RANDY DUKE CUNNINGHAM MAY BE A CONVICTED FELON IN PRISON BUT HE'S STILL A REPUBLICAN WHO HASN'T LEARNED A DAMN THING

One way to tell a Republican from a normal person is that a Republican will always blame everyone else when they get caught. Even when they do the politically correct thing and say "I take responsibility" for that-- which usually comes after denial, denial, denial, incontrovertible evidence that they're lying-- they don't actually mean they think they should take any of the consequences that go along with responsibility. Except for the headline you'd probably think I'm going to launch into an attack against Dennis The Menace Hastert. But, no, this is about the repulsive Family Cunningham.

Old Duke, now known as Inmate #94405198, is whining about rotting away in prison for taking around two and a half million dollars in bribes. And, of course, being a Republican, he blames everyone but himself. His rancor runneth over towards the newspaper and the reporter who broke the story and towards the contractor he gave menus to that delineated how much he wanted in bribes for particular earmarks he could get his still unindicted crony Jerry Lewis to approve.

"In a handwritten letter to the reporter who exposed his corruption, former Rep. Randy 'Duke' Cunningham portrays life in prison as an agonizing time of regret, anger and bitterness toward those he blames for his downfall. 'I hurt more than anyone could imagine,' Cunningham wrote from federal prison in North Carolina." They may not let him play golf but he's not doing hard time either. He's in a low security section and has it way too easy.

He refers to "gifts" he got, never bribes. And his animus towards the crooked Republican contractor, Mitchell Wade, who kept Cunningham-- as well as a dozen other as yet unindicted Republican congressmen-- in fat city for years, is palpable. "'Wade is the absolute devil and his lawyer is trying to save his donkey,' wrote Cunningham, reflecting his bitterness at what Wade has been telling federal investigators and the U.S. Attorney's Office. 'I should have said no to the gifts. For that, I am truly sorry.' Noting that he 'cannot discuss the case,' Cunningham nonetheless said that '90 percent' of the case against him came from Wade, downplaying the role of another of his alleged co-conspirators, Brent Wilkes, founder of Poway-based ADCS Inc. 'Wade, not Wilkes, has destroyed a lot of people,' he wrote."

Sorry? Like Hastert, Cunningham is "truly sorry" he got caught. People who are actually sorry don't blame the people who caught them or their co-conspirators. They know well exactly who to blame. Cunningham isn't there yet and Hastert isn't even close. He also professes some kind of religious conversion, as many scoundrels do... last resort and all. But the hatred he has towards those who "betrayed" him doesn't sound very religious. He's still accusing the newspaper of libel, insisting Wade pretended to be his friend and claiming his bribes somehow went to benefit the community.

A couple days ago the wife finally made a deal with the Feds to plead guilty to a small part of her role in Cunningham's treachery. She reluctantly gave up her absurd claims on the goodies the bribe money bought but she won't have to go to prison. It's interesting to read in light of the sob story she fed Kitty Kelley last summer.

"'Nancy Cunningham conceded violating U.S. tax laws and agreed to cooperate with federal investigators in what has become a national probe into bribes for defense contracts. Claimant (Nancy Cunningham) admits and acknowledges that the United States' agreement not to seek criminal charges against her is not based on a lack of evidence that she committed criminal tax offenses,' according to the agreement filed yesterday in San Diego federal court. 'However, in light of her willingness to accept financial responsibility for her actions, her willingness to cooperate with the United States' ongoing investigations, and the remaining terms and conditions of this agreement, the United States has elected not to pursue criminal charges against Claimant.'"