In the case of Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, the initials A.G. might as well stand for, “Agent of God”.
Instead of upholding the law, this self-righteous zealot and religious right rock star has wasted tax payer’s money to go on outlandish moral crusades that have little to do with his actual job. Cuccinelli seems more interested in furthering his political career, than serving the citizens of Virginia.
Case in point: According to an editorial in today’s Washington Post, “Cuccinelli had sought to force the University of Virginia to provide a warehouse of documents and correspondence relating to climate scientist Michael Mann, who used to work at the university.”
The goal was for the Agent of God to use his position of power — and state resources during a time of recession — to try to disprove the science behind the theory of global warming. The problem is, Cuccinelli did not do his homework and his case was left wanting. According to the Post:
Circuit Court Judge Paul M. Peatross Jr. put a damper on a pernicious fishing expedition by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II (R). Mr. Cuccinelli, twisting a state law aimed at preventing fraud in contracting….
Judge Peatross pointed out that the attorney general hadn’t provided an “objective basis” to conclude that the scientist did anything fraudulent. That’s because there is no objective basis for the charge. Mr. Mann’s work might be construed as controversial, but it has been heavily scrutinized and found to be legitimate.
The operative words here are “objective basis”. There is nothing objective, fair or moral about Cuccinelli’s vindictive attacks on climate change scientists, academia and LGBT equality. This embarrassing failure is reminiscent of when the publicity seeking Agent of God — according to the Washington Post — urged the state’s public colleges and universities to rescind policies that ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, arguing in a letter sent to each school that their boards of visitors had no legal authority to adopt such statements. Cuccinelli went on this crusade, even though it had the potential to harm the state’s well-regarded higher education system:
But some individual college board members and others said Cuccinelli’s action would be highly controversial on campuses, where many argue that such policies are necessary to attract top students and faculty.
“What he’s saying is reprehensible,” said Vincent F. Callahan Jr., a former Republican member of the House of Delegates who serves on George Mason’s board of visitors. “I don’t know what he’s doing, opening up this can of worms.”
The self-appointed Agent of God should get his eyes off higher political office and stop flushing the tax money of Virgina voters down the toilet. If Cuccinelli is unhappy with his current job and wants to engage in dead-end ideological crusades, may I suggest he leaves Richmond and takes a job in Virginia Beach with Pat Robertson or secures a teaching gig at Liberty University? Virgina’s government — which is supposed to serve all the state’s citizens — is no place for Cuccinelli’s unsuccessful morality experiments.
If Cuccinelli is unable or unwilling to perform the tasks required by his day job, he ought to resign.
