Ted Stevens busted--down the "tubes"?

From Sen. Ted Stevens' point of view, there might be some good in his indictment, on seven charges, today: At least this may push his previously best-known worst-day back into the shadows for awhile. I refer, of course, to that day of infamy, June 28, 2006, when Stevens, then 82, referred to the Internet as a "series of tubes" (among other slightly skewed descriptives) in a much-mocked speech on the floor of the Senate, in a debate over Net Neutrality.

Of course, this quickly made the press, The Daily Show, YouTube and eventually thousands of Web sites -- and became a punch line in cocktail chatter and the comedy circuit. Someone even did a song called "Series of Tubes." But it strikes me that probably few have ever read his extended remarks, or at least have not experienced them for years.

So here is a special tribute to Stevens and his "tubes" speech: