Ted Stevens | Michael Tomasky

The very sad death of former Alaska Republican senator Ted Stevens in an airplane accident in remote Alaska highlights for me the unique perils of life in that state, namely that the land is so rough, the roads and rail systems so (necessarily) inadequate, that there are many places in the state that are accessible only by airplane.

A culture has thus developed in which many people own small planes, and they fly them in all kinds of weather. I remember my visit there, in 1985 I think. We now h...