I read on the FlashReport today an article from the San Diego Union Tribune that was a bit troubling to stomach — apparently former Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham is spending at least some of his time in federal prison being upset with the newspaper that ‘brought him down’ and thinking about others who are to blame for his situation.
As a conservative who is engaged in the practice of politics, I get to see situations all of the time where the main stream media gets it wrong. But I simply don’t see how Cunningham can be mad at anyone in this situation besides himself. No one forced his hand and made him take millions of dollars in bribes in return for doling out federal goodies. No one asked him to betray all of us who walked precincts and helped him get elected. And no one can deny that in this case, the San Diego Union Tribune did America a favor when they exposed Cunningham’s criminal activity. If not, it might still be going on today!
According to the article which highlights a hand-written letter the Congressman sent to a reporter, Cunningham is now bitter because this startling and extreme immoral conduct on his part has cost him his respect, his job and his family. Duke can lash out at the news media, or those with whom he conducted the illegal activities. But it won’t change the fact that he has no one to blame but himself. But if he doesn’t want to blame himself, he can rest assured that many of us who volunteered to elect him will blame him for a lot longer than the eight years he will spend behind bars.
In the letter, Cunningham laments that his deeds keep getting reprinted in the paper, and that every time it does, it hurts his family. Some things are best left in the past, others are best kept in the fore of our thoughts. None of us should forget what Cunningham did, lest it should happen again.
It is amazing that my anger towards Cunningham is still this strong this long after the revelation of his betrayals. Hopefully I will get over it someday. But it is hard to start trying when reading about how Cunningham wants to blame others for his own actions.
October 7th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Cunningham has always had an entitlement mentality, and a belief that the rules the rest of us live by didn’t apply to him. Ex-U-T reporter Gregory Vistica’s book Fall From Glory: The Men Who Sank the U.S. Navy painted a brutally unflattering picture of the “real” Duke many years before the Wilkes/Wade scandal erupted. Duke believed his air-combat achievements, which certainly were heroic, entitled him to the Medal of Honor, and he was so incensed when he learned he was to be awarded the Navy Cross (the second-highest medal) that he had to be ordered to attend his own ceremony! He also had no qualms about breaking into his commander’s office to read other officers’ confidential fitness reports – and then, in an orgasm of idiotry, told his commander what he had done! Unfortunately the Navy couldn’t exactly court-martial its only Vietnam air ace without a snowstorm of negative publicity, so Duke learned he WAS entitled to special treatment – setting the stage for much bigger crimes later in life.
One minor and respectful style suggestion: Let’s not call Duke “the Congressman” anymore. “The Felon” will do nicely.