By Association

I'm prepared to let the investigation continue and see what links actually end up getting proven between Ted Stevens and Bill Allen even after yesterday's ADN story about the possible link between re-modeling on Stevens' home and Allen.

That being said, at the very least the charges raised in the article taint Stevens just by association. Bill Allen has said he bribed state lawmakers. There's no evidence, of course, Stevens took cash directly from Allen's wallet (nor would he - he's a bit smarter than that) but the fact that Allen "reviewed" the invoices for the project has to at least raise some huge flags, given Allen's admitted behavior. Not only that, Stevens apparently paid for the project out of a separate bank account, which should also raise some flags. Combine this with the payments Allen apparently made to Ben Stevens and it paints a troubling picture of just whom the Stevens associate with and how they associate with them. Everything the contractors in the story say could be wrong except for the link between Allen and Stevens and it would still be a cause for concern.

Again, I'm not saying Uncle Ted has done anything wrong but the story seems to demonstrate that he was associating with people who may not have had the highest ethical standards. That alone raises concern.

Of course, if we judge people by who they hang out with we'd all be in trouble.