Sins Against Your Citizens
In my book, it is a special form of vileness that profits from or abuses the privileges of a public position. I'd hope for a specially noxious type of prison for the corrupt and the kleptocrats.
So the news that famously pugnacious Calif. Rep. Duke Cunningham Admits Taking Bribes is particularly hard to stomach:
In court documents, prosecutors said Cunningham admitted receiving at least $2.4 million in bribes paid in a variety of forms, including checks totaling over $1 million, cash, antiques, rugs, furniture, yacht club fees and vacations. Among other things, prosecutors said, Cunningham was given $1.025 million to pay down the mortgage on his Rancho Santa Fe mansion, $13,500 to buy a Rolls-Royce and $2,081 for his daughter's graduation party at a Washington hotel.
Your nation and your fellow citizens give you tremendous power, raise you high on the pedestal, and your reply is to pilfer the piggy bank to pimp your ride?
What a jerk, a criminal, and an embarassment to his family. I hope he gets all ten years in hard labor.
