Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, the model for the movie "Top Gun", resigned from office today after pleading guilty to bribery and tax evasion charges that will send him to prison.

"I misled my friends, family and myself. The truth is, I broke the law and disgraced my office and myself," Cunningham said after his plea, breaking into tears at a news conference.

Jailhouse religion? I’m guessing the reason he pled guilty is because he had no defense left. Up until now, he’d been arrogant and swaggering. Now, he and those close to him are feeling serious pain. But really, he’s just another corrupt politician in a corrupt system whose lies finally caught up with him. Plus, well, he wasn’t exactly smart about the whole thing either.

From our Aug 18, 2005 post

Sue, who is a forensic accountant says, don’t try to play hide the money with real estate deals because the paper trails are enormous and obvious. To do so is really really dumb.

Tag: Randy Cunningham

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From Blair Watch

We have had our suspicions (argued below) that the Times memo and the Mirror memo citing Bush’s plans to bomb al-Jazeera are entirely different documents confirmed by Peter Kilfoyle MP, who has seen both documents.

He was naturally reticent, but when we aked Peter if the source for the Mirror article was related to the ‘prosecution’ of and Keogh and O’Connor over last years leak to the Times he said:

Wholly different sources.
The Times used ‘official’ leaks; the current document remains top secret - they are livid it is out.

We have also had it confirmed that Keogh and O’Connor are only facing one set of charges, over one document.

If what was reported by the BBC prior to the Mirror story is correct; That Keogh and O’Connor are being prosecuted over the leak of the document ‘Iraq in The Medium Term’ as published in the Times [May 2004], and not for leaking the source of the Mirror article then Blair and his official spokesman would be leaving themselves wide open by describing the Mirror story as ’sub-judice’.

If the mirror is correct in it’s assertion that Keogh and O’Connor are being charged over the source of their story [the transcript], then the story reported by the BBC about them being charged over the leaking of ‘Iraq in the Medium Term’ memo was a construct, a ‘beard’ to cover up the existence of the document refered by the Mirror.

This means our government must have pre planned and disseminated the lie [or spin if you prefer]; that Keogh and O’connor were being prosecuted over the leaking of the ‘Iraq in the medium term’ memo.

Read the whole thing

And bloggers are first with important news yet again! (As a personal note, I’m happy to see an old blogging pal, Quarsan, is involved with Blair Watch.)

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So what have they got to hide? Official secrets, lies, and the truth about the assault on Fallujah.

The trial of two Whitehall workers this week could reveal Britain’s role in one of the Iraq war’s darkest episodes.

Also, it appears there are TWO memos

We have had it confirmed by a source who is in a position to know, that there ARE two seperate memos and that the UK Government are’livid’ that the second one is being leaked. We are hoping that the source will allow us to name him later today. Watch this space!

This from Blair Witch, er, Blair Watch, purveyors of the fine “I’ll publish the al Jazeera memo” meme, whose graphic you see here in the left column.

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“Find out how Jack Abramoff bought Congress”

Lots of detailed info here. Click on a Congresscritter’s photo to check out the dirty deals done quite expensively.

JackintheHouse.org explores the world of GOP superlobbyist Jack Abramoff who spent years trading money for influence in the halls of Congress. The site provides a road map to Jack Abramoff’s unscrupulous back-door deals with ethically-challenged Members of Congress and provides a means for visitors to urge the Chairman of the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to take action against those who have worked for Jack’s interest, rather than the public interest.

The Abramoff investigations may well be the final nail in the coffin of the already reeling neocons and Bush. His tentacles were everywhere. The rot and corruption is deep, and now it’s being exposed.

More on Abramoff from TPM. Also from American Progress Action.

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From Earl Ofari Hutchinson

Williams was long gone from the scene by the time the Crips devolved and morphed into the hundreds of factions nationally, and internationally, that have since become major players in the gun and drug plague.

The Tookie that thousands are fighting to keep from a December 13 date with the executioner is not the same Tookie that decades ago wanted to smash everyone. Yet there are still thousands like him that do. A very much alive Tookie who understands their anger and alienation could help lesson their numbers.

NAACP steps up efforts to save Tookie Williams.

The NAACP will lead a multi-city two-week crusade to convince Schwarzenegger that Williams should live to continue his work in helping young people make positive choices and avoid the gang life that he once lived. Williams, a co-founder of the Crips gang, has won international and national recognition for the 10 books he wrote urging youths to stay away from gangs.

SaveTookie.org

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Everyone who buys a house in Denver’s growing suburbs pays a hidden price for water.

That first twist of the faucet in a new suburban home costs as much as $24,424 - more than twice the amount charged in any U.S. city outside metro Denver surveyed last year by the American Water Works Association.

In semi-arid Colorado, there are well-known reasons for the high cost of water service. Among them: scant reservoir space and an immense mountain range separating water from people.

A less-discussed reason is that in Colorado, water is property, and in much of the state, somebody already owns a right to use every gallon. Getting that water requires entering a volatile market where prices can double in an instant

Via Colorado Water, who adds more.

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The Age newspaper in Australia has reported that the country’s resorts are planning to follow the American ski industry, with a campaign telling snowboarders and skiers that global warming will cut short their winter over the coming decades.

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A bloc of developing countries plans to make a radical proposal this week at the United Nations summit on climate change in Montreal: pay us, and we will preserve our rainforests.

The group of 10 countries, led by Papua New Guinea and Costa Rica, argues that the rest of the world is benefiting from the rainforests’ natural wealth without sharing the cost.

They do have a point…

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