IF ONLY WE HAD A SMOKING GUN, WE COULD GET RID OF THAT CORRUPT OLD CROOK IN ALASKA, RIGHT? WELL... HOW ABOUT A VIDEO? AND HOW ABOUT VITTER?

A young Ted Stevens could have been Vitter but wanted to be even badder

Ted Stevens (R-AK) might not be the biggest crook in the U.S. Senate. But if he isn't, I'd like to know who is. And the FBI found some evidence-- not on the toobz, but moving pictures.

During a secret meeting to discuss what prosecutors say was a dirty deal to keep Alaska oil taxes low, two oil contractors said they had a powerful ally coming to town who could help build support for the plan: Sen. Ted Stevens. The FBI played a videotape of the 2006 meeting Tuesday in a corruption trial against former Alaska House Speaker Pete Kott [R], who is accused of taking gifts and favors in exchange for supporting oil interests.

VECO Ceo Bill Allen, one of Stevens' biggest political allies and someone who has illegally pumped immense amounts of money into his campaigns-- and allegedly into his pockets-- is on the video talking about how to guarantee the tax bill, so favorable to himself, is passed. And it all leads to Stevens.

Stevens, the longest serving Republican in the Senate, has not been charged in the case. He has come under federal scrutiny, however, for his close ties to Allen, who oversaw a 2000 renovation project at Stevens' home. FBI agents recently searched the senator's Alaska home as part of the same corruption investigation the surveillance video was taken as part of.

Last week the NY Times warned that corruption could do for Republicans in the Senate just what it did for their brothers in the House last year.

Lawmakers and strategists say Senate Republicans are in serious danger of getting themselves in the same predicament that their counterparts in the House did in the run-up to the 2006 voting – an election that did not turn out well for House Republicans.

The indictment of the House majority leader, the conviction of two other lawmakers, a couple of domestic violence cases and the disclosure of other inquiries - topped off by the House page scandal - gave serious heft to the Democratic “culture of corruption” campaign and cost Republicans dearly.

Restroom cruisin' , toe-tappin' Larry Craig (R-ID), whore-monger David "Diapers Vitter (R-LA), and Ted Stevens aren't doing the Senate Repugs any good. And there are some nasty rumors circulating about Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) that look like they could hatch... a little closer to election time.




UPDATE: VITTER EXPOSED... AGAIN

Inside the Beltway, the proverbial "everybody" knows that David Vitter is a big skirt chaser. His colleagues laugh-- when no one from the religious right is around. Hiring prostitutes shouldn't be illegal but it is-- because of phony moralistic Republicans like Vitter. Even around Louisiana, political insiders all know about Senator Vitter's predelictions for a little walk on the wild side every few days. In 1999 he wasn't a U.S. Senator; he was a House member-- and a whore-monger. Larry Flynt trotted out Wendy "Cortez" Ellis, who passed a polygraph test-- something Vitter adamantly refuses to get anywhere near-- when questioned about her long-term relationship with the far right Republican pol. Even GOP propaganda outlets are reporting the story tonight. Will Miss McConnell demand he resign? I doubt it; he isn't gay, like Larry Craig, and Louisiana, unlike Idaho, has a Democratic governor.