Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, who really should do more to stay out of the spotlight (he’s under investigation for lots of stuff), is channeling the 9/11 victims.  The subject was the passage by the House of a flag-burning amendment to the Constitution, and he said:

"Ask the men and women who stood on top of the (World) Trade Center,” said Rep. Randy (Duke) Cunningham, R-Calif. “Ask them and they will tell you: pass this amendment."

Source.

Well, let’s ignore for the moment that almost none of the 9/11 victims were “on top of” the World Trade Center.  It was probably bad phrasing on Duke’s part.

Let’s just consider the propriety of putting words in the mouths of tragedy victims (who can’t speak for themselves) in order to further your political agenda.  Put simply, it’s vile and opportunistic.

And while I’m on it, what makes him believe that?  Did all 9/11 victims have conservative beliefs (or, perhaps, they became conservative upon their deaths)?  I’m willing to bet that there were a pretty hefty handful of lib’ral yankees who perished that day in New York (the one casualty I knew personally was downright radical) who wouldn’t endorse an anti-flag-burning amendment.  Perhaps some of them held views similar to that of their elected representative, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY):

"If the flag needs protection at all, it needs protection from members of Congress who value the symbol more than the freedoms that the flag represents."

So what makes Cunningham think that 9/11 victims would support the amendment?  I think it has something to do with victimology, a trait I have noticed from many neo-conservatives.  They often act like victims (for example, they possess the White House and Congress, yet whine about how they are oppressed and victimized by the terrible minority party and liberal media).  Therefore, they presume that all victims are conservatives—that’s my theory. But I digress.

So what’s next?  “Halt gay marriages—the 3,000 victims of September 11 would want you to”?

And what will be the reaction, I wonder, from the Take-Back-The-Memorialites, who claim that 9/11 should not be used to advance political agendas (even ones about international freedom)?  Outrage, petitions and demonstrations against Cunningham?  I won’t hold my breath.