Monty Python told us to always look on the bright side of life, but former Alaska state Rep. Vic Kohring took it a bit far on his last day before beginning a three and half year prison sentence for taking bribes from Veco Corp. to advocate for a pipeline project. TPM Muckraker has the highlights from Vic's last day on the outside, his bizarre roadside thank you to the people of Alaska, and his ambitions for life behind bars.

Kohring seems to think this is nothing but a sabbatical:

Said he might write an autobiography while in jail, call it "Absolutely Innocent." Plans to read a lot. Write a lot of letters.

. . . He said he spent the weekend with his family, and has been doing things like stopping mail to his mail box and closing his bank account. Packing.

"It's almost like going away on a vacation. A .... Government sponsored vacation," he said.

Uh, I know the winters are cold up there in Alaska and all but I've yet to hear of a Southern California penitentiary that reminded anyone of a vacation. Anyway, we here wish Kohring well in his incarceration and hope he enjoys all the "reading" he's going to get done. We especially look forward to his reading the headlines from Alaska when the state passes the Clean Elections ballot initiative in August.