Ken Cuccinelli's Faux Devotion to Catholicism

Ken Cuccinelli - Hypocrite Extraordinaire

Admittedly, there is little I like about Virginia Attorney General Ken "Kookinelli" Cuccinelli who will be crowned as the GOP nominee this coming weekend at the GOP coven of extremists party  convention.  The man is a ragging homophobe (and I suspect a self-loathing closet case) and seems to be pretty much on the same page as Mitt Romney when he made his infamous statement about the "47%" disdaining nearly half of the American population.   These attributes are bad enough, but where his hypocrisy is truly off the charts is when he gushes about his Catholic faith and religiosity in general.  On almost ever social gospel issue Kookinelli's policy positions are the exact opposite of the espoused beliefs of the Catholic Church.  Indeed, the only areas on which Kookinelli is on the same page with the Church is on abortion, the demonizing of gays, and the subjugation of women to a chattel like status.   An analysis in Blue Virginia looks at Kookinelli's hypocrisy.  Here are highlights:

During an address to foreign ambassadors to the Vatican, Pope Francis had VERY strong words regarding capitalism having created a "tyranny," and about the need for countries to "impose more control over their economies and not allow 'absolute autonomy, in order to provide 'for the common good'." Pope Francis added that "while the income of a minority is increasing exponentially, that of the majority is crumbling," and that "the worship of the golden calf of old has found a new and heartless image in the cult of money and the dictatorship of an economy which is faceless and lacking any truly human goal."  He declared, "I encourage the financial experts and the political leaders of your countries to consider the words of St John Chrysostom 'Not to share one's goods with the poor is to rob them.'"

In sum, Pope Francis just condemned pretty much everything Republicans - aka, the "I've got mine so screw you!" party - believe in when it comes to the economy, while endorsing pretty much everything progressives believe in on economic fairness and social justice. Now, of course progressives don't agree with the Pope on issues related to sexuality and women's rights, but when it comes to economics, I'd say we're all singing from the same sheets of music. As for Roman Catholics like Ken Cuccinelli, apparently he disagrees with the Pope - and with the teachings of Jesus Christ, as well - on caring for the poor, the stranger, the naked and the hungry. I'm not sure what Cuccinelli bases that on, exactly, because it certainly couldn't be clearer in the Gospels.

By the way, while we're on the subject of Ken Cuccinelli disagreeing with his own church on fundamental issues of his faith, how about environmental protection, which Pope Benedict - the "green Pope" - made an important part of his papacy? It appears that Pope Francis is following in Benedict's tradition on "lov[ing] and car[ing] for creation." In stark contrast, Ken Cuccinelli comes from the "drill baby drill," slash-and-burn, Koch brothers wing of the Republican Party.

These criticisms of Kookinelli, of course are applicable to the Republican Party at large which wraps itself in the cloak of Christianity yet then pushes policies that make the Pharisees of the Bible look like  liberal philanthropists  in comparison.  For me, it all translate to the reality that the members of the  "godly Christian" crowd - and their puppets in the GOP - are not nice people and that hypocrisy is their most pronounced trait.