Ted Stevens

Senator Ted Stevens, a man who became an internet meme through gaffes speaking to his inexperience with technology, was found guilty on seven counts of violating Senate ethics regulations. These charges stemmed from his receiving several hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts from friends and failing to disclose these gifts. One such "gift" was a $250,000 remodel of his home on the dime of oil construction executive, Bill Allen.

Fortunately, this almost certainly means he will fail to be re-elected for his 41st year in Congress. His high-scale trial already began to sink his chances for re-election, considering that even with his incumbent advantage, he was a few points behind in the polls. This new revelation of a guilty verdict makes Mark Begich's chances of obtaining his seat that much more feasible.

Stevens will likely serve no jail time for this violation of ethics laws. Since this is a turning point in electoral terms, and a lame duck president is on his way out, Stevens will likely receive a pardon, wiping clean the felony charges and any hard time or fines that come with it.

I found his THINGS JUST SHOWED UP IN HOUSE! defense to be hilarious:

He said he considered that chair a loan.

"And the chair is still at your house?" prosecutor Brenda Morris asked.

"Yes," Stevens said.

"How is that not a gift?"

"He bought that chair as a gift, but I refused it as a gift," Stevens said. "He put it there and said it was my chair. I told him I would not accept it as a gift. We have lots of things in our house that don't belong to us. "

Playing to the jury, Morris appeared confused.

"So, if you say it's not a gift, it's not a gift?" she said.

"I refused it as a gift," Stevens replied. "I let him put it in our basement at his request."