepped down when he was indicted so someone else could run in the election. I'm sure we will all be treated to a protracted appeals process since guys like this never let go easily.

Side note: During the trial, former Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell was a character witness for the defense. We can only hope that voters think as little of his endorsement of Sen. Obama as the jury thought of his attesting to the honesty of a crooked politician.

Asked by lead defense attorney Brendan Sullivan if he could describe Stevens' character and integrity, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and secretary of state described them as, "in a word ... sterling."

"If you made a deal with Ted Stevens you knew it was good," Powell said. "[He] never would do anything that was improper."