America was, at one time, a virtuous land. In today’s culture of vanity, exhibitionism, gratuitous sex and a “Me first” attitude, good taste, good manners, honesty and kindness have been replaced by greed, ostentatiousness and a fancy for pretense.

I remember a time when a man tipped his hat to a lady, stepped aside for one disabled or seemingly crippled, and assisted the elderly across the street. Though I see few if any Boy Scouts anywhere today, they still exist and have a list of twelve virtues they promise to obey. They routinely keep their promises. Sadly far too many young people age (they seem never to grow up) and become ever so cynical, imitate the sleazy characters so often found in public life and seem to think they are living the good life.

I remember one such young man by the name of Randall Cunningham, usually called Randy or Duke who was born the day after Pearl Harbor was attacked. His parents moved several times to find work during those depression years finally ending up in Missouri running a five and dime. Duke attended college, was awarded a degree in education and physical Education in 1964 now aged 23.

Duke Cunningham joined the Navy in 1967, became a pilot and with his Co-pilot and Radar Intercept Officer became the only crew to shoot down 5 MiGs during the Vietnam War. Duke was an early graduate of the Navy’s Top Gun School flying the F4 Phantom. Duke was certainly the idol of many kids who wanted to emulate him; he was a big, handsome guy, intelligent and fearless. He had been awarded the Navy Cross, The Silver Star twice, the Purple Heart and The Air Medal 15 times making him one of the most decorated combat pilots ever. A Boy Scout’s dream hero. Cunningham retired from the Navy in the Grade of Commander, received an MBA from National University in San Diego and ultimately became a broadcaster for CNN. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Cunningham#Political_career.) The exposure he received from his broadcasting led to his being approached by the Republican organization of San Diego to run for Congress against a well entrenched Democrat, Jim Bates. Cunningham won the election on a campaign in which he promised “to be a congressman we can be proud of.” He won again in the following election.

So what could go wrong for this All-American hero? Plenty He was notorious for his temperamental outbursts, was listed by the Washingtonian in its list of “No Rocket Scientist” and in general had a reputation for bad behavior on the floor of the House.

But that was only the beginning; in 2005 in his third term in Congress, Randall ‘Duke’ Cunningham plead guilty to multiple charges and a plea deal netted him 10 years in prison.

Thus we have the downfall of a man who had it all, yet he wanted more. Greed and breach of faith put one of America’s Heroes in a prison cell where he can meditate over his misdeeds. The boy simply got too big for his breeches. Sad!

Even more sad is the fact that there are far too many government officials equally or more guilty than Cunningham and they still strut around the hallowed halls of congress sporting smarmy, phony smiles and playing the part of the oracle. To the detriment of America, it seems that all but a small fraction of our leaders are, in the words of Economist and Commentator, John Kenneth Galbraith, “If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.” –John Kenneth Galbraith, Money: Whence It Came, Where It Went.

When, if ever, will Congress excise the cancerous growths in that political body and decapitate the chief troublemaker and evildoer.