CORPORATE TOOL - RANDY "DUKE" CUNNINGHAM In November, Representative Duke Cunningham resigned in disgrace after pleading guilty to charges of bribery. He’s the epitome of a Republican – in bed with corporations and completely brazen. Cunningham was charged with felony conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud, wire fraud and tax evasion. Cunningham took at least $2.4 million in cash and gifts from these corporate contractors in exchange for aggressively pushing the interests of the Military Industrial Complex. Randy Cunningham was a military expert who first made it big as a CNN commentator in the late 1980s. In 1990, GOP cronies convinced him to run for office against Democrat Jim Bates who was dealing with charges of sexual harassment. Cunningham promised to be “a congressman we can be proud of.” Cunningham would not make anyone proud. His love of violence and his affection for the bizarre are unmistakeable. He once called for Vietnam War Protestors to “be lined up and shot” and later called for House Democrats to also “be lined up and shot.” Yes, a Republican Congressman called for the mass execution of Democrats and no one cared. If a Democrat had done that, he’d be in Gitmo. Cunningham would be revealed as hypocrite when it came to fighting the so-called “War on Drugs.” In September of 1996, Cunningham called out Bill Clinton for appointing what he felt were “soft on crime” judges. He wanted stiffer penalties and the death penalty for drug dealers. That’s right, the death penalty. However, Cunningham soon starting singing a different tune when his son was convicted of smuggling 400 lbs of marijuana across state lines. Despite the fact that his son tested positive for coke 3 times while on bail, Cunningham begged the judge for leniency. Another Republican who says one thing and does another. In 1997, Cunningham helped force the Pentagon to build a $20 million machine to digitize documents. When the military delayed implementing the system, Cunningham called for the resignation of Lou Kratz, the Pentagon official supervising the program. The reason, of course, for Cunningham’s strange behavior is that the developer of the machine was a defense contractor lavishly granting him gifts. In 1998, Cunningham told a group of prostate cancer survivors that a prostate test is “just not natural, unless maybe you’re Barney Frank.” Barney Frank is a fellow Congressman who happens to be gay. Cunningham’s blatant homophobia was celebrated by his fellow Republicans. Cunningham only got caught because he was so brazen (he deposited a $70,000 check in his own bank account.) But the Republican culture of corruption extends beyond just Cunningham. The entire party takes the overwhelming share of political donations from defense contractors, insurance companies, energy companies and monopolist retailers like Wal-Mart and Home Depot. Strangely enough, the Republicans vote in lockstep with the interests of the leaders of those industries. The reality is that the entire Republican Party embezzle our tax dollars. It’s a kick back scheme – they take our tax dollars, give out enormous corporate welfare, then the big corporations give it right back to the Republicans. And we’re told that there’s no money for social programs. The reason why we don’t have money for social programs is due to this particular brand of corporate evil. Shame on Representative Cunningham for getting caught, but shame on corporatist politicans everywhere for doing the exact same thing.