Sometime very soon, Randy "Duke" Cunningham will receive his sentence from the judge. The maximum penalty is 10 years in prison. Frankly, a truly remorseful Duke Cunningham should just accept the judgment of the court, and serve the time he is given.
But even now, after everything he has admitted to doing, he has his lawyers trying to lesson his sentence, to shave as much as 40% off of the decade behind bars that is his due. From the San Diego U-T:
“This man has been humiliated by his own name,” Blalack said. “He is estranged by those he knows. He will go to jail. Under that scenario, no member of Congress can conclude that he got away.
“Given his age, health, life service . . . six years does it.”
I’m not quite sure how to best say this so I will just shout it out:
TEN YEARS IN PRISON IS TEN YEARS TOO SHORT, IN MY OPINION, FOR WHAT DISGRACED CONGRESSMAN "DUKE" DID TO THIS COUNTRY.
- Duke Cunningham shattered many people’s faith in a democratic republican.
- Duke Cunningham betrayed a Republican Party that believed in him, and fought for him.
- Duke Cunningham turned out to be a petty thief and a scoundrel.
- Duke Cunningham took money in his pocket and gave away government funds that weren’t his to give.
I understand that Cunningham is getting older, and that he may very well be brimming with remorse and regret. Frankly, as someone who walked precincts for Duke, who knows Duke — I don’t care.
At this point, America and the world are looking to see how seriously our justice system measures out appropriate punishment.
Judge, it is time to throw the proverbial book at Cunningham, and don’t think twice about it.
March 3rd, 2006 at 12:00 am
“…a psychiatrist who said Cunningham’s corruption stemmed from “an outsized ego…” Oh come on now! If egos were a valid defense then everyone in D.C. could do whatever they wanted to.