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UPDATE: A former staffer has confirmed Ted Stevens has died in the crash.



A private plane carrying nine people, among them the former head of NASA Sean O'Keefe and possibly ex-Senator Ted Stevens, crashed in southwest Alaska on Monday night, sources and officials said on Tuesday.

O'Keefe, the CEO of aerospace firm EADS North America and former U.S. navy secretary, was flying on the plane, according to an EADS spokesman.

Alaska's Stevens, the longest-serving Republican in Senate history, lost his re-election bid in 2008 after he was convicted on corruption charges, but the case was later thrown out because of prosecutorial misconduct.

A U.S. official told The Associated Press that Alaska authorities have been told the former longtime Republican senator is among several passengers on the plane. The official, who spoke on grounds of anonymity, says Stevens' condition is unknown.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38637072/ns/us_news-life/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Is there any hope of a chance the former Alaska Gov. was aboard as well?

I was going to post this earlier, but felt it fell squarely in the "who gives a shit" category.

^^^

Isn't this the guy who pushed to get the bridge to nowhere through?

andy7171 wrote:Isn't this the guy who pushed to get the bridge to nowhere through?

You know that the bridge actually went to somewhere. It was to connect the island with the airport to the city of Ketchikan. As they say in Alaska there are only 3 ways to get to Ketchikan; by air, by boat or by birth canal. In order to allow continued access by cruise ships the bridge would have to be a high level bridge making it rather expensive. Today, people who land at the airport must ferry across to the city. I'm not saying the bridge should have been built or that it was worth the expense but it actually went somewhere and had some actual purpose.

Former NASA chief Sean O'Keefe and his son are among the survivors.

UNHWildCats wrote:Former NASA chief Sean O'Keefe and his son are among the survivors.

If true...good news...

Do you have a source???

TheDancinMonarch wrote:

andy7171 wrote:Isn't this the guy who pushed to get the bridge to nowhere through?

You know that the bridge actually went to somewhere. It was to connect the island with the airport to the city of Ketchikan. As they say in Alaska there are only 3 ways to get to Ketchikan; by air, by boat or by birth canal. In order to allow continued access by cruise ships the bridge would have to be a high level bridge making it rather expensive. Today, people who land at the airport must ferry across to the city. I'm not saying the bridge should have been built or that it was worth the expense but it actually went somewhere and had some actual purpose.

But you can say the same about most any project.

$250 million for a bridge that would affect very few people was insane by any standard

dbackjon wrote:

TheDancinMonarch wrote:
You know that the bridge actually went to somewhere. It was to connect the island with the airport to the city of Ketchikan. As they say in Alaska there are only 3 ways to get to Ketchikan; by air, by boat or by birth canal. In order to allow continued access by cruise ships the bridge would have to be a high level bridge making it rather expensive. Today, people who land at the airport must ferry across to the city. I'm not saying the bridge should have been built or that it was worth the expense but it actually went somewhere and had some actual purpose.

But you can say the same about most any project.

$250 million for a bridge that would affect very few people was insane by any standard

I'm not saying the bridge should have been built or that it was worth the expense but it actually went somewhere and had some actual purpose.

Col Hogan wrote:

UNHWildCats wrote:Former NASA chief Sean O'Keefe and his son are among the survivors.

If true...good news...

Do you have a source???

Former NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe and his son, Kevin, were also on board but were expected to survive, sources close to the family told NBC News. Sean O’Keefe suffered a broken pelvis and several other broken bones, they said.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38637072/ns/us_news-life/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

TheDancinMonarch wrote:

andy7171 wrote:Isn't this the guy who pushed to get the bridge to nowhere through?

You know that the bridge actually went to somewhere. It was to connect the island with the airport to the city of Ketchikan. As they say in Alaska there are only 3 ways to get to Ketchikan; by air, by boat or by birth canal. In order to allow continued access by cruise ships the bridge would have to be a high level bridge making it rather expensive. Today, people who land at the airport must ferry across to the city. I'm not saying the bridge should have been built or that it was worth the expense but it actually went somewhere and had some actual purpose.

Your explanation is exactly why it was called the Bridge to Nowhere.

Ketchikan = Nowhere.

I guess his death can be chalked up to a consequence of being above the law. If, like any normal citizen convicted on 7 felony charges, he had been in prison then this wouldn't have happened.

danefan wrote:

TheDancinMonarch wrote:
You know that the bridge actually went to somewhere. It was to connect the island with the airport to the city of Ketchikan. As they say in Alaska there are only 3 ways to get to Ketchikan; by air, by boat or by birth canal. In order to allow continued access by cruise ships the bridge would have to be a high level bridge making it rather expensive. Today, people who land at the airport must ferry across to the city. I'm not saying the bridge should have been built or that it was worth the expense but it actually went somewhere and had some actual purpose.

Your explanation is exactly why it was called the Bridge to Nowhere.

Ketchikan = Nowhere.

I've been to nowhere, along with 2500 other people from my ship, and 2 other cruise ships where parked there at the same time, more coming in, and the ones that just left before us. It's a busy tourist stop, they could have maybe taxed the tourist to raise the money.

coastal89 wrote:I guess his death can be chalked up to a consequence of being above the law. If, like any normal citizen convicted on 7 felony charges, he had been in prison then this wouldn't have happened.

Hmmmmmm. Good point.

coastal89 wrote:I guess his death can be chalked up to a consequence of being above the law. If, like any normal citizen convicted on 7 felony charges, he had been in prison then this wouldn't have happened.

So the fact that his conviction was thrown out because the prosecution broke the law by withholding evidence that would have exonerated him doesn't matter to you...

houndawg wrote:

coastal89 wrote:I guess his death can be chalked up to a consequence of being above the law. If, like any normal citizen convicted on 7 felony charges, he had been in prison then this wouldn't have happened.

Hmmmmmm. Good point.

Looks like Charlie Rangel might be safe from a death like this then...

Col Hogan wrote:

coastal89 wrote:I guess his death can be chalked up to a consequence of being above the law. If, like any normal citizen convicted on 7 felony charges, he had been in prison then this wouldn't have happened.

So the fact that his conviction was thrown out because the prosecution broke the law by withholding evidence that would have exonerated him doesn't matter to you...

Pfffftt. Happens everyday.

Of course many people are having a blast on twitter with Stevens jokes, and I will admit I have laughed at a few of them... more on this later... but some are having problems with the jokes...

All I can say to those people is... tough shit. These same people are the ones who ran with the Ted Kennedy jokes last year while his body was still warm.

We may not like jokes being made about recently deceased people, but both sides do it, do deal with it.

UNHWildCats wrote:Of course many people are having a blast on twitter with Stevens jokes, and I will admit I have laughed at a few of them... more on this later... but some are having problems with the jokes...

All I can say to those people is... tough ****. These same people are the ones who ran with the Ted Kennedy jokes last year while his body was still warm.

We may not like jokes being made about recently deceased people, but both sides do it, do deal with it.

Well, Ted Kennedy did actually kill someone - Stevens was just a guy who brought pork-barrel projects to his constituents. That is a little different, don't you think?

I think he was a good senator. When you think about some of the idiots in office now makes you wonder.

wildkyle wrote:I think he was a good senator. When you think about some of the idiots in office now makes you wonder.

He was a good Senator for Alaska, not for America, but to be fair his job was to look out for Alaska so he did his job.

Obama and Biden voted for the bridge.


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http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/ ... 5937.shtml" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


“While Barack Obama attacks Sarah Palin, we still have not heard him disavow his 2005 vote in favor of the Bridge to Nowhere and admit his mistake,” said Club for Growth President Pat Toomey. “Sarah Palin deserves credit for recognizing how harmful and corrupt the pork process has become. Barack Obama has had three years to come to the same realization, and we’re still waiting. We call on Senator Obama to disavow his 2005 vote in favor of the Bridge to Nowhere.”

coastal89 wrote:I guess his death can be chalked up to a consequence of being above the law. If, like any normal citizen convicted on 7 felony charges, he had been in prison then this wouldn't have happened.

The people who acted above the law were the corrupt prosecutors who got him convicted. Hence why the convictions were thrown out.
http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/Politics/s ... 926&page=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You're right, a normal citizen wouldn't have the means to combat the corrupt prosecutors and wouldn't have had conviction thrown out.

These corrupt prosecutors cost Stevens his re election, as he lost relection by 4k votes after his bogus conviction, whcih ended up giving the donks their 60th vote...

Col Hogan wrote:

coastal89 wrote:I guess his death can be chalked up to a consequence of being above the law. If, like any normal citizen convicted on 7 felony charges, he had been in prison then this wouldn't have happened.

So the fact that his conviction was thrown out because the prosecution broke the law by withholding evidence that would have exonerated him doesn't matter to you...

Apparently not..