Demagogue

So, Congressman "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA) who is under investigation for having far too cozy of a relationship with a defense contractor has decided that he's not running for re-election despite the fact that he claims he's innocent of any wrongdoing.

I don't know about you, but if I were an 8-term powerful congress(wo)man and I felt like I was wrongly accused and being investigated for a crime I didn't commit I don't think I'd give in so easily. Then again, he may just be doing the honorable thing, to protect his family and respect his office-- kudos to that.

However, unlike the Plame affir, this case is pretty open-and-shut. The esteemed congressman was living on a 42-foot yacht on the Potomac rent-free which just so happened to be owned by the very same defense contractor who bought his unlisted house for $700,000 over market value. If that isn't enough the yacht was named after it's freeloading resident-- the "Duke-Stir." I hope the lesson that other congresspeople can take from this is that if you are on the Defense Appropriations subcommittee it's a very bad idea to be too cozy with defense contractors.