Top Gun Shot Down

One of what may turn out to be a parade of primarily, if not exclusively, Republican members of Congress has resigned after pleading guilty to accepting huge bribes from defense contractors to steer government business their way. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, the disgraced California representative, a former Navy pilot, claims to have been the inspiration for the “Top Gun” movie role played by Tom Cruise.

This is part of a huge investigation into the machinations of high roller lobbyist Jack Abramoff, whose aide Michael Scanlon, formerly an aide to Tom DeLay, has now agreed to be a witness for the prosecution, thereby boding ill for those who have been involved in the briberies about which he will give evidence. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi has correctly labeled the attitude of many of the Republicans in control of Congress as a “culture of corruption”, and recently quipped that there may soon be enough of them in the federal penitentiary at Leavenworth to constitute a quorum. She also has called for a Congressional investigation into possible National security implications of this corruption.