Alaska … WTF?

I’m really starting to wonder if the citizens of Alaska consume far too many shots of whale blubber and vodka before heading to the polls.

Alaskan flag

I already wondered about the sanity of our northernmost brethren when Gov. Sarah Palin became one of the most mocked public figures in quite some time. Bill Maher hit the nail on the head when he referred to Palin as a “retarded stewardess.”

But let’s put aside the pride of Wasilla for now. Lord knows the voters did.

Incumbent Sen. Ted Stevens, who was convicted of felony corruption charges in October, barely — and I mean barely — lost his bid for re-election. An 85-year-old convicted felon only lost an election for a Senate seat by 1%, or 3,724 votes. Are you serious?

To quote a CNN.com story from Oct. 27, “Stevens was convicted of seven counts of making false statements on Senate ethics forms to hide hundreds of thousands of dollars of gifts and work on his Alaska home from an oilfield contractor at the center of a corruption investigation in the state.”

And he only lost by 3,724 votes? Unless he has a really large family, he shouldn’t have even totaled 3,724 votes!

I can’t get the picture out of my head of Stevens sitting there, shaking his fists at Mystery Inc. and saying, “And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it wasn’t for you meddling kids … and that DOG!”

Seriously, people, how about thinking before you vote?