Top Gun CUNNINGHAM: I broke the law, concealed my conduct and disgraced my office.

"Matt Whiting" wrote in message
...
Jay Honeck wrote:

Cunningham is now serving a federal prison term for bribery. The San
Diego Republican was sentenced yesterday to eight years and four
months for taking bribes from at least three defense contractors.


This whole thing is so sad. Duke Cunningham was always one of my
heroes, and to see him completely fall from grace is stunning. What a
stupid, stupid thing to do.

Just goes to show you that a great fighter pilot doesn't necessarily
make an honest politician, I guess.

Is there such a person as an honest politician? I don't think those two
words can appear in the same sentence anymore.


Matt

Cunningham is a pariah in the fighter community. I talk to these people
every day. He's toast!
As for the honest politicians; there are indeed a few honest politicians who
run for office. Unfortunately, the instant they arrive to take that office,
they learn immediately that the system itself is so corrupt that no honest
politician can function there and survive.
Dudley Henriques

Cunningham is a pariah in the fighter community. I talk to these people
every day. He's toast!

Echo that - we have one of his aircraft on display and essentially, no
one wants to mention him when a tour goes past it. If visitors bring
him up, it is universally for the same reason, to deride and insult
him. My history with him is negative but most of our former military
pilots on staff were quite stout supporters of him, until his great "I
have sinned against yooooouuuuu!" speech. Now, its impossible to find
someone that isn't disgusted with him.

As for the honest politicians; there are indeed a few honest politicians who
run for office. Unfortunately, the instant they arrive to take that office,
they learn immediately that the system itself is so corrupt that no honest
politician can function there and survive.

I agree. From the moment a person gets elected, he has to begin the
process of getting RE-elected, with all the ass-kissing and kow-towing
that such an accomplishment requires. End result is that instead of
following their own principles, a freshman representative ends up
having to adopt whatever positions and views their new benefactors can
coerce them to accept. Its sad. I watched an idealistic young family
man rise up from the masses to become a representative here in San
Diego and within a couple years, his votes could be accurately
predicted by following which companies had donated money to his
reelection campaign. Worse, he is now righteously indignant when such
conduct gets pointed out by the media. Our system is broken. The
people who benefit from it being broken are the only ones that are in a
position to fix it, so its going to STAY broken. Duke was simply the
post child for the whole system.

v/r
Gordon

"Gordon" wrote

My history with him is negative but most of our former military
pilots on staff were quite stout supporters of him, until his great "I
have sinned against yooooouuuuu!" speech. Now, its impossible to find
someone that isn't disgusted with him.

Care to give us a little insight on what the "I have sinned against
yooooouuuuu!" speech is all about?
--
Jim in NC

On 7 Jul 2006 20:44:49 -0700, "Gordon" wrote in
. com::

Our system is broken. The
people who benefit from it being broken are the only ones that are in a
position to fix it, so its going to STAY broken.

Are you saying that the corporations who pay the bribes, for surely
they reap the most benefit from them, are the ones that are in a
position to make the US Congress ethical and honest? Perhaps that is
correct; all that has to be proved is that their actually paid for
congressional favors. Once the corporations find that they are at
risk in paying bribes, they might think twice.

On 7-Jul-2006, "Gordon" wrote:

I agree. From the moment a person gets elected, he has to begin the
process of getting RE-elected, with all the ass-kissing and kow-towing
that such an accomplishment requires. End result is that instead of
following their own principles, a freshman representative ends up
having to adopt whatever positions and views their new benefactors can
coerce them to accept.

There's one exception I can think of: Senator Russ Feingold from Wisconsin.
No signs of corruption so far anyway, I should add. The guy certainly
stands up for what he believes no matter how unpopular it might be (the only
Senate vote against the Patriot Act for one), and to my knowledge no one has
ever accused him of kissing up to campaign contributors.
Scott Wilson

On 7 Jul 2006 19:45:45 -0700, "Jay Honeck" wrote
in . com::


Just goes to show you that a great fighter pilot doesn't necessarily
make an honest politician, I guess.

Perhaps it is more an alarming illustration of how pervasive the
corruption ethos of US Congress is. It appears that Cunningham was so
comfortable with malfeasance, that he was openly penning bribe demands
on his congressional notepad. He had apparently long ago lost sight
of the gravity of the crime he was committing out of naked avarice.

It makes you wonder how many hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribe
money he had stashed in his freezer*.


* http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...toryId=5421939

Jay Honeck wrote:

Just goes to show you that a great fighter pilot doesn't necessarily
make an honest politician, I guess.


Not to mention a chickenhawk, merely capable, fighter pilot.

On 8 Jul 2006 09:54:47 -0700, "
wrote:


Jay Honeck wrote:

Just goes to show you that a great fighter pilot doesn't necessarily
make an honest politician, I guess.


Not to mention a chickenhawk, merely capable, fighter pilot.

Ever been on the wing in the weather at night in a single-seat jet?

Didn't think so. "Merely capable" translates as pretty damn good in
terms of most folks capabilities.


Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
www.thunderchief.org
www.thundertales.blogspot.com

Ed Rasimus wrote:
Ever been on the wing in the weather at night in a single-seat jet?

Didn't think so. "Merely capable" translates as pretty damn good in
terms of most folks capabilities.

You're drifting off topic, Eddy. The topic isn't about whether I (or
any other poster, for that matter) has ever been a jet pilot. I
suspect most of the posters here, both conservative and liberal haven't
been. Are you putting us all down? The question is whether a
profoundly stupid mancan be a fighter pilot and also be elected to high
office.
The answer is obviouly "yes."

On 8 Jul 2006 10:41:37 -0700, "
wrote:


Ed Rasimus wrote:
Ever been on the wing in the weather at night in a single-seat jet?

Didn't think so. "Merely capable" translates as pretty damn good in
terms of most folks capabilities.

You're drifting off topic, Eddy. The topic isn't about whether I (or
any other poster, for that matter) has ever been a jet pilot. I
suspect most of the posters here, both conservative and liberal haven't
been. Are you putting us all down? The question is whether a
profoundly stupid mancan be a fighter pilot and also be elected to high
office.
The answer is obviouly "yes."

Since we've come to a first-name basis, Smackey, let me note that the
topic has been about fighter pilots and political office. You made the
"profoundly stupid" assertion without qualification.

While many posters here from both ends of the political spectrum
haven't been in the business, they also refrain from expressing
derogatory opinions about things of which they have little knowledge.

You seem unconstrained by that civility.

Can you describe how someone "profoundly stupid" can be a fighter
pilot? How do they overcome the hurdles to achieve that specialty? You
know, the degree, the commission, the physical requirements, the long
and competitive training program, the technology, maybe even the
intestinal fortitude to climb into a machine, load it with ten tons of
jet fuel and then light the ass on fire...or, maybe you're right!


Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
www.thunderchief.org
www.thundertales.blogspot.com