Always one to strike at one who is already down—even when he is a fallen hero—Carol Marin on Sunday assailed Randy (Duke) Cunningham, the California Republican congressman who pleaded guilty to bribery and who wept on acknowledging his fault. She called him a “swaggering simp of a Congressman.” Fitting for the city’s Democratic newspaper, she favorably contrasted Democrats Dan Rostenkowski and John D’Arco who were convicted and went away with dry eyes. These banal thoughts were unmixed with any forgiveness or compassion for Cunningham notwithstanding that in the Vietnam War he was its most decorated flying ace. A big hurrah for Marin who typifies the lack of generosity of heart emblematic in the partisan Democratic newspaper for anyone with a brilliant wartime record who falls later—if he’s a Republican. If she had known he was an ace would she have changed her harsh judgment? Naah.
Right before he agreed to plead guilty, Carol Marin wrote a column about what a great guy he was, that the talk about corruption must be wrong.
ReplyDeleteNo, opps, I was wrong column followed after the plea agreement.