The outpouring here in Washington over the death of Ted Stevens has been so effusive that you wouldn't necessarily have guessed that the former senator already had been out of office nearly two years, or that the plane crash that killed him had happened on an isolated mountain nearly 4,000 miles away.
Presidents, fellow senators, Republicans and Democrats all rushed to offer their sympathies for the loss of Stevens, who had been convicted on corruption charges only in 2008.
To be sure, the official Washington offer of condolence has become such a ritualized art form as to ring a bit hollow when politicians sing the praises of those who, in life, had been their most bitter adversaries.
There appeared to be at least some such faux grief in the instant eulogies offered for Stevens, given that some of those who volunteered the kindest words were the same ones who, not that long ago, were hammering the Alaska Republican as a crook.
(In a trenchant aside, you don't often see official condolences from a deceased's legal team, but there Stevens' lawyers were, very much among those to offer the world their sympathies on his passing, defending their client to the bitter end.)
While some condolences may appear to have been less than authentic, on the whole they were altogether fitting for a man who was the longest-serving Republican in Senate history, and who played such a huge role in shaping his home state, literally from the time of statehood.
Looked at with a less cynical eye, one could find touches of genuine affection for Stevens, from both parties. You could see it in those condolences that went beyond such boilerplate approbations as lauding Stevens as a "statesman" and "public servant," to more friendly remembrances, such as this one from Democratic Sen. Pat Leahy:
He was a tough negotiator and a savvy legislator. But as I told him again last month, he was an old-school senator. He always kept his word to me and to other senators. In moments of legislative battle he would come onto the floor wearing his Hulk tie, and he would growl and act like a bulldog. But then he would spot friends on the floor and give a wink and a grin.
Make no mistake: Stevens was no go-along-to-get-along moderate; he was among the fiercest conservatives. But sentiments like Leahy's showed a more human side, not just of Stevens, but of the individual offering the testimonial. They also reveal a bit, just a glimmer, of a sense of fellowship and common bond that may still be possible, not only in the acrimony of the U.S. Senate, but within the whole stewing cauldron that is our nation's capital.
.jpg?t=20120527181101)
Article comments
1 - Dave Nalle
His colleagues may have good words for him, but I don't see any redemption or revisionism justified when we remember his record as a conservative in name only who never met a pork project he wouldn't screw the taxpayers to fund.
Dave
2 - Arch Conservative
He was kinda like the Ted Kennedy of the right, only he never killed a woman with his car while driving her home drunk from a party on Cape Cod.
3 - jeannie danna
RIP Senator's Stevens and Kennedy.
Bipartisanship is when peopleno matter what their personal politics are form human connections with one another.
"Walk a mile in your opponents shoes..."
4 - John Wilson
Ted Stevens was an opportunistic chauvinist who blackmailed everyone else in the senate into voting for his Alaska bound pork projects. Thus, Alaska was able to get $3 of federal money for every dollar they sent to Washington.
Good riddance.
5 - Clavos
"Walk a mile in your opponents shoes..."
Not when he's a crook, no thanks.
6 - roger nowosielski
Are you sailing, Clavos?
You said you were preparing for a trip.
7 - Les Slater
My interest here has been the accident itself. I used to fly in Alaska without instruments (VFR) and once lost vision by flying into a cloud. I was lucky to have survived that incident.
The Senator Stevens plane was being flown by a very experienced pilot and the plane itself had sufficient electronics designed to prevent what apparently happened. It has been reported that the cloud ceiling at the time was 600 feet. VFR means he was flying UNDER those clouds. That doesn't leave much room for error.
I will continue following the investigation closely.
8 - Baronius
To be fair, Stevens' conviction was vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct, including the failure to discose exculpatory evidence.
9 - John Wilson
Ted Stevens had disproportionate power because of the Senate and he used that power brutally to redistribute USA wealth to Alaska and himself.
10 - Baronius
John, I'm not proposing a shrine to him. It's just that I found Scott's tagline ("...who had been convicted on corruption charges only in 2008") misleading. Yes, he was convicted, but that conviction was thrown out. I don't think I would have trusted Stevens with lunch money, and I wouldn't consider him a conservative, but it seems wrong to label him "convicted".