Moonhowlings

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has gotten all worked up over the rumor that DC is catching rats and releasing them into Virginia because city laws prevent extermination.  What?  Is this the rat king of all urban legends?  What is he basing his information on? 

Here is the supposed straight story from the Washington Examiner:

There’s been a lot of buzz over Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s complaint this week that D.C. is trapping rats and dumping them in Virginia because a city law won’t allow animal control to exterminate rats. Cuccinelli’s statement, which was in reference to the rat problem in Occupy DC and came during a WMAL interview, even prompted conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh to spout off on D.C. Councilwoman Mary Cheh, who proposed the disputed animal rights law.

“This Mary Cheh babe, C-H-E-H, she is the woman behind the D.C. plastic bag tax,” Limbaugh said. On a related note, Limbaugh was “asked” to resign from ESPN’s NFL Countdown show in 2003 for saying that then-Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb was overrated because the media wanted to see a black quarterback succeed.

Cheh’s office has received a slew of nasty emails regarding her stance on D.C. rats, prompting Cheh to fire off a news release Thursday morning lamenting the “state of public discourse.”

“[Over] the past few days, the bill has been the subject of some national comment, and as a result, my inbox has been filled with emails disparaging me for requiring rats to be exported rather than killed (again, flatly not true).  Firing off uninformed missives and calling me ‘babe’ must have been easier than actually reading the legislation.
 
“‘Babe’ was, however, not the only four-letter word I was called in the emails. For some examples of the well-reasoned policy suggestions I received, attached is a small sample.  People have asked me whether government emails are censored.  After going through my Council inbox this week, I can tell you that they are not.”

Cheh and her staff have said that the law prohibiting extermination exempts rats. The law says “commensal pests,” which refers to roof rats, Norway rats and house mice and in general refers to rodents that invade human living quarters, according to pest experts

What next?  Garbage, needles, nuclear waste.  Are we the dumping ground for everything.  Apparently not rats.  Where do possoms fit into this plan. It sounds like there is much ado about nothing.  If DC is rat-dumping, then we need to do out own catch and release, right back across the Potomac.  And on the other hand, is Cuccinelli once again jumping on something without finding out facts first?  It sounds like that is the case this time.

Rachel Maddow does an excellent job of showing how rights can be taken away by making whatever it is that people are trying to do  inaccessible.  Inaccessibility  substitutes for making an act illegal.  Its a rather cowardly, un-democratic means of getting one’s own political way.  Maddow  also interviews the executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice America.

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Maddow explains how hospital regulations would financially  burden abortion providers rather than making abortion safer (Double wide hallways, swinging doors, 15 mile proximity to emergency room, etc.) Cuccinelli’s explanation is vague and full of weasel words, so that the average Virginian really doesn’t know what is being said.

Cuccinelli  attempted draconian, technically illegal abortion legislation while he served in the Virginia Senate.  He was unable to ever pass his legislation.  Now he attempts to circumvent legislation by simply declaring his opinion to be law.  His attempts to codify his own opinion won’t fly for long. 

Cuccinelli will not last. Most people don’t like having other people in their bedrooms. It remains to be seen if McDonnell will execute Cuccinelli’s opinion into state policy. Meanwhile, Cuccinelli has driven Virginia so far to the cultural right that he endangers other Republicans who might not be extremists.

Finally, Maddow addresses something the rest of us have been aware of for a long time. There is a tendency to bully those who are pro-choice. Many pro-choice people feel too  intimidated to admit they are pro-choice, much less hold their legislators accountable for their votes. Every woman in Virginia must decide that the women of Virginia are capable of making their own morally appropriate choices. They need to decide today that they will not allow others to define them. Pro-choice is not being pro-abortion and do not let anyone tell you it is.

The Right Wing extremists are all howling with delight over their boy Ken Cuccinelli socking it to them thar femi-nazis…..the pro-aborts.  It must be full moon.  Let’s take a look at what their glee is over:

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has given a ruling that has the potential of skirting around legislation that the General Assembly as refused to enact since the early 1980′s.  Attorney generals’ opinions are not legally binding, as court rulings are. 

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The latest stunt that AG Cuccinelli has pulled is filing an amicus brief on on behalf of Arizona, along with 8 other states. Bacon’s Rebellion Blogspot has an interesting take on the antics of the AG and just how much he is costing the commonwealth:

Sooner or later, someone is going to have to pay for the dogma-saturated legal forays of Kenneth Cuccinelli, Virginia’s firebrand Attorney General.

It’s a shame because hardly any of Cuccinelli’s high-profile legal actions seem to be worthy cases that protect citizens of the Old Dominion. Instead, his actions are aimed at firing up the hard-right fringes of the Republican Party and maybe dragging some in the center along as congressional elections approach this fall and General Assembly races follow next year.

Meanwhile, “The Cooch’s” legal initiatives are getting some substantial push-back and they are far from litigation slam-dunks.

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One of our contributors sent us this news article. How clever.  I am trying not to laugh:

From the Washington Post:

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli will be the special guest at the Capital Pride Festival this weekend — only he doesn’t know it yet.

The Virginia Partisans, a gay rights group with thousands of members in the state, will ask parade attendees to “kiss” a life-size cutout of the controversial attorney general in an event they are affectionately calling “Smooches for Cooch.”

 

The group will send a collection of photos of people kissing Cuccinelli to the attorney general along with the message that Virginia is for all lovers. The same motto will appear on stickers and banners at the group’s booth along the Pennsylvania Avenue parade route Sunday.

Cuccinelli, who advised public colleges that they could not legally prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, has called the practice of homosexuality “a detriment to our culture” and “wrong.”

The Partisans hope Cuccinelli will be just the draw they need to recruit members. The group considered a petition drive, but abandoned it because members thought it was too passé.

“We’re sending our love to Ken Cuccinelli,” said Terry Mansberger, president of the Virginia Partisans. “He’s the gift that keeps on giving.”

A spokesman for Cuccinelli had no comment.

Gay pride parades tend to get a little graphic. Cuccinelli knew what he was signing on for when he took on these gay issues. Being Attorney General doesn’t keep you from being humiliated.

The Virginia AG has decided that the replacement breast plate lapel pins he had made for his staff were just too distracting so he has returned to the bare-breasted Goddess Virtue of the Great Virginia Seal. He did try to lame out of why he did such a stupid, cultural warrior stunt in the first place:

“The image on my office lapel pin is similar to that of a large antique state flag that hangs in the Virginia Capitol,” Cuccinelli said in a statement yesterday. “That is where I got the idea for my pin. I liked this particular image and thought it would be something unique for my employees.

Cuccinelli attempted mock outrage that people would find his decision to cover up the Goddess ridiculous:

“I cannot believe that joking with my staff about Virtue being a little more ‘virtuous’ in this antique version has become news.

“This is simply a media-made issue that has become distracting to the work of my office. I am going to end this distraction by discontinuing future use of the pin.”

The Democrats opportunistically have been laughing their hind-quarters off because of Ken’s efforts to make an Amazon Goddess more modest. According to the Richmond Times Dispatch:

The Democratic Party of Virginia also called the latest dustup a distraction — and blamed Cuccinelli. “Does Ken Cuccinelli have anything better to do?” the party asked in news release.

“All Virginians should be concerned that Ken Cuccinelli is wasting the people’s time applying his ultraconservative political agenda to every aspect of his job, even classical art,” said party Chairman C. Richard Cranwell.

“Attorney General Cuccinelli’s good will has run out with our citizens,” Cranwell added. “Virginians demand common sense, results-oriented government, not distractions, embarrassments and misplaced priorities.”

Steve Farnsworth, a political scientist at George Mason University, said the seal flap “is the latest in a whole session of national punch lines.”

The controversy has been a distraction from the accomplishments of the McDonnell administration, and it has made life difficult for the Republican Party of Virginia, he said.

If Cuccinelli really was on top of things he would know that Goddess Virtue didn’t get on the state seal by being a cream puff. Sic Semper Tyrannis! Thus Always to Tyrants.  Don’t mess with Virginia’s boobs!

 Apparently AG Ken Cuccinelli feels the Goddess Virtue is revealing too much wardrobe malfunction on the Virginia State Seal.  He is now handing out pins with less …errr….cleavage?  It sounds like he has been listening to too many Iranian clerics for his own good. 

Traditional Virginia Seal

Cuccinelli Goddess Virtue

The Cuccinelli goddess is more modest. Perhaps he is trying to prevent earthquakes like that wacko in the middle east.

 According to Fox News:

Iranian cleric Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi angered women’s groups around the world on Monday when he claimed that promiscuous women were responsible for literally making the earth move.

“Many women who do not dress modestly … lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which (consequently) increases earthquakes,” Sedighi said.

“What can we do to avoid being buried under the rubble?” he asked during a prayer sermon on Friday. “There is no other solution but to take refuge in religion and to adapt our lives to Islam’s moral codes.”

So is Ken is trying to prevent our own Boob-quake here in Virginia with his new pins? Is he like the Taliban or something? The Virginia State Seal has the goddess Virtue vanquishing a tyrant. Sic Semper Tyrannis: Thus always to tryrants. Not that most NORMAL people have ever noticed, but her left breast is slighly exposed, in goddess warrior like fashion–classical art and all.

The Norfolk Pilot states:

When the new design came up at a staff meeting, workers in attendance said Cuccinelli joked that it converts a risqué image into a PG one.

The joke might be on him, said University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato.

“When you ask to be ridiculed, it usually happens. And it will happen here, nationally,” he said. “This is classical art, for goodness’ sake.”

It wouldn’t be the first time that Cuccinelli has found himself in a punch line since taking office. The conservative Republican made Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” in March after he advised state colleges and universities they lack the legal authority to protect gay employees from discrimination.

“You can’t be gay in college?” host Jon Stewart asked in mock disbelief. “That’s the whole point of going to college!”

If the jokes start to fly, Cuccinelli can’t say he didn’t see it coming, Sabato said – not after what happened in 2002, when U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft ordered drapes installed to cover partially nude statues at the Justice Department. “Ashcroft had one excuse: it hadn’t been done before and he wasn’t prepared for the critical onslaught that he faced,” Sabato said. “Cuccinelli has no excuse at all. He knows what’s coming because of what happened to Ashcroft. You can only conclude that he enjoys being the center of pointless controversy.”

Efforts to reach Cuccinelli on Friday were unsuccessful.

His spokesman, Brian Gottstein, said the pin was paid for by Cuccinelli’s political action committee, not with taxpayer funds. He acknowledged that the attorney general has pointed out Virtus’ “more modest attire,” adding that the rendition chosen by his boss “harkens back to an older version of the seal.”

The Great Seal of the Commonwealth is a two-sided image dates back to the year  1776.

The Code of Virginia stands firmly on its description of the State Seal:

The side depicted on the state flag features Virtus standing victoriously over Tyranny, a male figure prone on the ground in defeat, his crown fallen from his head. Beneath him is the motto Sic Semper Tyrannis: Thus Always to Tyrants.

Click the link for exact wording.
 
Now we know why Taliban Cooch is sending out those beg letters! He needs to buy new pins to hand out with Goddess Virtue fully clothed. He appears to have little regard for Virginia traditions, the Virginia Constitution, and anything past his own sense of misguided morality. Perhaps he is now an ‘earther’ in addition to being a birther. You know, one of those people who think showing breasts causes earthquakes.

When is our AG going to stop with the circus sideshow stuff? He just has too many attention seeking behaviors for most Virginians. Larry Sabato is correct. The Cooch’s behavior is juvenile and distracting from real governance.   Meanwhile, Virginians anxiously await being the butt of yet more jokes on late night comedy.

Huffingtontonpost Coverage

Now the AG Ken Cuccinelli is ready to file his third lawsuit against the United States of America.  This time his is suing the EPA because they have said greenhouse gases and  carbon emissions are harmful.  According to Lychburg’s News and Advance:

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli stands ready to take more legal action against the federal government if the Environmental Protection Agency announces new fuel economy standards for vehicles Wednesday, he said in Lynchburg on Tuesday.

Cuccinelli has sued the EPA over its finding that greenhouse gases harm people, and if it issues regulations Wednesday that are based on that finding, “We will sue them again,” he told the Lynchburg Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Virginia’s Democratic Party renewed its accusations Tuesday that two Cuccinelli lawsuits against the federal government over global warming and health care are wasting the state’s resources “to wage a personal, political fight.”

Apparently the AG missed seeing our atheletes disembark from the plane in Bejing 2 summers ago.  Some of them were wearing gas masks because of the horrible air quality in that city.  Where does the AG think that smog comes from?  Could it be the millions of cars in that city? 

What stance will out BOCS take on his new lawsuit?  Will they be sending him atta-boy letters on Prince William County Board of Supervisors letterhead?  At least one supervisors feels he was looking out for the people of Prince William County during the last letter of praise that went out to the AG.  Will they be willing to look out for us now, since we live in one of the most impacted emissions areas?  Will there be a directive for the AG, Cuccinelli to knock it off on our behalf?

The AG says these lawsuits only cost the $385 filing fee.  Yea.  Right.  Is he also ignoring that we are all Americans and what the cost is double?  We will pay the Virginia fees and the United States fees.  Perhaps the AG forgot we are Americans.  Meanwhile, I am not unconvinced that the AG ran for office just to advance his personal agenda and that we have given him the platform to do it.  I have to get used to this new idea that carbon emissions and green house gas emissions are good for me.  Why don’t I just go back to smoking?

The previous former thread by this name just met with an unfortunate accident. The short version is, I started the thread in the kitchen and finished it in the living room. I was in the kitchen, saw the half started thread and clicked delete, not realizing it would take the entire thread down since it was only one sentence.

Live and learn. It apparently is gone, never to come back.

Basically, it was the following, from the Richmond Times Dispatch:

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s office says records that would document the time, resources and meetings involved in its lawsuit against federal health-care legislation either don’t exist or are classified as confidential “working papers” of the agency.

Stephen R. McCullough, senior appellate counsel for Cuccinelli, was responding to a request under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act filed by Democratic Party officials and several media outlets, including the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

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According to the Richmond Times Dispatch the Attorney General has advised public institutions of higher learning in Virginia that they cannot make sexual orientation a protected class.

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli says Virginia’s colleges and universities cannot prohibit discrimination against gays because the General Assembly has not authorized them to do so.

In a letter Thursday to the presidents, rectors and boards of visitors of Virginia public colleges, Cuccinelli said: the law and public policy of Virginia “prohibit a college or university from including ‘sexual orientation’, ‘gender identity’, ‘gender expression’ or like classification, as a protected class within its non-discrimination policy, absent specific authorization from the General Assembly.“

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