The Duke Cunningham scandal now has a twist that may make cable news channels take greater notice: prostitutes. The “news” channels can tittilate their audiences with sex talk under the pretext of criticizing corruption by an elected official.
The allegations are that Duke Cunningham, former Republican representative from California, got more than money from a defense contractor in exchange for favorable legislation and consideration with respect to defense spending. Cunningham is also suspected of having received prostitutes and free use of a limousine and hotel suites.
He seems to have forgotten the admonition of former Democratic Speaker of the California State Assembly Jesse Unruh:
If you can’t eat their food, drink their liquor, f*** their whores – and then vote against them, you have no business being here.
Old Duke appears to have aced the part about food, liquor, and whores, but forgotten the part about voting against them. TPM Muckraker has more of the details which involve hotel suites at the Watergate Hotel of all places.
The FBI investigation into the prostitution allegations apparently could involve as many as a half dozen members of Congress and, lefty blogosphere rumor has it, House Intel-Chair-turned-CIA Director Porter Goss.
If you vote against them, the whore supply dries up pretty fast.
If I were going to be a corrupt politician, I’d introduce legislation adverse to their interests and not let it get killed until they paid me off. Seems kind of dumb to suck up to the special interests when you can shake them down.
A Cook County judge caught up in the Greylord Investigations some twenty years ago used to extort money from the parties to litigation or else they wouldn’t get a “fair” trial. A bit like what you propose Doug.
This kind of activity has to stop. We need to have some kind of “contract with America” in response to this….
Now let’s compare all this to Clinton and Monica,impeachment and 2(or 3 ?) years of total government involvement with it all. It’s SO HARD to keep things in perspective so the good guys stay good and the bad guys are punished.