This is truly astoni****ng.
Read. Be patient. It's im****tant.
(If you're a Republican, be warned that the following
contains words of more than two syllables.)
Former Congressman Cunningham Gets Eight + years
By SETH HETTENA
Associated Press
3 Mar 06
SAN DIEGO - Former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who collected $2.4
million in homes, yachts, antique furni****ngs 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 meted out to a
congressman in decades.
Cunningham, who resigned from Congress in disgrace last year, was
spared the 10-year maximum by U.S. District Judge Larry Burns but was
immediately taken into custody. He also was ordered to pay $1.8
million in restitution for back taxes and forfeit $1.85 million in
valuables he received.
Cunningham accepted money and gifts including a Rolls-Royce and
$40,000 Persian rugs from defense contractors and others in exchange
for steering government contracts their way and other favors.
Federal prosecutors sought the maximum and his attorneys asked for
mercy, but Cunningham, choking up as he addressed the judge, focused
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.
"I made a very wrong turn. I rationalized decisions I knew were wrong.
I did that, sir," Cunningham said.
Much thinner than when he pleaded guilty in November - he said he has
gone from 265 pounds to 175 pounds since June - Cunningham had asked
to see his 91-year-old mother one last time before going to prison,
but was denied.
The judge, while crediting Cunningham for his military service and for
taking responsibility, questioned why he felt compelled to betray his
constituents and his colleagues for luxuries.
"You weren't wet. You weren't cold. You weren't hungry and yet you did
these things," Burns said. "I think what you've done is you've
undermined the op****tunity that honest politicians have to do a good
job."
The scale of his wrongdoing surpasses anything in the history of
Congress, according to official Senate and House historians. "In the
sheer dollar amount, it's unprecedented," Deputy House Historian Fred
W. Beuttler said Friday.
The longest term meted out to congressmen in the past four decades had
been eight years, handed to former Rep. James Traficant, D-Ohio, in
2002 for taking payoffs, and to former Rep. Mario Biaggi, D-N.Y., in
1988 for extorting nearly $2 million from a defense contractor.
Prosecutor Phil Halpern told the judge that while Cunningham was
living the good life "he was squandering precious tax dollars for,
among other things, systems the military didn't ask for, didn't need
and frequently didn't use."
Cunningham's attorney Lee Blalack asked for six years for the former
Navy "Top Gun" flight instructor and Vietnam War flying ace.
Cunningham, 64 and a congressman for 15 years, rubbed away tears while
Blalack addressed the court. He appeared to be crying quietly when
Blalack referred to his wartime service.
Blalack said that given Cunningham's age and history of prostate
cancer, "there is a significant likelihood" he would not survive a
10-year sentence, and that he already has suffered greatly.
"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 cru****ng
tax debt until the day he dies. He will go to jail until he's 70 years
old."
Prosecutor Jason A. Forge said Cunningham should not get a break for
committing crimes late in life, and doubted his apparent remorse,
pointing out that after the allegations emerged he spent months
falsely denying them.
"The fact of the matter is Mr. Cunningham went down kicking and
screaming," Forge said.
The sentence reverberated in Wa****ngton, D.C.
"It is my hope that Congressman Cunningham will spend his
incarceration thinking long and hard about how he broke the trust of
the voters that elected him and those on Capitol Hill who served with
him," House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., said in a statement.
Cunningham pleaded guilty Nov. 28 to tax evasion and a conspiracy
involving four others. It is among a series of GOP scandals:
Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff's guilty pleas in a corruption
investigation; a campaign-finance indictment that forced Rep. Tom
DeLay of Texas to step down as majority leader; a stock sale by Senate
Majority Leader Bill Frist that is under investigation; and the
indictment of Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff in the CIA
leak case.
The case against Cunningham began when authorities started
investigating his sale of his Del Mar house to defense contractor
Mitchell Wade for $1,675,000, a price inflated by $700,000.
Wade admitted giving Cunningham more than $1 million in gifts,
including a yacht, cash, cars, antiques and meals. He pleaded guilty
last month to conspiring with Cunningham, among four corruption
charges that carry a maximum prison term of 20 years.
Wade's company, MZM Inc., which does classified intelligence work for
the military, donated to Cunningham's campaigns and received more than
$150 million in Defense Department contracts beginning in 2002.
Three other co-conspirators were included in Cunningham's plea
agreement but no charges have been announced.
The judge recommended that Cunningham serve his sentence at a federal
prison in Taft, Calif. Time off for good behavior could cut his
sentence to about seven years.
A special election to fill Cunningham's seat is set for April 11. The
district is heavily Republican but Democrats hope to capture it; their
candidate Francine Busby is to deliver the party's weekly radio
address on Saturday.
-End AP story-
===
As I wrote yesterday to the Associated Press and the
miscreant who wrote this piece of crap . . .
Note that this story fails to mention that this
crooked, bribe-taking scumbag is a REPUBLICAN.
(Actually, it does, sort of, albeit surreptitiously.
Those who actually read down to the 20th
paragraph in this 26-paragraph story [few can be
expected to, of course, and many AP-member
newspapers would cut this article well above the 20th
paragraph] are informed only that the
case "is among a series of GOP scandals." By way
of contrast, the Wa****ngton Post put Cunningham's
political affiliation it the second paragraph of its
own, in-house-written story).
The fascinating thing is that the above story is the
third by the same writer in three days to omit this
hardly insignificant fact.
As a working journalist myself, I'm fully aware that
inadvertently leaving a crucial detail out of a news
story is possible. But innocently omitting it from
three stories in as many days is not.
===
[Here is Hettena's article from the *previous* day:
Ex-Congressman to Be Sentenced for Fraud
By SETH HETTENA, Associated Press Writer
SAN DIEGO - Former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who pleaded guilty to
corruption on a scale unparalleled in the history of Congress, is
asking a federal judge to spare him the maximum sentence.
Cunningham, who resigned last year in disgrace after pleading guilty,
was scheduled to be sentenced Friday for accepting $2.4 million from
defense contractors and others in exchange for steering government
contracts their way.
"I am ready to pay my debt to society," Cunningham wrote to U.S.
District Judge Larry Burns last month. "With God's grace, I will
accept your sentence without complaint."
Federal prosecutors have urged the judge to impose the maximum of 10
years in prison, the longest term ever for a congressman.
Defense attorneys have asked for a sentence of six years in prison for
the 64-year-old former Navy "Top Gun" flight instructor and Vietnam
War flying ace. Given Cunningham's age and history of prostate cancer,
a 10-year sentence "would likely be a death sentence," they said.
"His own misconduct has already left him penniless, homeless,
estranged from those he loves and disgraced in the eyes of his
countrymen," Cunningham's lawyers wrote in a sentencing memorandum.
Prosecutors have also asked that Cunningham be ordered to pay nearly
$1.6 million in taxes and forfeit his interest in a 7,628-square foot
mansion he sold in December for $2.6 million.
The staggering details of Cunningham's wrongdoing surpass anything in
the history of Congress, Senate and House historians said. His bribes
included a Rolls-Royce, a yacht, homes, travel, meals, Persian rugs
valued at $40,000 each and various antique furni****ngs.
"In the sheer dollar amount, he is the most corrupt," said Deputy
House Historian Fred W. Beuttler. "The scale of it is unprecedented."
Cunningham pleaded guilty Nov. 28 to tax evasion and a conspiracy
involving four others. Defense contractor Mitchell Wade pleaded guilty
last month to plying Cunningham with more than $1 million in gifts
over four years. The remaining three alleged coconspirators have been
identified as Brent Wilkes, a San Diego defense contractor; New York
businessman Thomas Kontogiannis and John T. Michael, Kontogiannis'
nephew.
===
[And here is Hettena's previous article:]
Prosecutors: Cunningham Bullied Officials
By SETH HETTENA, Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
SAN DIEGO, (AP) -- Former Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham bullied
Defense Department officials as he worked to ensure deals for
contractors who had bribed him with gifts and cash, federal
prosecutors said in court papers Tuesday.
Cunningham, 64, a once-powerful member of the House Defense
Appropriations Committee, is scheduled to be sentenced Friday for
accepting $2.4 million in bribes in exchange for steering government
work to defense contractors.
Prosecutor's (sic) said there was no way to distinguish between
defense contracts funded through Cunningham's intervention or
legitimate means, according to court documents.
They claim Cunningham berated Pentagon employees and tried to get them
fired for withholding money from two contractors.
"In short, Cunningham acted exactly the way one would expect of a
congressman who had been bought for more than $2.4 million,"
prosecutors said.
Defense attorney Lee Blalack did not return a call for comment
Tuesday.
Prosecutors said the former "Top Gun" flight instructor and Vietnam
War flying ace used his congressional influence to obtain contracts
for contractor Mitchell Wade at the Counterintelligence Field Agency,
a secretive organization created after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to
protect the Defense Department from espionage and terrorism. Its size
and budget are secret.
Wade's company, MZM Inc. of Wa****ngton, D.C., collected $163 million
between 2002 and 2005 for its work at CIFA and other agencies.
Wade pleaded guilty last week to plying Cunningham with a yacht, cash,
cars, antiques and meals — more than $1 million in gifts over four
years. He also admitted his role in a second, separate conspiracy in
which he did favors for defense officials in return for their help in
awarding contracts to his company. The Pentagon employees were not
named in court filings.]
-End AP story-
===
The inescapable conclusion is that Seth Hettena
deliberately withheld Cunningham's political
affiliation from his readers -- and that his employer,
the Associated Press wire service, either ordered this
omission, its editors failed to spot it (thereby
exposing astoni****ng editorial incompetence)
. . . or acquiesced in it.
(Or -- if one is inclined to be wildly paranoid -- the
omission [or fact-burying, if you prefer] was ordered
by the White House or the Republican National
Committee.)
In any case, the Associated Press has now proven
itself -- like the execrable Fox News -- to be a
wholly unreliable source of credible news re****tage
whose product ought to be viewed with the greatest
skepticism by both its member newspapers and other
media, as well as the thinking public.
===
And now, while we're on the subject of corruption,
it's fair -- necessary, actually -- to point out that
when it comes to blatant, outrageous political
corruption, it is, in the United S****s, almost
always REPUBLICANS (and other conservatives)
who are the bribe-takers, extortionists, liars and
thieves. Certainly, there have been Democrats
who've been so tainted, but the vast majority of
corrupt and venal politicians are and have always
been REPUBLICANS.
The following story provides some illumination.
===
Trickle Down Republican Corruption; Poll Results show right wing
corruption exists at all levels
by Rob Kall
It's clear that, at the top, the Republican Party, led by George Bush,
Dick Cheney, Bill Frist, Denny Hastert, and until recently, Tom DeLay,
has been thoroughly corrupt.
It's clear that the rank and file Republican members of congress have
been rubberstamping the crooked, unconstitutional, anti-democratic
moves of their leaders, deferring ethics rules, attempting to pass
laws that make the Bush team's lawbreaking legal.
In the OpEdNews.com /Zogby People's poll of 850 Pennsylvania voters,
we found that Republicans were far more likely to expect corruption.
We asked, "Who is more corrupt, if at all, Republicans or Democrats?"
48% of respondents said Republicans and 9% said Democrats. 41% said
both equally. Women said 60% Republicans and 4% Democrats. But it gets
most interesting when you compare Republicans and democrats, looking
at the crosstabs.
83% of Democrats said Republicans were corrupt, compared to 6% of
Republicans saying that Republicans are corrupt Only 21% of
Republicans said Democrats are corrupt and only one percent of
Democrats said Democrats are corrupt. Most interesting, 71% of
Republicans said that both parties are equally corrupt, whereas only
14% of Democrats say both parties are equally corrupt.
If you add up the percentage of Republicans who say that Republicans
are corrupt and both parties are corrupt you get a total of 77% of
Republicans saying that Republicans are corrupt, compared to 15% of
Democrats saying Democrats are corrupt. What does this mean?
Republicans assume their representatives are corrupt because they
think everyone is corrupt. That's the mindset of a culture of
corruption. They see they world as corrupt and they accept it. Let's
take a closer look.
There's the Republican base. Our OpEdNews.com / Zogby People's poll
asked, Do you agree or disagree that Churches, Synagogues and Mosques,
or other places of wor****p would l ose their tax exempt status if they
openly and actively sup****t politicians or political parties?" Seventy
percent of voters sup****t this. The one demographic group that
disapproved was the "very conservatives" Less than 1% of Democrats
identify themselves as very conservative. 22% of Born agains identify
themselves as very conservative. After "very conservatives, the next
demographic group that opposed revoking tax exempt status was the Born
Agains. I think they oppose this because they've been doing it --
violating the law against churches getting actively into politics. The
majority of Americans -- 70% oppose this. These people are extremists
who believe they have the right to break the law. It's trickle down
corruption, trickle down law breaking, trickle down absence of
integrity. These self-righteous, sanctimonious extremists are breaking
the law. Their churches should be taxed. Their leaders should be
charged with violating the law, and laws should be made tougher to
prevent these abuses. Meanwhile, people on the left should organize
"church-watches" which monitor, especially right before elections,
activities and services in right wing churches.
Then there's the corruption that surrounds the voting and election
process. Democrats in the house and senate have entered bills that
would make the voting process safer and more reliable. Republicans
have failed to respond. At local levels, Republicans seem to have done
all they can to keep the voting, vote counting, voter registration and
voter access as untrustworthy, unfair and inaccessible for Democrats
as possible. This is treacherous-- an attack on Democracy that should
be punishable, in its worse forms, as a capital offense. Sorry, for
most reasons, I oppose the death penalty, but when the most basic,
core element of democracy-- the vote-- is "murdered" there is only one
punishment that fits the crime-- the same one applied to traitors.
Then there's the Republican position on cleaning up the money in
politics -- in elections and in congress. The right wingers want to
keep the money in. In our OpEdNews.com/Zogby People's Poll, we found
that 66% of voters, want to take the money factor out of elections by
providing a fixed amount of money to qualified candidates, and 65% of
voters sup****t a law that would require network and local TV stations
to provide free ad time to qualified candidates. But just over 50% of
Republicans oppose taking the money out, and while more Republicans
sup****t a law requiring free advertising for qualified candidates,
that percentage doesn't reach 50%. The Republicans want to keep the
influence buying, the ability of cor****ations and wealthy people to
influence elections, at the price of a purer democratic process.
I've been saying that part of the process of taking back America is
waking people up.
I've been saying that the only people left sup****ting Bush are either
corrupt, greedy rich parasites who are tax avoiders and fools.
But I need to modify that. These people are all tolerating an
unbelievable level of corruption. These people MUST have impaired
integrity and impaired character.
There is hope for those right wingers who are finally waking up and
seeing how bad the Republicans have been. Those Republicans who HAVE
awakened MUST go to their legislators and tell them it is time to
impeach both Bush and Cheney. One factor that may make a major
difference in this year's elections is the response from moderates.
Forty eight percent of them say republicans are corrupt, compared to
one percent saying Democrats are. Frankly, there are enough DLC
Republicrats so I think they are estimating too low. But the writing
is on the wall. Unless Republicans take major steps to change the
situation, they will be in deep doo doo this fall.
It is time for the people on the right to either wake up and face the
corruption they've allowed or accept that they are co-conspirators
guilty of helping the crimes and corruption to continue.
[Rob Kall is editor of OpEdNews.com, President of Futurehealth, Inc,
and organizer of several conferences, including StoryCon, the Summit
Meeting on the Art, Science and Application of Story and The Winter
Brain Meeting on neurofeedback, biofeedback, Optimal Functioning and
Positive Psychology.']
--
The Republican party is the deadly enemy of peace,
freedom, justice and human rights everywhere.
The world won't be safe until its destruction is
complete.
-Ivan Gowch
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