Only the Tip of a Corrupt Iceberg

Mark Hyman’s recent commentary on “Duke” Cunningham is an interesting study in damage control. He notes that Cunningham “disgraced himself” and that “maybe we’ll never know what went wrong in Duke Cunningham’s heart.”

In other words, Cunningham’s corruption is an internal, individual issue, not anything that touches on larger issues.

But of course, it does, and that’s precisely why Hyman delivers this editorial now. Had he only been interested in Cunningham, he would have delivered this commentary months ago, when Cunningham pleaded guilty. But because Cunningham is becoming the poster boy for the larger, systemic corruption in the Republican-controlled Congress, it’s time to call out the radical-right’s damage control spin machine.

In addition to using the rhetoric of personal failure (as opposed to systemic corruption), Hyman fails to mention that Cunningham is a Republican. In this, Hyman is not alone. As Media Matters for America has noted, a number of media outlets (most notably, Fox News) have downplayed or failed to mention Cunningham’s party affiliation and the widening scope of the scandal.

But as the Christian Science Monitor reported earlier this month, there is growing reason to believe that Cunningham’s corruption is only the tip of a hefty and highly Republican iceberg of scandal and corruption. We’ve already seen the fall of Tom “The Hammer” DeLay due to the corruption charges against him, and the recent quick exit of Porter Goss from the CIA has also raised suspicions of a connection to the scandal that brought down Cunningham. And need we mention G.O.P. lobbyist Jack Abramoff?

Right-wing spinmeisters continue to label such issues “lobbying corruption” or as personal failings of specific individuals. But what’s becoming increasingly clear to the majority of Americans is that what we’re seeing is systematic Congressional corruption that pervades the Republican leadership.

And that’s The Counterpoint.