This Week's Bad Republican

Republican Congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham resigned in disgrace this week, admitting to taking $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors.

I’m disgusted but not surprised. Influence peddling has increased by a factor of ten in the Bush II era, and Republicans lead the way. It was only a matter of time before someone like Cunningham lost his footing at the trough.

But equally distressing was a lack of outrage from the media or the public. News like this shouldn’t be the exclusive domain of late-night TV punchlines, and yet it seemed completely overshadowed by the Terrell Owens firing and Jessica Simpson breakup. Perhaps the public has become desensitized to the endless procession of horror stories coming from the Republican party. Nobody wants to believe that the party in control of our country made such a grotesque and unforgivable mess of so many things.

But alas, the growing list of significant screw-ups is so lengthy, it seems easier to explain particle physics than to justify why so many of these idiots haven’t been thrown out of office. No wonder their operatives need to smear detractors--they can’t defend their decisions, policies or actions.

As has happened so many times since the dawn of recorded history, the people who took control with so much fanfare and talk of virtue have become corrupted and their policies shredded. With luck, they will be voted out in 2006 and again in 2008. But like a slowly sinking ship, it is easy to imagine that the worst is yet to come. How many more legislative decisions will be made favoring corporate lobbyists at the expense of the environment, the middle class, consumers, etc.? How many more policies will ignore science and expert testimony while favoring special interests or religious superstition? How many more unqualified cronies will be given critical government jobs? How many more military leaders will have their opinions discounted by civilians who never served and whose policies have consistently failed?

Patriotism requires honesty, even if honesty sheds a light on things we would rather not believe about ourselves or our so-called leaders. And the honest truth is, the party leading our nation has failed in a consistent, substantial and shameful way. But don’t take my word for it. Just keep your eyes open. I’m sure there’s more to come.