I am not without compassion and I don’t want to gloat. I just want justice. And yesterday, I go me some. As Duke Cunningham’s lawyer told the jury:
“This man has been humiliated beyond belief by his own hand. He is estranged from those he loves most and cares most about,” Blalack said. “All his worldly possessions are gone. He will carry a crushing tax debt until the day he dies. He will go to jail until he’s 70 years old.”
And that is as it should be, because as the judge told Cunningham:
“You weren’t wet. You weren’t cold. You weren’t hungry, and yet you did these things.”
We are going to see a lot more Republicans standing before a judge and saying:
“No man has ever been more sorry. I made a very wrong turn. I rationalized decisions I knew were wrong. I did that, sir.”
Randy ‘Duke’ Cunningham was sentenced to eight years and four months in a federal prison. Before this is over there will be many other lawmakers joining him. Most likely, all those lawmakers will be Republicans. If any Democrats are implicated…good. I hate crooks. Let them all go to jail. They weren’t wet, they weren’t cold, they weren’t hungry, and yet they did these things.
‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you didn’t give me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink; I was a stranger, and you didn’t take me in; naked, and you didn’t clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’ -Matthew 25: 41-46
Amen. Send all the crooks to jail. I don’t care what party they belong to. He went from being a fat cat to a skinny prisoner. Maybe this will stop some of the other politicians from doing the same thing.
We need a modern Shakespeare to chronicle the greed, the hubris, the inevitable self-destruction.
you DO want to gloat
you’re just restraining yourself
Personally, I’m not holding back
I wonder how this reflects his level of cooperation.
Any ideas?
This man is small potatoes compared to the profiteering going on from this war. How do you implicate Dianne Feinstein’s profiteering from war’s destructiveness?
In April 2003 the US Army Corps of Engineers dived out $500 million to Perini to provide services for Iraq’s central command. A month earlier in March 2003, Perini was awarded $25 million to design and construct a facility to support the Afghan National Army near Kabul. And in March 2004, Perini was awarded a hefty contract worth up to $500 million for “electrical power distribution and transmission” in the southern Iraq.
Senator Feinstein, who sits on the Appropriations Committee as well as the Select Committee on Intelligence, is reaping the benefits of her husband’s investments. The Democratic royal family recently purchased a 16.5 million dollar mansion in the flush Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco. It’s a disgusting display of war profiteering and the leading Democrat, just like Cheney, should be called out for her offense.
Your link doesn’t seem to work. Thanks.
http://www.counterpunch.com/frank02282006.html
Point being, I think he was prosecuted to throw some crumbs at reform minded individuals. It is the entire constitutional system of government, and economic system, in need of reform.
It is a belief in capitalism that allows individuals to profit from war. Suggest the outlawing of the profiteering of war, and watch how fast these democrats, and republicans, laugh in your face.
Difi makes me sick. She is a mini repugnant anyway. She needs to be voted out of office or go ahead and switch parties.
We are going to see a lot more Republicans standing before a judge and saying:
“No man has ever been more sorry. I made a very wrong turn. I rationalized decisions I knew were wrong. I did that, sir.”
Cunningham, brazen as he was, is small fry. I worry that many of the bigger fish in the corruption pond are going to get away with it, perhaps with the old “Go and sin no more” promise. And the biggest fish of all, the ones that sit in the Oval Office and live at the Naval Observatory, whose crimes don’t just affect their checking accounts but rather people’s lives, nothing’s going to happen to them unless we see a major change when the new Congress is sworn-in next January.
Sure, Cunningham was a crook…but his actions didn’t lead to the deaths of thousands of people…
That’s why I was wondering about the sentence and cooperation. Starting with the samll fires, the bigger ones are had by deals for lighter sentences in exchange for future testimony. Duke was reported to have been wired at one point but there’s no mention of deals or anything in the story.
This will probably turn out to be like the Abu Gharib crimes and lack of higher-ups accountability.
aaww-w-w! Life’s SO hard! I won’t be satisfied even when Ken Lay stands weeping before a judge.
Madame DeFarge
.
SAN DIEGO – Former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, who collected $2.4 million in homes, yachts, antique furnishings and other bribes on a scale unparalleled in the history of Congress, was sentenced Friday to eight years and four months in prison, the longest term ever meted out to a congressman.
Cunningham, who resigned from Congress in disgrace last year, was spared the 10-year maximum by U.S. District Judge Larry Burns.
Former Republican U.S. Congressman Randall 'Duke' Cunningha is helped by aides as he arrives at the federal courthouse in San Diego for sentencing on his conviction for bribery and tax evasion. AP Photo/Lenny IgnelziFederal prosecutors sought the maximum and his attorneys asked for mercy, but Cunningham, choking up as he addressed the judge, focusing on accepting blame. “Your honor I have ripped my life to shreds due to my actions, my actions that I did to myself,” he said.
≈ Cross-posted from yesterday’s — News Bucket ≈
“But I will not let myself be reduced to silence.”
▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY
Up the ladder of greed.
Who’s next???
PLEASE!!!
AG
next?
The private contractors he dealt with who have been monitoring all of our activity for the past several years….the ones that decide who they want to see accused of being a threat.
couldn’t cash. I still think that line was originally written as “Son, your ego is writing checks that your ass can’t cash!”, but conservatives wouldn’t say something like that would they? I think that since the Dukester has spilled all the beans we could also say that as far as indictments go….the GOP is a target rich environment!
Cunningham also got $3.7 in fines and restitution. I believe he’s expected to serve seven of the ten years, and prosecutors say they’re willing to cut that a bit if they’re “satisfied he’s cooperated fully with the investigation.”
Prosecutors say this was the worst, most brazen, longest-running case of corruption by a sitting Congressperson in the country’s history. Is Cunninghm small fry? Sure. Most telling to me was another comment by the judge, to the effect that the Dukester chose to do this even though he could have retired at any time and then made a similar fortune in private business. That’s what most retired Congresspeople do, trading on their experience and personal contacts on the Hill to cash in with corporate lobbying or board positions or “consulting.”
All true. He could have made just as much money quite legally, just like everyone else does. How telling is that? And we’re not even talking about the legalized bribery that is campaign financing. The whole system stinks to high heaven. Republicans are in power right now, so they’re getting the most money, they’re the ones getting greedy, and they will be the ones getting caught. But Democrats are playing the same game.
Only thing he is sorry about is getting caught!
If there was any real strict interpretation of the law the vast majority of senators and congressman would be in jail with Cunningham. Most are by necessity taking bribes in one form or another, straddling the boundaries of what is legal and what’s not.
Cunningham was not very good at covering his tracks and was pretty greedy, he had no patience.
I think it’s a little more complicated than that. This is different than the normal coruuption that’s been established in politics.
This network seems to be part of the gang that goes back to Iran-contra and the early College Republicans. It also appears to have ties to the defense/intel/tech industries. The connections with Abramoff, DeLay, foreign countries, conservative/radical think tanks and religious NGOs all appear in patterns of covert programs to control foreign policy. It looks like it was used to run a seperate agenda when the Dems were in the WH and it grew out of control under the Rep majorities.
Cunningham and many others conduct give the impression that their motives were above the law, in their minds, and the biggest regret was getting caught. I’m sure each had different motives for what they were doing but look at how many risked their life’s work and career for some relatively measly amounts of money.
Perhaps orientation for Freshmen Congressman should include emphasis on the fact that there is no need to steal or otherwise corrupt oneself; merely waiting to involve oneself in the industry-Congress revolving door will suffice.
There are quite a few democrats who wish they could exchange their soul for money, if only they were the party in power. I think dems are probably clean in the current scandals, but only for lack of anything worth selling. It’s sad how corrupt the entire system is, including the media covering it.
that ethical simple soul prick raining on their parade just when they were about to give us all a good soaking for anything they could get their hands on!