Demagogue

The Only Real Patriots Worship the Flag Amendment was passed by the House today.

The House on Wednesday approved a constitutional amendment that would give Congress the power to ban desecration of the American flag, a measure that for the first time stands a chance of passing the Senate as well.

By a 286-130 vote _ eight more than needed _ House members approved the amendment after a debate over whether such a ban would uphold or run afoul of the Constitution's free-speech protections.
...
Supporters said the measure reflected patriotism that deepened after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and they accused detractors of being out of touch with public sentiment.

"Ask the men and women who stood on top of the (World) Trade Center," said Rep. Randy (Duke) Cunningham, R-Calif. "Ask them and they will tell you: pass this amendment."

You know it's a bad idea when people like this guy endorse it so strongly. Yes, he's that "Duke" Cunningham. The arrogance of this guy just kills me. Does he really believe that a little flag waving will make all of this go away?

Mitchell Wade, founder of the defense contracting firm MZM Inc., pressured employees to donate to a political fund that benefited Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham and other members of Congress, according to three former employees of the company.

Wade, who took a $700,000 loss on the purchase of Cunningham's Del Mar home and allows the congressman to stay on his yacht while in Washington, demanded employees to make donations to the company's political action committee, MZM PAC, they said.
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Cunningham is on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the defense appropriations subcommittee, which puts him in position to influence the awarding of defense intelligence contracts.

MZM had 56 such contracts totaling $68,645,909 in fiscal year 2004, according to Keith Ashdown, an analyst with Taxpayers for Common Sense. One of those contracts is to provide interpreters in Iraq. For the most part, the contracts were awarded to MZM without competition through a process known as "blanket purchase agreements."

Cunningham of course claims everything is legit, that nothing is out of order, which is a little hard to swallow considering that he's living on Wade's yacht named the "Duke-Stir." Or that Cunningham used the $1.6 million he got from the questionable sale of his house to buy one for $2.5 million.

Oh, look, nobody is burning the flag-- better go and protect it!

What an idiot.

Update: Apparently the God Save the Flag Amendment might be dead in the Senate after all. Senators Clinton, Cantwell and Pryor came out against it late last night and there are 35 senators on record who oppose it-- so unless the GOP is successful in using the flag to beat up a few Democrats and change their votes, it's not going anywhere.