Not enough outrage over the Duke

The Randy 'Duke' Cunningham bribery probe is apparently widening. The CIA Inspector General has announced an investigation into the number three man in the agency, who ABC tells us is connected to friends of Cunningham. Frankly speaking, there just hasn't been enough outrage about Cunningham from conservatives. Consider this my contribution.

Let's get these excuses out of the way upfront: "everyone does it, he might as well get his share", or "he was a decorated fighter pilot". Pretty lame. The Duke's so-called bribery menu was one of the finest examples of creative arrogance you'll ever see, but it's just a microcosm of the greed our society tolerates. Capitalism unrestrained by morals is a disaster. America is a very rich nation and we all know that money corrupts completely. The glaring irony is while all this was transpiring private parties were busy filing lawsuits to remove the 10 Commandments from government buildings.

Of course that's not all. The Cunningham mess should raise another big ole red flag--the cozy relationship between contractors and government agencies. We've all heard about 300 dollar hammers before, so it's nothing new, but we're at war. That makes what Cunningham did worse.

But let's be fair here. While ABC describes the Duke's corruption as breathtaking and unprecedented, such actions are common throughout all levels of government, including state and local levels. Case in point, there are currently similar bribery allegations swirling about the Mayor of Memphis.

Better oversight of ALL government-private contracts is clearly needed, but until the public is sufficiently outraged it ain't gonna change. Tell me, is there really any difference between Cunningham's actions and Joe Sixpack paying a contractor 500 bucks less when he knows they're using illegal aliens, or accepting payment for a job under the table?

THE VERDICT IS IN 3/3/06

Eight years and four months. A bit more than Trafficant got for doing less. Hopefully this sends a loud message, but I can't help feeling sad for this man's downfall, and for his family.