The Unauthorized Randy “Duke” Cunningham Page

We need an "affirmative action" for war heroes who slip up & give in to the many material temptations waved in a Congressman's face. Give 'em a break...

I hope the judge considers that the Duke repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire for this country. That's GOTTA' be worth a commuted sentence.

$2.4 million is just that — money. But courage and patriotism are priceless.

Let's get something straight here. 2.4M is not what the taxpayers are out due to his antics. That's just the inducement that was used to get him to support the wasting of much huger quantities of money — or at least, the part of it that the prosecutors were able to prove. It's impossible to say what the actual effect of his corruption is in dollars, but it has to be a much, much larger figure.

And money wasted by the government isn't "just money" — it equates to suffering and death of American citizens. That tax money was effectively taken by force, much of it from people who could ill afford it. It could have gone to feeding their families, buying health care or education, or letting them work one fewer job to avoid killing themselves with stress.

Morally and in its practical effects, it's exactly the same as robbing the poor to give to the rich. Just because it's the IRS and the police and the threat of prison that he used to pry loose these funds from their rightful owners, doesn't make it less reprehensible than if he went out there with a gun robbing people himself. The indirectness of it merely allowed him the illusion that he wasn't really doing any harm — an illusion you apparently share.

His reason for succumbing to this fantasy, is probably that nobody thinks they are a bad person. What your reason is, I can only speculate. Perhaps you are so committed to a political and religious agenda that it blinds you to the real evil done by some people who happen to share your views. If John Kerry had done this, would you be understanding? Or would you be out for blood? He's a war hero, too.

However honorable Duke's record in battle may have been, this does not give him license to ruin the lives of others for the rest of his days.

A couple of other points.

1. A real hero does not expect special treatment.

2. Your attempting to excuse this behavior does you no credit, and merely reinforces the impression a lot of people have, that the religious right are a bunch of fanatics who don't care whether they're voting for a villain or an idiot so long as he goes to the right church and wants to force everyone else to go there too.

PEOPLE LIKE DUKE CUNNINGHAM ARE THE FOUNDATION THIS COUNTRY WAS BUILT ON, AND I WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT, AND RESPECT WHAT HE HAS DONE FOR US. LT. SLAVIK, DETROIT FIRE DEPT.

You need to unlock your caps key.

MY NAME IS LT. SLAVIK, DETROIT FIRE DEPT. AND I FEEL THAT THE ONLY WAY PEOPLE WILL LISTEN TO ME, RESPECT MY POINT OF VIEW AND GIVE ME THE ATTENTION I SO RICHLY DESERVE IS TO WRITE IN CAPS AND IDENTIFY MY RANK AND ORGANIZATION (SOMETIMES MORE THAN ONCE IF I FEEL YOU MIGHT NAP DURING MY POST). I WOULD PROVIDE YOU WITH MY FIRST NAME; HOWEVER, MY COLLEGUES, FRIENDS, FAMILY, CAT, DOG, GOLDFISH AND THE LETTER CARRIER ALL REFER TO ME AS LT. SAVIK - SO YOU SHOULD TOO. I, LT. SLAVIK, AM MORE IMPORTANT THAN ALL OF YOU AND HAVE A GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THIS ISSUE THAN ANY OF YOU LESSER SOULS. ANYONE WHO DISAGREES WITH MY POINT OF VIEW MUST LEARN MORE. OF COURSE, YOU WILL NEVER KNOW MORE THAN ME SO WHY BOTHER. IN CASE YOU WERE SLEEPING, THIS IS LT. SLAVIK, DETROIT FIRE DEPT.

Dan - To quote from the movie, Spartcus, "Excellent thrust, difficult angle."

All sarcasm aside...as a veteren and one who lives in Duke's congressional district (Solana Beach, Ca) and having voted for him on many occassions, I always respected and held his military service in the highest regard (just as I respect Lt. Slavik's service a firefighter). I, like many others, allowed myself to overlook his character flaws, dissapointing voting record and sometimes mean-spirited and petty behavior all because of his valor and service to this nation.

Although I began to have some nagging doubts in the past few years, I was willing to continue to take Randy at his word and stand by him for no other reason than his service record (yes, I drank the cool-aid). I was wrong and am willing to admit it. He lied to me (and all of us) while engaging in some of the most egregious, selfish and arrogant behavior. I doing so, he has brought shame and dishonor to this country and to his own service. He certainly does not deserve a pass.

Having said that, I can find it in my heart to forgive him (I have made mistakes too). But he will have to earn it as we all do. Hopefully, he is sincere in his statement regarding turning the remainder of his life over to helping others and living an ethical life. If he does that, he may earn back some of the trust and respect that is worthy of his service. I want to believe that he isn't lying to us once again...we shall see.

Dan: Once again, a well considered, thoughtful post that gets to the heart of the matter in the voice of a concerned, reasoned and metered human being. Thank you for that and this website.

Paul: Damn it, but you're pretty funny and a welcome poster, as far as I am concerned.

Rex: A better statement one could not hope for. The utter distillation of what I believe to be right and just, without being cruel or petty. It would do well if more people where of your stripe sir.

Sean: One word: Owned. Perhaps you should read a bit more American history and books on civic logic. Wherever you went to college, if you did indeed go, I am sure the logic courses were offered as an elective.

LT. SLAVIK, DETROIT FIRE DEPT.: Sigh...Jezzz my head hurts. Reading your posts is like being inside a 1959 binary mainframe computer that is choking on antiquated "GOTO" commands and caught in a feedback loop. You DO NOT compute sir.

R. Middlemas . . . . your servant . . . . Good to still have some levity after today. It came out today, at the ole Wednesday meeting, that my company is 29% into an $8 million dollar fixed cost contract and my project bean counters just discovered that we are already 8% over budget! Those damn hurricanes have driven up the cost of everything concerning construction. I wonder if Randy can fade me a couple hundred grand?

As for LT. SLAVIK, damn, glad that he is not a CAPTAIN! Would require a Krell shaped door (Forbidden Planet) to get in and out of the room, and WOW what a fire helmet that would be!

R. M.: I greatly appreciate your feedback as well as the many intelligent and thought provoking posts by yourself, Paul, Rex and others. The manner in which you deal with the illogic and simple-mindedness (as demonstrated with your response to 'RICK' in another thread) is as admirable as it is enjoyable. Nicely done, sir.

Also, I am just one of the 'other' Dans who post on this site (it does indeed get confusing). I don't want to take credit for Dan Anderson's website and the outstanding efforts that he has made in exposing the truth about Randy and providing a forum for discussion - thank you Dan A.

Paul, what can I say - your wit has no equal and you bring a smile to my face. Because of your own Navy creds and time of service, you have brought a unique perspective regarding the Randy of old. I would suggest that anyone interested read Paul's 02 July 05 post titled: 'For Whom The Gods Would Destroy . . . .'
http://dukecunningham.org/phorum/read.php?admview=1&f=1&i=364&t=353

Thank you for that, sir.

Dan F.

Ah, shucks . . .

Oh, great news! We are only 7.347% over budget, not 8% . . . damn that makes my day! The bean counter that brought me this news was breathless in her quest to be a heroine. . . if my look could have killed, they would be hauling me away.

But, they've hauled away enough Naval Aviators for this season.

Imagine a man who was once a marine stood before a judge accused and convicted of a crime and his lawyer used his status of once being a marine as an excuse for leniency, wouldn't the judge be justified in stating that as a marine the man should have acted with the honor the marines demand and not gotten into trouble in the first place.

Being a veteran and a warrior does not come with a free pass of any kind. Veteran's all know that your medals and $3.99 will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks. It will get eyes upon you with the expectation of honor in all your doings. It might gain you the faith of others as a person who will take action when the chips are down. The betrayal of that faith is the most serious of crimes.

Theft, in whatever form, is considered one of the worst crimes in ALL the services. Those that gun another service member can always find sympathy from others in uniform as they consider various reasons for doing so, but theft will bring you nothing but condemnation because it has NO excuse.

Cunningham stole. He is a thief. It doesn't matter if it was only a dollar bill. It wipes any other actions away in an instant.

J. Pcok

Para #1 - True. It would be a dishonor to use that status.

Para # 2 - "The betrayal of that faith is the most serious of crimes." So very true.

Para # 3 - Absolutely on point.

Para # 4 - True.

Good points all and thanks for sharing these views so well.

The firing squad would be more appropriate. Screw the war record!

Nope no firing squad, too quick.

He has ruined himself, his history and will never recover from this one. He lives with this albatross around his neck forever.

I hate to say it, but I hope that he does not have a made for TV movie coming out of this. His plea agreement did not say that he could not profit from these events. Wouldn't that be the shits . . . he gets a freekin' movie deal out of this!