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Cunningham Pleads, Resigns

By TChris, Section Misconduct
Posted on Mon Nov 28, 2005 at 02:57:07 PM EST
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by TChris

Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham entered guilty pleas today to bribery and tax evasion charges. TalkLeft background on the Dukester is collected here.

Asked by U.S. District Judge Larry Burns if he had accepted cash and gifts and then tried to influence the Defense Department on behalf of the donors, Cunningham said, "Yes, your honor."

U.S. Attorney Carol Lam said the Dukester "did the worst thing an elected official can do -- he enriched himself through his position and violated the trust of those who put him there." (If only violating our trust were a federal crime ....) Cunningham also announced his resignation from Congress today, reducing the ranks of the indicted in that body by one.

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    Cunningham Pleads, Resigns | 11 comments (11 topical)
    Re: Cunningham Pleads, Resigns (none / 0) (#1)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:29 PM EST
    $hit, this is like finding out Audie Murphy fragged his LT. Jeebus, a genuine war hero took bribes to influence the DoD. WTF was he thinking!? Is the culture of bushco so corrupt that noe, ney, delay, dolittle think it is their DUE!? (damn, that sounded like a 50's do-wop chorus;-)

    Re: Cunningham Pleads, Resigns (none / 0) (#2)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:29 PM EST
    The same company that bribeb rc has ties to the whitehouse:
    [O]ver the past three years it [MZM Inc.] was also awarded several contracts, worth more than $600,000, by the Executive Office of the President. They include a $140,000 deal for office furniture in 2002 and several for unspecified “intelligence services.”
    And my above post, while I couldn't resist the tag line, was from my heart. I joined the Navy to fly fighters off of carriers. I didn't want to drop bombs or kill civilians, but as a young man I thought protecting my country by engaging the enemy in an aerial duel was chivalrous. (yeah, yeah I know, but I was young, dumb and full of ...) The Duke was one of the people I aspired to be, he was a freakin ACE in VN, tough to do. I'm old enough now to know there are no heroes, but goldarnit, hero to zero from an officer and a gentleman sticks in my craw.

    Re: Cunningham Pleads, Resigns (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:29 PM EST
    And the hits just keep coming. Maybe Delay. Maybe Frist. Watching the implosion of the Republican Party is really entertaining. Never mind seeing rich white guys take a hit.

    Re: Cunningham Pleads, Resigns (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:29 PM EST
    Sailor: What squadrons were you in? When did you go throught flight training? What track did you go? Maybe we went through at the same time.

    Re: Cunningham Pleads, Resigns (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:29 PM EST
    Sailor: What squadrons were you in? When did you go throught flight training? What track did you go? Maybe we went through at the same time. I gotta wonder though, who wants to drop bombs on civilians.

    Re: Cunningham Pleads, Resigns (none / 0) (#6)
    by rdandrea on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:29 PM EST
    As a person who most often votes Democrat, it would be easy to gloat over Cunningham's misfortune. But it't not. I watched his press conference today. I was genuinely saddened. Here's a guy who was a war hero. An Ace. Yet he let his greed get the best of him. It's his own fault, of course, but that makes it all the more sad. This isn't a Democrat/Republican thing. It's not a Liberal/Conservative thing. It's a Power/Greed thing. A decade or more ago, the guys with seniority who were lining their own pockets had names line Trafficant and Rostenkowski. Now they have names like Cunningham, and maybe eventually Frist, Delay, Ney, and Lord knows who else. The difference, which party they belong to, is immaterial. The similarities--those lining their own pockets come from the party with power; all have significant seniority--are much more important. It's time to change the color of congress. Too long in power leads to too much power. The corrupt rise to the point where their corruption becomes too easy for them. Let's throw the bums out. We might have to replace them with different bums, but it will be years before THEY can steal from us. The sad thing is that even though it will be years down the road, they will. Count on it.

    Re: Cunningham Pleads, Resigns (none / 0) (#7)
    by Repack Rider on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:29 PM EST
    These are the times when we need the paid GOP trolls to tell us what the talking points are. I'm dying to know how we are supposed to use this incident to slam the Democrats. *Crickets*

    Re: Cunningham Pleads, Resigns (none / 0) (#8)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:30 PM EST
    Wile, never even got to flight school due to a back injury in GLNTC. DD214 reads honorable and medical.
    I gotta wonder though, who wants to drop bombs on civilians.
    Re-read, I said drop bombs OR kill civilians. Most naval missions are ground pounding and collateral damage happens.

    Re: Cunningham Pleads, Resigns (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:31 PM EST
    Sailor: Roger that. "Ground pounders" is the term for the airedale maintainers that work on the airplanes. "Close air support" is attacking a piece of real estate. Never heard of "ground pounding" used in any Naval aviation vernacular.

    Re: Cunningham Pleads, Resigns (none / 0) (#10)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:31 PM EST
    wile, not to nitpick, but I deliberately said "ground pounding", not ground pounder. And ground pounding was a term used in the Navy in my era. (and yes, I am that old;-) 'close air support' means in support of troops, not all (or even most) bombing missions are in support of troops. Once again, I aspired to be RC, never got there. I did become a pilot (only SEL), an A&P, and an av engineer, just not in the navy. Now I do research in optics.

    Re: Cunningham Pleads, Resigns (none / 0) (#11)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:31 PM EST
    Hey wile, I thought you might like this exit strategy for iraq: Not meant as an insult, I just thought you might appreciate it given your nom de plume.

    Cunningham Pleads, Resigns | 11 comments (11 topical)