Ted Stevens is found guilty! That is guilty, guilty, guilty!

A jury has found U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens guilty of all seven counts of lying on his financial disclosure forms.

It is the highest-profile felony conviction in a sweeping four-year federal investigation into corruption in Alaska politics, and a rare conviction by a jury of a sitting U.S. senator.

As the verdict on the first count was read, Stevens slumped slightly. When the second count was read, his lawyer, Brendan Sullivan, reached over and put his arm around Stevens' shoulders.

Jurors found that Stevens willfully filed false financial disclosure forms that hid such gifts as the renovations that doubled his home in size. Those gifts, valued at as much as $250,000 over seven years, came mostly from his former friend Bill Allen, the star prosecution witness in Stevens' trial and the former owner of Veco Corp.

This all but means that the Senate race is over, and that we will definitely have a Democrat representing Alaska in Washington.

This is a huge deal in Alaska politics. Conventional wisdom had it that NOBODY could defeat Ted Stevens, but with this decision he is damaged beyond repair.

I still cannot help but wish that he would have simply resigned and held onto a little dignity. I would not have begrudged him that, But it was time for him to leave and if this was the only way that could have been achieved, then so be it.

Don Young's heart rate must be through the roof today. He knows he is next on the chopping block. And can Sarah Palin be far behind?

Alaska, where justice has recently made a triumphant return!