Senate strikes ANWR provision from bill

Ted Stevens, Alaska's Republican representative who earned infamy this year for his $200+ million 'bridge to nowhere' pork project, has lost the latest bid to grant big oil the rights to drill in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge. It's so nice to be able to write about something positive.

The article way overdoes the drama, but the good news is that ANWR is out. Again. And for the moment.

"The issue of drilling . . . is close, close to the heart, dear to the heart of the senator from Alaska," [West Virginia Senator Robert] Byrd said. "I admire his unyielding commitment to the people of his state. I honor him for that. I consider him a dear friend."

He was just warming up. "My remarks today do not reflect upon [Stevens] or upon his efforts in regard to the people he represents," Byrd continued, thunder clouds gathering in his voice. "I abhor, I abhor this idea. Shame. If such a scheme were carried into effect, it could seriously impair the Senate rules."

Stevens interjected, "Would the senator yield?"

He would not. "I came here and swore an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States and I would die upholding that oath," Byrd vowed.