" I tell ya...I dont get no respect"
Posted on 11/28/2005 11:50:36 AM PST by standingfirm
SAN DIEGO — Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy and tax charges involving the sale of his home two years ago to a defense contractor at an inflated price.
Admitting to a judge that he took bribes, Cunningham entered pleas in U.S. District Court to charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud and tax evasion for underreporting his income in 2004.
Cunningham, 63, and his wife, Nancy, used the proceeds from the $1,675,000 sale to defense contractor Mitchell Wade to buy a $2.55 million mansion in ritzy Rancho Santa Fe. Wade put the Del Mar house back on the market and sold it after nearly a year for $975,000 — a loss of $700,000.
Cunningham answered "yes, Your Honor" when asked by U.S. District Judge Larry Burns if he had accepted bribes from someone in exchange for his performance of official duties.
Cunningham, an eight-term congressman, announced in July that he wouldn't seek re-election next year. The former Vietnam War flying ace is known on Capitol Hill for his interest in defense issues and his occasional temperamental outbursts.
He drew little notice outside his San Diego-area district before the San Diego Union-Tribune reported last June that he'd sold the home to Wade
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Anybody else want to jump in here and kick the war hero while he's down? You might not get another chance!
Come on all you insecure, corrected-vision types -- You know you want to! Put yourself above the Fighter Pilot! Let those self-righteous military types take a thumb in the eye for once!
You think it's okay for a Congressman to sell out the troops? You think it's okay for a Congressman to pad his pockets by awarding military contracts to unqualified companies?
If you think that what he did thirty years ago entitles him to betray the military today, then you and I have nothing to talk about.
It doesn't seem to matter to most of his detractors -- You seem to be happy to assume that he put people at risk with his actions, and you don't know ANYTHING about it! The safety of our troops is not always ensured by the lowest bidder.
These days it's not a question of 'Who's doing it' -- But 'Who's getting prosecuted". This is a political assasination. Feel free to pick up a sharp object and join in. (need.. coffee)
thats the difference between republicans and democraps- when one of our own get caught we all agree he should be punished- democraps would be out there defending him and saying "everyone does it"
Somebody could make a real good argument against THAT assertion - complete with facts and logic to back it up.
Be hard to support your point of view, all things considered.
I'd like to think that what separates Republicans from Dimocrats is that we don't blindly and mindlessly support OUR crooks.
And he's a crook.
Being a veteran of Vietnam a few decades in the past does not qualify anyone for anything. It doesn't matter if the name is McCain, Murtha, Kerry, Cunningham, or John Doe.
And by the way, millions served in Vietnam, 58,000 were killed, and over 300,000 were wounded, leading to a treaty skillfully engineered by Secretary of State Kissinger and President Nixon. But then Congress cut funding for the South Vietnamese to protect themselves, resulting in the Communists re-invading the south and slaughtering hundreds of thousands of people. By not supporting freedom, Congress wasted our lives, and Congress may do the same to those serving in Iraq. The Demorats are allies of the terrorists, and the Republicans are confused morons. Anyone disagree?
After what I have seen in the senate, I can not disagree with your input.
Though I've seen a few who have intimated some sort of excuse or justification (slightly), I agree, overall, the consensus on this thread overwhelmingly supports your observations.
I would say, however, it's not so much that "Republicans" are this or that way (we do observe how RINO's operate), rather, overall, the people who are drawn to the Republican party are conservatives, whose world view and ideals more often than not operate on objective standards, principle and character....a mindset and traits found sorely lacking by those who are drawn to the democRat party.
ouch, sorry. Well, I guess you didn't want Cunningham representing you anyway!
It's been my observation over the years,... I started following politics since 1960 working for the 64 Goldwater campaign, ...that both parties have their sleaze bags.
However there is a big difference. Take your example ...Clinton. Impeached for obstruction of justice and lying. The Dems rallied around him and defended him. He kept his job. When Nixon committed the very same crime, obstruction and lying, he lost support from the Republicans. Goldwater personally went to the Whitehouse and told him it was over. In disgrace he resigned.
Republicans are, in general, more likely to be sincerely intolerant of lying and corruption. After all they have a significant Christian base to worry about. Dems merely see it as another gotcha moment to be used against Republicans. They look the other way when their side is caught lying or stealing.
Do you remember Senator Byrd in the well of the Senate admitting Clinton lied and obstructed justice, but he was to popular for us to convict
Compare for example the reactions of their colleagues to Dem. Barney Frank's "indiscretion" to that of Rep Bob Livingston's.
" I tell ya...I dont get no respect"
When he became an air ace, even shooting down three planes in a single day, in defense of our country, he was a good man (hero).
Shame that you missed the grade school lessons on verb tenses. Facts help too.
Why do liberals either seem to be unaware of or shy away from facts? You don't happen to be...no I guess not.
It's nice to know that so many of the Pharisees and keyboard jocks at FR are so immaculate of character and pure of conduct that they are comfortable casting first stones at a former warrior. Guess our soldiers coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan better keep their noses real clean, or we'll eat them too, eh?
ncountylee, don't let the b@st@rds get you down - some of us still have compassion for our brothers.
A Democrat would have appologized and the MSM would have "moved on".
Knowing Duke personally (related to my second wife) makes his actions terribly hurtful but his history, like those of McCain, Casey Sheehan and other men (one uncle has a Silver Star and my father has a Bronze Star)can be tarnished but not erased.
Duke Cunningham is a convicted felon and was a war hero.
That's the essential difference between Democrats and Republicans. A 'crat facing the same charges would have fought them tooth and nail, using "the meaning of 'is'"-type arguments. Cunningham, at root an honorable man, stood up and confessed his failings with a choked voice and a tear in his eye.
Democrats subscribe to the "any means necessary" philosophy because they don't generally believe in objective standards of ethics or morality. Corruption on a daily basis is simply part of the way they do business and they cover for each other like 'made' Mafiosi.
"A sad day, he was a good man."
Huh? He took a bribe. How is that being a good man? I'm sorry, but he did the crime. Time to do the time.
Yes. If they use their political office to line their own pockets, if they accept bribes for defense contracts, then we'll call them crooks and send them to jail too.
Are crooks not crooks, regardless of what else they've done in their lives? Or are war heroes somehow excused from responsibility for their actions?
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