Senator Ted Stevens (R) of Alaska was indicted today on seven counts of failing to report thousands of dollars worth of favors from a company that helped renovate his home. Stevens, the longest serving republican in Washington, has long been known for abuse of his office in the Senate.

A publication called Citizens Against Government Waste published a book in April of this year naming the public officials with the worst records for “pork barrel spending” - pet projects for their own state that we all, as taxpayers, end up footing the bill for. Stevens clocked in at number two on the list with $469 million dollars worth of wasted tax payer expenditures that he tagged on to other legislation (the worst at number one was republican Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi with an insane total waste of $892 million).

Stevens threatened to resign from office in 2005 when fellow republicans balked at his attempt to sneak $453 million dollars for two bridges in Alaska into a transportation bill. One of them, dubbed the “bridge to nowhere” caused an uproar on both sides of the political divide, as even his own party members found it difficult to support this nonsense instead of the bridge that connects highway 10 through Louisiana, that had been so heavily damaged by hurricane Katrina.

Stevens may end up wishing he had resigned. Now that he’s been indicted, he can no longer serve as chairman or ranking member on any committee - which thankfully gets him dumped from the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committees.

Speaking of people who should have been run, if not voted, out of office long ago - one Senator was quick to issue the following statement:

“I’ve known Ted Stevens for 28 years and have always known him to be impeccably honest” said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., a longtime colleague.

Mr. Specter should know something about impeccable honesty - it was he who came up with the “magic bullet theory” during his time as a member of the Warren Commission. You know, the pristine bullet that caused seven wounds in then President John Kennedy and Texas Governor John Connally. Without the magic bullet, there was no way Lee Oswald could have killed Kennedy alone. Way to go, Specter. If I’m ever indicted for being a liar and a thief, you’re just the kind of guy I want tossing his support my way!