Rep. "Duke" Cunningham in a whole heap o' trouble!

[Bluebear]

SAN DIEGO - U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham has a reputation for both brashness and emotion. The tough-talking former Navy "Top Gun" fighter pilot once said that President Clinton's anti-war activities during the Vietnam War would result in being "tried as a traitor and even shot" if he had lived in another country. He has also unleashed nasty attacks on political opponents and cried during speeches.

But he was nearly silent for almost two weeks after the story broke this month that he had sold his house for nearly $1.7 million to a campaign contributor and close friend — whose company was enjoying a rush of new business with the Pentagon.

Federal authorities are now investigating the sale. Although any prosecution would be difficult, the scandal has been front page news in Cunningham's wealthy northern San Diego County district and could threaten his 15-year congressional career....

"I would advise him to resign," said Cynthia Vicknair, a San Diego political consultant who works with Republicans. "What the Republicans don't need is a primary in which they have a damaged candidate. Damaged is what he is right now."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050625/ap_on_go_co/congressman_s_house

[Rick Myers]

1. Duke, I suggest the Gitmo Diet...

Gotta get in shape for the trial!

[AX10]

2. Resign Now Randy. Your presence is bringing shame upon...

the Congress and the Military. Randy must resign now!

[LightningFlash]

3. And guess who else shops with christo fascists? Rep. Doc Hastings!!!

What do we have here, a full scale happy family?

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002347954_hastings25m.html

He also received campaign contributions from BNFL and one of its employees.

BNFL won a $6.9 billion federal contract in 1998 to convert 54 million gallons of nuclear waste into glass for permanent storage. The contract was promoted by Hastings, who offered amendments to the Defense Authorization Act to pay for Hanford projects, including BNFL work.

But in October 1998, the General Accounting Office began questioning the contract as too lucrative for the company. Hastings continued to defend the contract.

The trip to the U.K. took place in January 2000. Four months later, the Department of Energy abruptly terminated the BNFL deal when it learned the cost could soar to $15.2 billion.

The 2004 trip to Stuart Island was paid for by the Washington Group International, according to the Web site PoliticalMoneyLine. Washington Group International, based in Idaho, is a major contractor with the U.S. government in Iraq and also is involved in the Hanford cleanup. The company was Hastings' top contributor to his 2004 re-election, giving $10,200.

Hastings, accompanied by a family member, spoke at an energy symposium during the $3,170 trip.

The ethics committee has been stalled for six weeks. Democrats, led by ranking member Alan Mollohan of West Virginia, declined to meet after Hastings proposed making his longtime chief of staff, Ed Cassidy, staff director for the committee.

Mollohan said that violates rules that say professional staffers who take part in investigations of House members must be nonpartisan and elected by committee members.

"I don't think it's possible to make the rule clearer," he said. "It is very simple."

Because the committee isn't meeting, "issues are piling up," said longtime political writer Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. "You have the DeLay issue and several others involving lobbyists' payments and gifts to other Republicans."

There's also the long-standing issue involving Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Seattle, who leaked an illegal recording of a cellphone call by another congressman.

Hastings was named chairman of the ethics committee in February, after Republicans ousted their colleague Rep. Joel Hefley of Colorado. Hefley had led several investigations of previous allegations involving DeLay, resulting in three admonitions from the committee.

Published reports this week said Hastings is fed up with continuing unfavorable publicity and calls for him to step aside as chairman.

"It's time he stepped down and appointed an independent counsel to clear up these investigations," Common Cause press secretary Mary Boyle said.

But Mollohan disagrees. "We need to be able to show that Congress can investigate itself and demand appropriate behavior. If we can't make our own committee work, what does it say about our commitment to ethics?"

[Gabi Hayes]

4. could be kinda hard to run from the hoosegow

he's been unfairly ignored....lots of hilarious quotes, public displays of insanity on the record

his outbursts make the Dean Scream look like something muttered sotto voce

[Bluebear]

9. You and me, on the case my friend!

Cunningham told the Washington Post that Democrats in Congress "ought to be lined up and shot ...

http://www.nerofiddled.blogspot.com/

[Vickers]

5. He's the traitor. Top Gun? More like Top Goon.

:eyes:

[peekaloo]

6. Jon Stewart busted him for using the flag burning amendment as a

smokescreen for this.

HA!


Suck on it Dookie.

[FreedomAngel82]

18. Looks like Jon was right!

[ewagner]

7. Dammit Randy!

You've made great political capital by boasting your "Top Gun" reputation for almost 20 years...and now you have disgraced the image.

Dammit Randy!

I admired you for your service even if I didn't agree with your politics....and now you've tarnished even that...

Dammit.

Resign.

that's all. just. get. out.

[Gabi Hayes]

11. admired him for what, bombing innocent civilians in a country

we invaded?

Wait! Isn't he too old to have served in Iraq?

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

8. What apparently happened is that his house in Del Mar, an expensive area,

was valued at about 1 million bucks, and was purchased through a company belonging to this defense contractor guy for 1.7 million. The contractor apparently has business that is directly affected by Cunningham.

The contractor promptly sold the home again for about 1 million, around the home's true value.

This is a tony area in SAN DIEGO folks. Unless you haven't been paying attention, property values have been going up up up through the roof. Homes there don't depreciate by half in a short time. That day may yet come when the bubble bursts but it's not on us yet.

What it looks like is that Cunningham has taken a 700,000 bribe. The money was "laundered" through this company but what happened is clear.

Throw him on the heap with DeLay and the rest of the Repubs on the take.

[ewagner]

10. And.....

Cunningham is apparently living aboard that same Defense Contractor's yacht mored at the DC yacht club without paying for it...Randy says he is but has yet to provided any kind of proof.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

15. Wow. Didn't even know that. No wonder dude has been silent the

last 2 weeks. Trying to gin up some "rent receipts" real fast!

The shameless of guys like this or DeLay'ed knows no bounds. I guess since they know their homey is in power they figure they can get away with pretty much anything and don't even bother to be too subtle with it...

[Gabi Hayes]

12. the home sat VACANT for quite some time, and was grossly overpriced

the realtor who handled it is also undergoing scrutiny

not bad, a seven hundred K investment which yielded something like 40 MILLION in government business, after going for several years doing almost squat

makes *'s investment in the Rangers look like small potatoes

[Career Prole]

13. I knew him when...

We made a cruise together on the USS Ranger in '76 when he was the skipper of our sister squadron.
He was cool then. Honest.
Duke, I salute your service but now you're just another repuke crook.
Time for you to go.

[ewagner]

32. That's what I thought too

He was a great fighter pilot and I admire men and women who have the guts to land a 20 ton airplane traveling at 120kts on a pitching, rolling flight deck.

In the documentary on Duke on the old Discovery Wings Channel he was interviewed about the aftermath of his first MiG "kill". He said that there was jubilation at first and then one of his shipmates asked him "What does it feel like to kill somebody?" Duke said it struck him hard and he spent the rest of the night in his bunk contemplating the question. The jubilation of the air-to-air competition came face-to-face with the reality that it was life and death.

I admired him because he was thoughtful enough to understand that.

But look what has happened to him now.

[oasis]

14. Just another slimy GOP rat. (eom)

[Bluebear]

16. On a side note, did he just get out of a tanning bed?

Are those goggle impressions on his fat red face?

[FreedomAngel82]

17. Another hypocrite

Go figure!

[Algomas]

19. OMG, look at that face!! He's the poster boy for Bu$hco.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

20. Yeah I thought it was Ed Meese for a sec! "Where's my trough!"

I guess he's been feeding at it for a while...

[whalerider55]

21. on a more rovian note...

(notice how "rovian" is started to enter the national lexicon- you can use it and everybody knows exactly what you need)

... with an ethics committee deadlock, and issues piling up (some dems, but mostly pugs) why WOULD we want the Duke to take a dive? What are the chances some pug would run against this gored boor; what are the chances a dem could take the seat? better if he ran...

once upon a time, Nick "Nicky HighPockets" Mavroules was my congressman. He was under investigation for taking bucks from defense contractors to steer contracts their way. he said he was innocent, and stayed in, beating a great dem in the primary. he was in the process of being outed by a wack job son in law, and it was a pretty brutal scene.

then he lost the election to a guy whose only job had been a scout leader before being elected to the Legislature. turned the seat over to the pugs for four years.

the day after the election, he pleaded no contest to to the charges.
happened right here in the peoples republic of massachusetts.

let cunningham stay right where he is. we know where he lives. Pun intended.

whalerider

[Gabi Hayes]

23. rovian sure rolls off the tongue a hell of a lot easier than, say...

Goebellsian, doesn't it?

[whalerider55]

26. or perhaps

"gerbilsian"?

whalerider

[Gabi Hayes]

29. not that there's anything wrong with that

QED

btw, did you hear that some restaurant in Japan is starting to sell whaleburgers?

read a very brief blurb about it on the front page of the WSJ on Thursday

[whalerider55]

31. yeah

and the frickin irony is that for years, the japanese hunted mostly sperm whales, which are inedible, but yield a high grade lubricating oil which the rooskies used for their ICBM's.

it's always about the frickin' oil.

whalerider

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

24. I understand your point, but there has to be SOME sense that you just

can't get away with whatever you want. There are some kind of limits. If you are rampantly corrupt, and discovered, you will be forced out or resign.

I realize this is not likely to happen, yet, with shrubco or even Delay, but at least let SOMEONE lose their office over their crimes.

[whalerider55]

25. that is my point...

nicky paid. he eventually paid, after taking the party down with him.

i keep stumbling across the Martin Luther King quote, which I can only paraphrase- "history takes a winding path, but it always bends towards justice".

please don't misunderstand... i have a complete and utter belief in this idea, that justice is the balancing out of the scales, and that it may take years, but it will happen.

to put it more crassly; watch your karma- when you put shit out into the universe, you better travel with one of those Costo sized 24-packs of toilet paper.

whalerider

[Gabi Hayes]

27. why do you think Orwell wrote 1984?

also, look what it took to get rid of Hitler

look what it took to get rid of Nixon....if it hadn't been for the tapes, it wouldn' have happened

the press reFUSED to take part in what the Post was working on for a very long time, and only then, when it became obvious to all just how insanely powercrazed/greedy these 'creeps' were.

it's different today, because the media are ACTIVELY doing all they can to prop up this regime, and I don't know what it's going to take to change direction

[DemonFighterLives]

22. Franken and Big Eddy have been on the case

Quite the coincidence that the yacht is named the Dukester.
Guards, take him away!

[Gabi Hayes]

28. actually, it's Duke Stir

Sam Seder took the lead, btw, and has spent more time on it than Al

As for big Ed, I can't listen to him

[Redstone]

30. Duke, Duke, how the fuck did you let yourself sink so low?

You were a Man once. Now you're just one of Them.

Maybe it's Col. Toon's revenge.

Redstone