As we noted here earlier today, a new front has opened in the war on Republican corruption--Alaska. (If we don't fight them there, we'll have to fight them here.)

Some 20 search warrants were executed in a series of raids Thursday across Alaska. Not all of the locations searched have yet been identified, but the offices of six state lawmakers were among those searched, including the office of Ben Stevens, son of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), himself already in the news this week after being unveiled as the senator who put a secret hold on a bipartisan bill that would create a publicly available database of all federal grants and contracts.

Already the Alaska Affair has contributed one of this new Gilded Age's most memorable episodes. Among the items federal agents were looking for in state lawmakers' offices were garments, including hats, with the logo "Corrupt Bastards Club" or "Corrupt Bastards Caucus."

Used to be that it was the coverup that got you. Now it's the bragging.