I am sick to my stomach this morning, reading the stories that detail the actions of former Congressman Duke Cunningham.
When he first resigned as news came out about how he had used his office for personal gain, I made my opinion on this very clear.
After all, like so many others, I had walked precincts for Cunningham and gotten to know him. During my many years of being a volunteer leader in conservative and Republican politics, I had always been proud that we had a decorated veteran, and a conservative stalwart like "Duke" in Congress.
Anyone involved or interested in public policy or politics needs to read these articles today. It is overwhelming that one person can have combined so much greed with so little ethical standards. We’re talking millions. We’re talking about handwritten memos detailing how much personal take the Congressman would need to award government favors (see the handwritten note?).
At the end of the day, Cunningham will get what he deserves – a long time in federal prison, and I hope it is as uncomfortable for him as possible. Any part of me that feels sorrow for him as a human being is more than offset by the anger and feelings of betrayal. More than anything, the length of Duke’s sentence, and how hard his ‘time’ served is, becomes an important sign to any and all others that would even think about condoning or engaging in this kind of shameful activity – you will pay the price.
That said, the reverberations of this case are being felt all over the country. And while the infamous prosecution of lobbyist Jack Abramoff is a separate case from that of Cunningham, the go-forward solution is the same for both.
THERE SHOULD NOT BE A MEANS OR MECHANISM FOR AN INDIVIDUAL MEMBER OF CONGRESS, NO MATTER HOW INFLUENTIAL OR HIGHLY PLACED, TO EARMARK FUNDS FOR ANY INDIVIDUAL BUSINESS OR COMPANY. PERIOD.
**There is more – click the link**
February 18th, 2006 at 12:00 am
You are right Jon. As a resident of Kern County, I do not agree with what Congressman Thomas did with the highway bill. It sets a very bad precedent that Ways and Means Chairman can have sweet heart deals before they are about to lose their chairmanships.
I don’t dispute the neeed for transportation funds in the Bakersfield Metro area. However, others around the state and country have a right to be upset about the earmarking process (not to mention the Bridge to Nowhere in Alaska).
Little does Thomas realize that this type of earmaking and deal making will place vulnerable Republicans in this year’s elections on the ropes and we could lose our majority in the house because of this (if the Democrats are smart enough to use this strategy).
1994 was a great year. America was tired of this type of behaivor the Democrats were doing for forty years. Now some of our Republicans are no better.
The highway funds should have been divided evenly amongst the 435 congressional districts. If the Ways and Means Chairman had been representing another part of the coutry, I’m sure that many in my home county would be critical of such a sweet heart deal. Now that we’re the beneficiary of such actions, people are now being hypocritical.
February 18th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I first met Duke in 1987, at the Pt. Mugu airshow just north of Malibu. He was the commanding officer of the Navy’s Top Gun squadron and I was a new Marine second lieutenant headed to flight school. Duke was showy then and talked with his hands to re-renact his dogfights. This was the year after the movie “Top Gun” came out. Then Duke broke out his self-published memoirs and began hawking them to crowd of aviation buffs. I didn’t buy one. I also thought it was cheesy for him to profit from his position of authority. I wrote about the episode in my book, page 112.
The pundits have been slamming the Duke so I’ll write about dutyand honor. As one of two American aces (he shot down five MIGs, three in one day) of the Vietnam War, he’s an embarrassment to naval aviation and many military fliers who have heard of his lores over the past three decades.