Duke Cunningham should be freed, either by Presidential pardon, or by judicial review: he is not capable of understanding the charges against him, and was therefore improperly convicted.
This is not a snark diary--not completely, anyway [edited: this is pretty much a snark diary...sorry]--I really do think he might not be able to understand right and wrong.
[Edited again: Jesus, this bombed. Too soon? I kid. It's just not funny. I guess "Bush is a stupid" is funny, because he's not suffering from developmental disorders, yet acts really dumb.]
I am proud to be a liberal. As such, I do not believe that mentally disabled people should be held responsible for actions when it is demonstrable that they cannot comprehend the charges against them. It is true that "mental incompetence" is a legal--not scientific--term; yet, I think it serves America well, on balance.
Matt Taibbi's recent Rolling Stone article convinces me that Mr. Cunningham should be pardoned. While he clearly should never be allowed in a position of power, I don't believe he should be imprisoned. From Taibbi's article, I'd like to reprint some of Cunningham's written statements as proof that he never mentally achieved majority.
The following are statements that could only have been written by someone who needs to be accorded special status by the legal system (and I'm not referring to the functionally-illiterate writing so much as to the propositions he's trying to express):
http://www.rollingstone.com/...
"Each time you print it hurts my family And now I have lost them Along with Everything I have worked for during my 64 years of life," Cunningham wrote. "I am human not an Animal to keep whiping [sic]. I made some decissions [sic] Ill be sorry for the rest of my life."
Or again, and with Taibbi's comments:
"As truth will come out and you will find out how liablest [sic] you have & will be. Not once did you list the positives. Education Man of the Year...hospital funding, jobs, Hiway [sic] funding, border security, Megans law my bill, Tuna Dolfin [sic] my bill...and every time you wanted an expert on the wars who did you call. No Marcus you write About how I died."
How liablest you have & will be? What the fuck does that even mean? This guy sat on the Appropriations Committee for years -- no wonder Congress couldn't pass any spending bills!
The money stolen should be recouped and Cunningham should be kept out of power; however, I don't think it's fair for this conservative to be behind bars. Now that the Democratic party has power, I think some humanity should be shown.