Congressional Republicans picked a bad time for a new series of corruption scandals. This happens to be the week in which both chambers are considering major new ethics reform measures.

The good news is, the House passed its measure today by a wide margin. The bad news is, there’s at least one Senate Republican for whom chutzpah has no meaning.

Republican Sen. Ted Stevens, whose home back in Alaska was raided by federal investigators Monday in a wide-ranging corruption investigation, has threatened to place a hold on the Democratic-drafted ethics legislation just passed by the House and expected on the Senate floor by week’s end. The senator told a closed session of fellow Republicans today, including Vice President Dick Cheney, that he was upset that the measure would interfere with his travel to and from Alaska — and vowed to block it.

The same guy who’s likely to be busted for taking bribes is blocking the Senate from voting on an ethics reform bill?

I often feel sorry for satirists; Republicans must make it tough for writers to exaggerate for comedic effect.