Ted Stevens has entered a plea of not-guilty and asked for an expedited trial so he can ‘clear his name’ before the November election. The prosecution has not demanded that Stevens post a bond but they have requested that he surrender his passport so that he cannot flee the country. Nice. The government is not offering Stevens any plea deal, which seems obvious. Stevens was the big fish in this investigation. It’s a bad sign for Stevens that the prosecution, as in the Scooter Libby trial, has not charged any underlying crime, but has restricted itself to proving that the senator made seven false statements to investigators. Libby was unable to squirm off that hook and, as Fitzgerald said at the time he filed the charges, as long as justice is vindicated it doesn’t really matter what charges are used.

Meanwhile, Kos wonders what will happen to Anchorage’s airport, which is named after Senator Hulk-Smash of the Intertubes.

If you haven’t already, you should visit Mark Begich’s website. If he can win election to the Senate, I’m pretty confident that he will be a star in the upper chamber. He’s very intelligent and interested in policy. He’s media savvy…he likes to call-in to all the local radio shows…rap…jazz…right-wing talk…etc. And his record as mayor of Anchorage is simply stellar.