I wrote a little while back on the tantrum thrown by Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) when his fellow Senators refused to let him attach Arctic Refuge drilling to the defense appropriations bill.

Well, he’s still whining:

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As the Arctic drilling went down to defeat, Stevens said "goodbye" to the Senate, a remark interpreted by some as a farewell. At the press conference, Stevens said that interpretation was wrong.

"I’m here, I’m going to stay and get ANWR, there’s no question about that. It’s going to happen."

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But Stevens said when he returns to Washington, he will no longer consider some Democrats his friends. The final refuge debate became too personal, he said.

"When I first went there, you would never hear a senator speak about another senator the way they were speaking about me that night," he said. "There are people I’ve considered to be personal friends without regards to politics, and they were turning into vipers as far as I was concerned. … The extent of the venom there on the floor, that would never have happened in the days gone by."

Stevens said he has "written off" those friends.

"I’m not traveling with them anymore, and I’m not going to play tennis or swim or do various things with them."

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Somebody give this guy a hug!

(via ThinkProgress)