Cunningham, 63, an eight-term congressman and decorated Vietnam War pilot, admitted taking cash, antiques, a yacht, vacation expenses and money for his daughter's graduation party from several defense contractors between 2000 and 2005.
"I am resigning from the House of Representatives because I've compromised the trust of my constituents," Cunningham told reporters after a hearing in San Diego federal court.
He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud, bribery and tax evasion, as well as one count of failing to report more than $1 million in income in 2004.
Cunningham's fall was the latest scandal to hit the Republicans who have controlled Congress for over a decade.
Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Texas Republican, was indicted in September on charges of breaking his state's campaign finance laws. The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating stock sales by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican, and vice presidential aide Lewis Libby was charged last month with perjury over the leaking of a CIA operative's name.
So, three guys are under investigation and a fourth cops to what he was being accused of.
Might it be that all of them are guilty?
Might it be that we don't even need a court of law to know that they are guilty?
Might it be that all one has to do to see how illegal these guys are is to look at their actions?
Across the board (not just these four guys) Republicans are breaking rules and laws and the press nor the government are doing anything about it.
These four Republicans are like the tax evasion charge against Al Capone. It was what eventually brought Capone down, but we all know he was guilty of a lot worse. The difference here is that the crimes of the Bush 43 Administration are more or less out in the open. (I've blogged about them in my posts "[http://thepete.com/bush-43-admin-lies-breaks-fed-law-again/|BUSH 43 ADMIN LIES, BREAKS FED LAW AGAIN]" and "[http://thepete.com/uns-annan-iraq-attack-illegal/|UN’s ANNAN: IRAQ ATTACK ILLEGAL]")
Still, it's nice to at least see that at least one Republican evil-doer is facing time and not only that, is moral enough to admit that he did something wrong. It seems like Republicans are immature children, incapable of admitting mistakes--or worse--they're not able to learn from their mistakes. Cunningham, at least, could do this.
Will we see more cases like this one emerge?
Well, that depends on how many people are willing to do their jobs.
No comments:
Post a Comment