When in doubt, disclose … Alaskan senator Ted Stevens was convicted Monday by a federal jury of hiding more than $250,000 of free home renovations from an oil contractor and other expensive gifts. The Anchorage Daily News has a great account of the courtroom scene as the senator waited for the jury’s decision. By all accounts, Stevens’ strategy of asking for a speedy trial and taking the stand in his own defense backfired. The senator will fight his conviction, saying to his wife as he left the courtroom, “It’s not over yet.”
What does that other Alaskan think? Governor Sarah Palin guarded her words in a statement after Stevens’ conviction was announced. “This is a sad day for Alaska and a sad day for Senator Stevens and his family … I ask the people of Alaska to join me in respecting the workings of our judicial system and I’m confident that Senator Stevens from this point on will do the right thing for the people of Alaska,” Palin said. She didn’t call for Stevens to resign or halt his re-election campaign, but it looks like the senator’s bid for an eighth term might be toast. Most polls taken before the conviction had Stevens’ democratic challenger Mark Begich ahead.
No substitute for on-the-ground reporting … A cross-border raid into Syria on Sunday by U.S. special forces killed an Iraqi militant known for smuggling men and weapons into Iraq, an American official confirmed Monday. More details come from two Associated Press reporters who filed a story Tuesday from the town where the raid occurred. They write, “At the targeted building, the floor was bloodstained Monday, with abandoned tennis shoes scattered amid pieces of human flesh.” No security presence in the town suggests the Syrian government wants details of the attack to come out.
Get to know the candidates … or not. The Los Angeles Times‘ campaign beat writers each filed reflections Tuesday about covering John McCain and Barack Obama. Each Times story has some juicy anecdotes, and we’re likely to get a bunch more of these “tales from the trenches” stories over the next week as the presidential campaign comes to a close. Maeve Reston talks about the part she played in changing McCain’s relationship with the press when she asked him in July if it was unfair for some health insurance companies to cover Viagra but not birth control. McCain was more reticent to talk with reporters after that incident. Peter Nicholas says after covering Obama for 18 months he’s rarely seen the senator let his guard down and that Obama “can be sort of a bore.”
Baseball loves its statistics and records, so here’s another one: Monday night’s game in Philadelphia was the first World Series game to be suspended. And for good reason, too. When the Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays started playing it was raining lightly, but that turned into a downpour. By the time the game was suspended there was standing water on the base paths.
