Time Magazine Looks at Kookinelli

Virginia already has enough of an image problem nationally without Time magazine doing a story on Virginia's mentally disturbed Attorney General Ken "Kookinelli" Cuccinelli who has a grasp of the concept of freedom of religion on a par with that of the Taliban. Indeed, if Kookinelli had his way, we'd have religious run school - run by Christianists, of course - science would revert to a 13th century Catholic Church model, and gays would be rounded up and expelled from the state or worse if we did not remain invisible. Kookinelli is far smarter than Sarah Palin, but just as insane. Add to all that the fact that Kookinelli is, in my view, a self-absorbed, narcissistic egomaniac and it's a prescription for disaster down the road. Virginia and the nation will be better off the sooner Kookinelli disappears from the political scene. Unfortunately, he will not go willingly. Here are a few highlights from the Time article:
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Since taking office in January, Virginia's new attorney general has sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over its plan to regulate greenhouse gases, opined that Virginia can regulate first-trimester-abortion facilities as it can hospitals, advised that the state's public colleges lack authority to bar discrimination against gays and lesbians, tweaked the state seal to cover the bare breast of the Roman goddess Virtus and subpoenaed the University of Virginia to probe for evidence that a former professor manipulated climate-science research.
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This series of splashy brawls has sparked Cuccinelli's meteoric ascent from little-known lawmaker to the constellation of national conservative stars. "He's the complete package," says Richard Viguerie, a Virginia-based éminence grise of the conservative movement. "He's not just a social conservative or an economic conservative. He's willing to blaze new paths and buck his party. That's the test of true leadership."
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That's also why opponents have issued withering indictments of his activist tenure, blasting him as a culture warrior more interested in stymieing progressive policies or establishing himself as a boldfaced name than in carrying out the duties of his office.
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The judgment that colleges can't protect against antigay discrimination — which Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell overruled amid a frenzied backlash — came after Cuccinelli was asked to issue an opinion on the matter [by equally homophobic Del. Bob Marshall].
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Just as Sarah Palin harnessed Facebook as a medium to inveigh against Beltway elites, Cuccinelli has leveraged his niche at the nexus of politics and the law to stir up supporters. This is the paradox of the perch: he is an unabashed partisan elected to an office that prioritizes public service over politics, a defender of the Constitution eager to rewrite parts of it.
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In 2002 he won what had seemed to be a long-shot bid for the state senate, where he worked to curb abortions and crack down on illegal immigration, pushing measures to change the 14th Amendment's birthright-citizenship clause, allow business to sue competitors who employed undocumented aliens and rescind unemployment compensation for employees unable to speak English.
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Attendees at a recent Virginia Tea Party convention sported "Cuccinelli for President" stickers, and pundits have floated his name as a potential candidate in the state's 2012 Senate race against first-term incumbent Jim Webb (who says he's not interested) or the 2013 gubernatorial contest (which elicited less-definitive denials).
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To be sure, Cuccinelli's recent moves make it seem as if he is running for something.