Ah, the Duke-ster

I'm sure everyone remembers Randy "Duke" Cunningham, the fantastically corrupt member of Congress from the San Diego area. A new book, The Wrong Stuff: The Extraordinary Saga of Randy “Duke” Cunningham, the Most Corrupt Congressman Ever Caught spells out in minute detail the full extent of Duke's corruption. But where the San Diego Tribune pulled a few punches in their reporting (leaving out salacious details, for example), the book promises to do no such thing.

What amazes me is how utterly classless Duke was. When I worked for a member of the California State Assembly, I happend to receive some correspondence between a constituent and Duke himself. What I saw amazed me--atrocious spelling, punctuation, grammar, of course, but also a complete disregard for the basic conventions of the written word, a shocking use of fairly coarse language, and so on. Reading a few excerpts from the book (linked by Josh Marshall at TMP Muckraker), I guess I shouldn't be too surprised.

One of these parties started at the Capital Grille with Cunningham ordering his usual filet mignon -- very well done -- with iceberg lettuce salad and White Oak. Wilkes used the dinner to update Cunningham on the appropriations he wanted. Cunningham then took the whole group back to the boat where they drank more wine, sitting on white leather sofas while Cunningham told more war stories. Cunningham then took his clothes off and invited all to join him in the polluted hot tub that was hidden from the neighbors by a white tarp. There were no takers.

Filet mignon, very well done?? What a savage! White leather couches? Ugh. And, of course, he ran water directly from the Potomoc into his yacht's hot tub. Goddam.