The longest serving Republican senator in history has gone down to defeat in Alaska. Senator Ted Stevens, champion of pork barrel spending and an arrogant, superannuated relic who should have been kicked out of the senate years ago has lost his bid for re-election to Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich.Stevens waited anxiously to see whether a climactic vote count would keep him in Congress long enough for his fellow Republicans to decide whether to expel him from their ranks. He also turned 85 on Tuesday, just another in a series of topsy-turvy days for the six-term senator who has been straddling challenges to his power both at home and in his trial in Washington. Notwithstanding all that turmoil, Stevens revealed that he will not ask President George W. Bush to give him a pardon for his seven felony convictions. Stevens' future was murky at a time when newly elected members of both the House and Senate were on Capitol Hill for heady receptions, picture-taking sessions and...(Read Full Post)