Shooting down Cunningham's legend

[Zorro]

Big above the fold article in the San Diego Union-Tribune today; looks as if they're going all-out now to tar their former favored fair-haired congresscrook. There's no honor among thieves.

<snip>

Ex-comrades in arms say disgraced congressman was a good fighter pilot but a poor officer with flair for self-promotion

During his days as a Navy pilot, Randy "Duke" Cunningham headed a squadron whose members poked fun at each other by writing humorous entries in a journal dubbed the "hit log."

Officers who served with Randy "Duke" Cunningham said the qualities that made him a good pilot – cockiness, a sense of entitlement – led to his undoing in Washington.
Cunningham would make entries in the book from time to time, singling out his subordinates for good-natured ribbing. But his writing was so riddled with misspellings and tortured punctuation that a junior officer took to diagramming the sentences, describing Cunningham's grammatical mistakes as "Dukelexsia."

Miffed at the insult, Cunningham got rid of the logbook, said a former member of the squadron, Bob Clement.

"Everybody knew he was a nice guy and an above-average pilot," said Clement, 56, now a FedEx pilot who lives near Memphis, Tenn. "But as for leading a squadron, he didn't have those skills."

<snip>

More at: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20060115-9999-lz1n15legend.html

[Bluzmann57]

1. Screw Cunningham

He's a crook, nothing more. Yeah he was in Viet Nam, but so were John Kerry and John Murtha, and as far as anyone knows, Kerry and Murtha haven't broken any laws. But certain swift boaters sure try and make out that they were less than honorable.

[Yoda Yada]

2. Stop calling him "Duke"...

..."singling out his subordinates for good-natured ribbing" is what spoiled little children do when they don't get their way. It's a euphemism for bullying.

(He's more Puke than Duke.)