Cunningham Friends Baffled By His Blunder Into Bribery

Navy Ace-Turned-Congressman Didn't Act Like Big Spender

(snip)

Those who worked for Cunningham and who have associated with him on the Hill said they saw none of the trappings of extravagance. His biggest joy, they said, was skeet shooting, for which he won an award from the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus. The joke at his office used to be, one former aide said, that he shopped at Costco and bought three of everything to save money. A defense lobbyist who knows Cunningham well and golfed with him said that the congressman never had his hand out with him. "I'm just stunned," the lobbyist said. "He was a 'dems' and 'dose' kind of guy, a little rough around the edges -- a regular guy."

(snip)

On his first trip back to Vietnam, Cunningham sat down with Vietnamese officials for a formal dinner, and his first words of the evening were: "You gooks shot me down."

"It's not exactly the way to start a diplomatic dinner," said Moran, who was on the trip with Cunningham. "I told him quietly that he had bombed them, too."

(snip)

A friend had another explanation: "I know what happened, and I know how it happened," Nesby said. "It's really very simple. In the political arena, what at first seems abnormal becomes normal. . . . It's very easy in this environment for one to lose their moral compass."

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/03/AR2005120301046.html

It seems to be a prerequisite to being a GOP office holder.

The situation is tragic.

But NO ONE will EVER convince me that he is falling on the sword to avoid attention to others in this most-corrupt administration. "They" told him to take a plea - otherwise, he would be coming to trial next year just before the election.

With him taking a plea, the sheeple, top Rethugs think, will forget about Rethuglican corruption by Nov. 2006.

Cunningham reminds me of a certain dogmatic, Puglican relative of mine, who was brave at one time, but then just mosied down the wrong path. Seemed to believe that there would be no consequences to harming other people.

How about the million + dollar house? How about the Rolls? I don't think these were really close friends at all. Maybe they thought they knew him, and all they really saw was an image!

It's like saying sure she wears a 20 carat diamond necklace and a fur coat, but it's not like she was drinking imported beer.

His only luxuries are yachts, million dollar houses, and Rolls-Royces - it's not like he wears silk and uses fancy proper English.

Their attempts to ensure he's not portrayed as "elite" are at once pathetic and outrageous.

I've personally restored 3 cars, and I have eto tell you, I cou;dn't afford a piece of shit Rolls! And for someone to say the new boat was no big deal is also BS! Did you see that boat????

I don't know much about Cunningham's past or if he went into Congress already having money. But I sure do know you can't acquire all those new things on a $155,000 a year!!!!!

Do they even care anymore how contemptuous they sound?

"Those who worked for Cunningham and who have associated with him on the Hill said they saw none of the trappings of extravagance...."

<snip>

"A source close to Cunningham's office pointed out that the Rolls-Royce was not in great shape, and that because Cunningham had previously lived on a boat, the new one did not draw any attention. "It's not like he was sitting around in a silk smoking jacket," the source said."

as long as it shows the truth side by side.

I mean a lot of people in Wisconsin didn't KNOW Jeffery Dahlmer ate little children after abusing them. Doesn't mean he didn't do it, just means that psycopaths can portray two totally different faces and don't have any real conscience about the lies that they live.

It seems that many in this administration are borderline personalities where they don't perceive themselves as being bound by the same laws as the rest of us.

He's a republican. He's a congressman. What's not to understand about corruption, lies, and bribery?