A Last Stand on the Last FrontierAlaskans are starting to wonder if the era of ‘Uncle Ted’ is coming to an end. When federal agents raided the home of Ted Stevens in an Alaska ski town last week, looking for evidence in a bribery probe, they weren’t just investigating the most senior member of the U.S. Senate. They were also exposing a bullying, nepotistic political culture that has flourished on the Last Frontier for decades. Despite its vastness, Alaska is home to just 670,000 people, and it’s been dominated for years by a handful of players: Stevens, 83, former chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee; Don Young, the state’s lone House member, and various protégés and oilmen. The federal investigation widened earlier this year when an oil-company executive pleaded guilty to bribing state lawmakers, and has now snared Stevens, Young and other lawmakers who have—until now—wheeled and dealed without consequence. |
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