Mark Herring's Opponent for AG is a Right Wing Zealot

Herring's opponent would set Virginia back by decades

Virginia has been on the wrong side of history many times since its golden era during the founding years of the nation.  Support for slavery and going to war to protect the institution is one such blot of Virginia's history.  So to are the Jim Crow laws which saw Virginia lead the way in steadily taking away the rights of black voters and, hand in hand with those laws was the "Massive Resistance" movement to close down public schools rather than integrate them with all races.  Then of course, there was Virginia ban on interracial marriage that had to go to the United States Supreme Court twice before the court in disgust overturned the Virginia Supreme Courts rulings supporting the ban in Loving v. Virginia.  When he took office, Attorney General Mark Herring did not to repeat that foul history by defending Virginia's ban on same-sex marriage.  He also has shown an adversion to Virginia Republicans' efforts at voter ID laws aimed at disenfranchising minorities and other likely Democrat voters. 

Herring's opponent in the 2017 statewide Virginia elections, Republican John Adams is the polar opposite of Herring.  He supported the ban on same-sex marriage and has stated that "“I have a religious faith that tells me that marriage is a sacred institution between a man and a woman. That’s what I believe.”  He also supports voter ID laws that have little or nothing to do with perverting voter fraud, but which instead , as noted above, are aimed at stopping "those people" from voting, so draw your own conclusions as to whether "racist" applies to Adams.  The Richmond Times Dispatch has a lengthy piece on Adams which should make your blood run cold if you are not a heterosexual, white conservative Christian. As you might guess, he is also big on "religious freedom" laws - laws that allow Christian extremists to ignore non-discrimination laws based on alleged "religious belief." His vision of religious freedom does NOT include religious freedom for gays, Muslims, Hindus or other non-Christians despite his posturing  And yes, he supported the toxic Hobby Lobby decision (he worked on the case for Hobby Lobby) and counts as friends a who's who of right extreme wing Republicans.    Adams is so toxic that the haters at The Family Foundation must be having near orgasms. 

Ironically, his campaign website has a section called "Defending Our Valuers."  A quick read makes it very clear that "our values" are white Christofascist vales.  Do NOT sit out this election.  Mark Herring must be re-elected.  Having John Adams as attorney general would be nothing short of a disaster and would reprise the insanity of when Ken "Kookinelli" Cuccinelli held that office.  We do NOT want to go backward in time.

Jeff Sessions’ Disturbing Record on Civil Rights, LGBT Equality

As I note frequently, I lived in Alabama years ago and among other things had the opportunity as a young lawyer to meet then Gov. George Wallace (and Bear Bryant).  While Wallace repented for his racist, many in Alabama have not.  Indeed, Alabama today is far more racist and reactionary that it was during my years of residence.   And when it comes to politics, the state has sunk into the misogynist swamp that goes hand in hand with the rise of the Christofascists.  Politicians who could never have been elected 35-40 years ago because they were too backward and reactionary now fill a majority of seats in the state legislature.  All of which brings me to Jeff Sessions, Donald Trump's pick for United States Attorney General, a man with a well documented racist and anti-LGBT history.  Civil rights organizations have good reason to be upset with Sessions' selection.  Lest people forget, he was too extreme even back in the days of Ronald Reagan and could not win Senate confirmation. Gay City News has put together a compilation of just how unfit Sessions is for this office.  Here are highlights:  

Jeff Sessions, the four-term Republican US senator from Alabama who has been tapped by President-elect Donald Trump as the nation’s next attorney general, has a stridently anti-LGBT record, along with a troubling history on racial issues.

Much of the recent attention on Sessions, who this week had been discussed as a possible choice for a number of Cabinet slots, including secretary of defense, focused on his incendiary comments about race – a key factor in the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee’s rejection of his 1986 nomination to the federal bench by President Ronald Reagan.

Sessions also has a uniform record in opposing LGBT rights advances.

“It is deeply disturbing that Jeff Sessions, who has such clear animus against so many Americans – including the LGBTQ community, women, and people of color – could be charged with running the very system of justice designed to protect them,” Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said in a written statement today.

In HRC Congressional Scorecards dating back more than a decade, Sessions received scores of zero for every two-year session, except for the 112th Congress in 2011 and 2012, when he received a 15 percent rating. In that Congress, he voted in favor of President Barack Obama’s nomination of J. Paul Oetken to the Southern District of New York federal bench, making him the first out gay man to win confirmation as an Article III judge.

In that same Congress, however, Sessions voted to deny confirmation to Alison J. Nathan, an out lesbian who was another Obama nomination, also recommended by Schumer, to the Southern District. He also voted in favor of an unsuccessful amendment to the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (VAWA) that would have stripped nondiscrimination protections for domestic violence victims based on their sexual orientation, gender identity, and Native American and immigrant status.

In other years, Sessions voted in favor of a Constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, and against the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act and the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. He consistently voted against VAWA Reauthorization . . .
Sessions also opposed the end of the ban on HIV-positive visitors and immigrants to the US and supported a measure that would have required the District of Columbia to hold a referendum on its 2009 municipal ordinance legalizing marriage by same-sex couples. During the past two years, he opposed measures ensuring that legally married same-sex couples have access to Social Security and veterans benefits, that runaway and homeless youth programs funded by the federal government have explicit LGBT nondiscrimination policies, and that public schools be barred from discriminating against youth based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

[I]n the days after the US Supreme Court issued its 2015 Obergefell marriage equality ruling, Sessions told an Alabama Chamber of Commerce meeting, “If a court can do that on a question of marriage then it can do it on almost any other issue. What this court did was unconstitutional, what this court did – they can’t do, nothing in the Constitution for such a result, no mention of marriage in the Constitution.

Since the Obergefell ruling, Sessions has signed on to the First Amendment Defense Act, which would provide an out for those claiming a religious objection to same-sex marriage or to sex outside of different-sex marriage from any federal prosecution or penalties for discrimination. The measure would shield recalcitrant county clerks like Kim Davis in Kentucky who refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, but could also provide exemptions for all kinds of other businesses and individuals to discriminate.

During the George W. Bush administration, Sessions was the senator behind to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals nomination of William H. Pryor, Jr., whom Lambda Legal termed “the most demonstrably anti-gay judicial nominee in recent memory.” As Alabama’s attorney general, Pryor had written a friend-of-the-court brief defending the Texas sodomy law when it went before the Supreme Court – and was struck down – in 2003. In that brief, he compared gay rights claims to protections for “prostitution, adultery, necrophilia, bestiality, possession of child pornography, and even incest and pedophilia.”

An opponent of the Voting Rights Act and immigration reform, Sessions also faces harsh criticism from progressive groups working on those issues, with the American Civil Liberties Union terming his record anti-civil rights.

During hearings for his failed federal bench nomination in 1986, Thomas Figures, an African-American former assistant attorney who worked under him when Sessions was the US attorney for the Southern District of Alabama, testified that Sessions had called him “boy” and warned him to be careful what he said to “white folks.” Sessions denied using the word “boy” and said he merely urged caution in talking to “folks.”

Gerry Hebert, who as a Justice Department official also worked with Sessions while he was a US attorney in the 1980s, recalled that Sessions had once agreed with another person’s comment that a white civil rights attorney was “a disgrace to his race” for litigating voting rights cases.  “I filed all these things away thinking, ‘God, what a racist this guy is,’” Hebert told the AP.

The man is horrible.  As for his judicial nominee, there seems to be evidence that he is a closeted, self-loathing gay man much like Rick Santorum and Ken Cuccinelli.  He's a tad too hysterical on the issue of gays for something more to be going on.  

Kentucky Attorney General Will Not Defend STate's Marriage Ban

The ranks of attorneys general who are declining to defend their respective state's same sex marriage bans is growing.  In Kentucky, Attorney General Jack Conway (pictured at left) has made the announcement yesterday that he would not appeal U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II’s ruling striking down Kentucky's ban on recognition of same sex marriages performed in other sates and further that he would not pursue any more stays of the ruling.  Like other attorneys general who have taken this position, Conway properly placed his oath to defend the U.S. Constitution over his oath to defend Kentucky's Constitution. Governor Steve Beshear announced Tuesday morning that the state will hire outside counsel to appeal .  The Courier-Journal has details.  Here are excerpts:

Gov. Steve Beshear announced Tuesday morning that the state will hire outside counsel to appeal a judicial ruling that the state must recognize same-sex marriages legally performed outside the state.

The announcement followed state Attorney General Jack Conway’s emotional announcement that he would not appeal U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II’s ruling and would not pursue any more stays.

“Judge Heyburn got it right,” he said at his Frankfort office. By appealing, he said, he would be defending discrimination “and that I will not do.”

Conway said he had prayed on the decision and felt he is doing what is right. He said that he was sworn to defend both the constitutions of Kentucky and the United States.

“It’s about placing people over politics,” he said.

He began choking up at the end of the statement before leaving without taking questions.

Beshear’s office emailed a statement soon after the announcement saying that an outside counsel would be hired to appeal the decision and ask for a stay pending appeal.

Expect more rage and flying spittle from the Christocascist crowd.

Kentucky Ordered to Recognize Out-of-State Gay Marriages

Yesterday was another bad day for the hate merchants of the "family values" crowd as a federal judge in Kentucky ordered that state to recognize same sex marriages legally performed in states that allow same sex marriage.  The order was the second shoe to drop in litigation that has struck down Kentucky's GOP/Christofascist backed state constitutional amendment.  Even more interesting is the fact that the judge did not stay his ruling pending a possible appeal by the state.  As the dominoes continue to fall in federal court rulings, the reactions of the "godly folk" increasingly parallel the mindset of segregationists from 50 years ago who used "religious belief" to try to mask their overt racism.  Note how the sister organization to The Family Foundation here in Virginia is attacking the state's attorney general.  Here are highlights from USA Today on yesterday's ruling in Kentucky:

A federal judge Thursday ordered Kentucky officials to recognize the marriages of same-sex couples performed out of state.

U.S. District Court Judge John Heyburn ruled that Kentucky's Constitution and laws banning recognition of such marriages "violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, and they are void and unenforceable."

The decision amounted to a final ruling on his Feb. 12 opinion in the case.

"We are cautiously optimistic," said Dan Canon, a lawyer for the four gay and lesbian couples who won the case. "The order has been granted without qualification and without a stay."

At least two of the couples in the suit said they planned to take some legal actions as soon as possible:

• Greg Bourke, who married Michael De Leon in 2004 Ontario, said he would amend adoption papers for their two children so Bourke's name could be added as their parent.

• Jimmy Meade and Luther Barlowe of Bardstown, Ky., who married in 2009 in Iowa, said they would go to a state driver's license office and take each other's last names, according to one of their lawyers, Dawn Elliott.

Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway had asked the judge Thursday to delay his order by 90 days to give him the chance to decide whether to appeal. The motion said that Gov. Steve Beshear, also a defendant, needed time as well to decide how to implement the order if it is not appealed.

The motion suggests that Conway is at least considering joining six other state attorneys general who have decided not to appeal rulings throwing out marriage bans. Those officials, all Democrats, said the laws are discriminatory and violate the right to equal protection under the law.

Conway has said he is legally bound to defend Kentucky statutes and its marriage amendment, but U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. declared Monday that state attorneys general are not obligated to defend laws they believe are discriminatory.
Heyburn's ruling doesn't affect a related lawsuit seeking to force the state to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Martin Cothran, a senior policy analyst for the Family Foundation of Kentucky, criticized the state attorney general's handling of the case, accusing him of "spiking" the state's defense by not making persuasive arguments to keep the ban in place.  "If this were a private case, it would be legal malpractice," Cothran said. "The longer the attorney general drags his feet on this case, the worse it is for Kentucky voters."

As for "persuasive arguments" to support the ban, as we are seeing in one federal ruling after another, there are no such arguments to support such marriage bans other than religious based hate and bigotry and the desire of Christofascists to force their beliefs on all citizens. 

Judge Who Thinks Being Gay Is a "Choice" to Help Preside Over AG Recount

As long time readers know, my divorce after coming out was a nightmare.  Frighteningly, one of the judge in my case - who opined that being gay is a "choice" - has been tapped by the Virginia Supreme Court to be part of the three judge panel that will oversee the recount in the Virginia Attorney General race recount.  I for one, will NOT be sleeping better at night while this recount remains unfinished knowing that this judge is involved.  The judge in question was first appointed by George Allen and has handed down some questionable rulings (see No.6) - see here as well - in the past.  Here are details from the Virginian Pilot on this, to me, troubling selection:

Circuit Judge Junius P. Fulton III was selected by the Virginia Supreme Court to oversee a fresh tally this month in a contest where Democrat Mark Herring leads Republican Mark Obenshain by 165 votes out of more than 2.2 million cast.

Serving with Fulton are Danville Circuit Court Chief Judge Joseph W. Milam Jr. and Richmond Circuit Judge Beverly W. Snukals, who will sit as chief judge for the recount.

All three were named in an order from Supreme Court Chief Justice Cynthia D. Kinser.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for today in Richmond ahead of a likely mid-December recount, according to the Obenshain campaign.

By law, a three-judge panel, including the Richmond Circuit Court chief judge and two others appointed by the Supreme Court, supervise a recount when candidates for state office are separated by no more than 1 percent of the votes cast for them.

So-called undervotes and overvotes - ballots where voters didn't select a candidate for each available office or selected more than one in a single contest - will be of particular interest to the candidates' attorneys.

Fulton is a former Norfolk School Board member who, like Kinser, was appointed to the bench by Gov. George Allen.

Justice Kinser - a former law school classmate - was also appointed by George Allen who was a darling of the far right.  When I argued before the Virginia Supreme Court on behalf of Michael Moore who was fired by the Virginia Museum of Natural History, Justice Kinser struck me as incensed that I  described what had happened to Michael Moore as religious based discrimination.  To be candid, I will not feel comfortable with Judge Fulton on the recount panel.

Will Obenshain Acting Honorably And Not Try to Steal AG Election

Like many others, I have followed the razor thin lead of Mark Herring in the Virginia attorney general race in which Herring was certified as the winner by the Virginia Board of elections yesterday.  Likewise, I have been concerned that the extremists in the Virginia GOP will push the contest loser, Mark Obenshain, to not only demand a recount but also to push the election results to the Virginia General Assembly where the GOP majority could reject the popular vote and declare Obenshain the winner.  In the Virginia GOP of old, such worries would be nonexistent.  But in today's Virginia GOP which is dominated by Christofascists and Tea Party lunatics and which has Ken Cuccinelli as the still incumbent attorney general to stack the dice so to speak, it is a legitimate worry.  A post at Blue Virginia suggests that Obenshain will do the honorable thing and concede the election.  I hope the post's author is correct. Here are post highlights:

The following piece has run in several Virginia newspapers, including today in the Lynchburg News & Advance.

Earlier this month, an alarm about Virginia's razor-close Attorney General's race sounded in some Democratic circles. Adam Swerver, in an article posted on the MSNBC website, declared that even if the defeat of Republican candidate Mark Obenshain is confirmed in a recount, he might still be able to have himself declared the winner by the Virginia state legislature, which is dominated by Republicans.  . . . . Opinions differed about the chances of Republicans succeeding with such a gambit, but there was little faith that scruples would hold them back from stealing the election. One response: "The va GOP will do ANYTHING to win cheat or steal an election."

I don't know whether state Senator Obenshain can gain the office through such a power-grab. But I bet he won't.

I live in Senator Obenshain's district. For more than twenty years, I have done talk radio in Harrisonburg, the town where Mr. Obenshain lives, discussing politics with the predominantly conservative audience in the Shenandoah Valley. I have only general impressions of him, but I know the political culture from which he comes.   

That political culture retains traditional conservative values and a sense of honor not yet transformed by the very different spirit that's come to dominate the Republican Party nationally.  I would bet that Obenshain - scion of a much-respected family of Virginia conservatives - would act in that true conservative spirit.   

A real conservative would not damage a pillar of the American political tradition by disrespecting the voice of the people expressed through voting.  It is at the heart of American democracy, because it is the means by which we confer power in an orderly and peaceful way.  

At the national level, the Republican Party has shown has shown itself increasingly contemptuous of the voters and of the sanctity of elections.  This is a party that

• Had its partisans on the Supreme Court decide the 2000 election to put their guy into the presidency, rather than make sure that the results in Florida honored the intent of the electorate;
• Has been erecting barriers to voting for constituencies that  support Democrats, ostensibly to solve a problem of voter fraud that every study shows to be virtually non-existent;
• Has used the filibuster in the U.S. Senate in an unprecedented way that subverts the basic principle of majority rule;
• Has made as its top priority preventing this president from leading the nation, even though he was fairly chosen by the people.

If the national Republican Party calls the shots in Virginia, such a disturbing scenario would indeed become plausible.  And we have seen how the spirit of power-at-any-cost has been spreading in the Republican Party from the national level down into the states. We've seen that Republican governors and legislatures -- in Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, and Florida - have pursued parallel agendas, further empowering the already mighty at the expense of ordinary citizens.  

But I'm betting that, if the recount confirms his defeat, Obenshain will stay true to his more genuinely conservative roots, and will act the part of honor. 

Again, I hope the post's author is correct.  As for Obenshain, if he does act honorably, it may go some way to rehabilitate his image.    Of course, he will still need to stop trying to police people's bedrooms and women's vaginas if he wants to stage a come back in the new, demographically changed Virginia.

Mark Herring Attorney Confident of AG Race Recount Victory

Mark Herring at left; Obenshain at right

Unless the Virginia GOP steals the attorney general election by fabricating a reason to throw the election result to the GOP controlled House of Delegates (a possibility discussed in prior posts), the legal team for Democrat Mark Herring is confident that Herring will prevail in the election recount.  It is critical that Mark Obenshain - a minion of The Family Foundation and anti-abortion and anti-gay extremist - not gain the attorney general position from which he could work to sabatoge all of the efforts of Governor McAuliffe and Lt. Governor Ralph Northam.  The Daily Progress looks at the optimism of the Herring legal team.  Here are story excerpts:

An attorney for state Sen. Mark Herring said Monday he expects the Democrat to retain his slim lead over Republican state Sen. Mark Obenshain in the race for Virginia attorney general.

“I don’t expect a significant change,’’ Washington, D.C.-based attorney Marc Elias, a veteran of election recounts, said in a teleconference. “I expect the attorney general-elect [Herring] — whether there is a recount or not — will prevail.”

 

The final certification by the State Board of Elections is set for Nov. 25. As of Monday’s unofficial tally, Herring, of Loudoun County , has a 164-vote lead among more than 2.2 million votes cast.

Elias said just three recent statewide recounts “against the backdrop of hundreds and hundreds” have changed the result. He called the recent canvass of votes in Virginia cities and counties “painstaking.”

Elias comes as a seasoned attorney in election battles. According to the website for his law firm, Perkins Coie , he was the lead counsel for Democratic U.S. Sen. Al Franken in his successful 2008 Minnesota race and recount, which was decided in that state’s Supreme Court.

Obenshain , of Harrisonburg , has said he is committed to seeing the process through. He is expected to request a recount if he does not come out the winner.

Both candidates have put transition teams in place. Herring is preparing to take over as attorney general, said his campaign manager, Kevin O’Holleran .  “[Herring] has been focused on governing,’’ O’Holleran said.

Will the Virginia GOP Try to Steal the Attorney General Race?

With unofficial results now showing Mark Herring to be the winner of the Virginia Attorney General race, there are fears that the Virginia GOP may yet try to steal the election in a desperate attempt to avoid an across the board loss by its extremist slate of candidates.  First we saw failed gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli change the rules on provisional ballots in Fairfax County (knowing that the majority of such ballots would be Democrat - and as Cuccinelli is raising money for Obenshain) and now there are further rumblings of possible shenanigans by the GOP to push the anti-woman, anti-gay, anti-minority Obenshain over the top.  No one lies or is more dishonest than today's Republican Party.  The Washington Post has weighed in on the issue.  Here are excerpts from its main editorial:

IT NOW appears, based on unofficial results, that Democrat Mark R. Herring slipped by Republican Mark D. Obenshain in their race for attorney general of Virginia by a gossamer margin, amounting to several thousandths of 1 percent of the 2.2 million votes cast.

There’s a chance it may change again. What’s critical is that the election be settled by voters, ballots and the state elections board, not by the legislature or courts.

That appears to be a risk, if Republican grumbling is to be believed. GOP lawyers are suggesting that they may challenge some provisional ballots that were painstakingly vetted by Fairfax County over the past few days, in many cases based on interviews with the voters themselves.

It was partly on the strength of those provisional ballots that Mr. Herring arrived at his current lead of 164 votes . Fairfax, by far the most populous and vote-rich jurisdiction in Virginia, gave voters until 1 p.m. Tuesday to appear in person if they wanted to argue that their provisional ballots should be counted.

That was four days more than other jurisdictions allowed; they cut off counting provisional ballots Friday. But the extension was authorized under Virginia law, and Fairfax sensibly argued that its size and the number of ballots warranted the extra time for review.

As it happened, Mr. Herring won most of the provisional ballots that were approved in Fairfax, just as Democrats won a majority of all votes cast in the county. Hence the Republican threats.

The main reason so many provisional ballots were cast this year in Fairfax (493) is that many federal employees who were deployed overseas, including diplomats and military personnel, automatically received absentee ballots for the 2012 presidential election. The absentee ballots were good for two years, meaning that if those voters moved back to Virginia this year without notifying election officials of their move, they would have been eligible to cast only provisional ballots if they showed up to vote at the polls. In many cases, those provisional ballots were ultimately counted.

The worst-case scenario is that the race will be settled neither by the current canvassing of votes nor by the official recount that is likely to take place at the end of this month. Under Virginia law, the losing candidate may contest the outcome by appealing to the General Assembly, where Republicans hold the advantage. The rules of such an appeal are sketchy. Ultimately, it’s even possible the dispute could end up in federal court.

Those scenarios would be a disaster. Elections are for voters to decide — not lawmakers or judges. For the good of the state, the candidates and the parties should refrain from endless partisan combat and agree to let things be settled by the official recount.

Personally, what I find most telling is that the decline in honesty and integrity in the GOP directly correlates to the rise of the "godly Christian" crowd within the party.   If one is looking for honest, integrity - even plain decency towards others - the last place you will find it is among the conservative Christian crowd.  They are not nice or decent people.  They are self-centered and hold the rule of law and the Constitution in contempt.

The High-Stakes Virginia Election Recount

Virginia continues to make the national media coverage with the closely contested Attorney General Race still unresolved.  Between Ken Cuccinelli clearly trying to suppress votes through his last minute rule change directive to the State Board of Elections and third world like incompetency in some precincts, Virginia is hardly putting its best face forward to the rest of the nation and the world.  I continue to hope for a Mark Herring victory because we do not need another lying extremist as Attorney General of Virginia.  Four years of Ken Cuccinelli is far too much as it is.  A piece in The Daily Beast reflects the attention the still unresolved race is receiving.  Here are highlights:

Now this is very interesting indeed: It suddenly looks as if the Democrat may win the attorney general election in Virginia. It seems they found a missing ballot box from Richmond on Monday afternoon, and Mark Herring vaulted to a 115-vote lead over Mark Obenshain, out of 2.2 million cast. The counting of the provisional ballots is supposed to end Tuesday, and then there will be a recount, if the tally is within 1 percent (it is) and if the loser requests it. But as of Monday afternoon, those following the proceedings closely said it seems highly unlikely that Obenshain can make up the difference, narrow as it is.

Is this a big deal? You bet it is. If Herring wins, the Democrats will have the run of Virginia. The governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and both senators will be Democrats. In Virginia! That hasn’t happened since 1969, which was a completely different political universe. One of those senators, Harry F. Byrd Jr., was a thoroughgoing segregationist. So that’s good news for the Democratic side.

And likewise it’s terrible news for the Tea Party. The Virginia GOP went ultra-hard right this year—instead of primaries, it held a nominating convention over-attended by ideologues who chose the medieval Ken Cuccinelli, about whom we know; the Bronze Age lieutenant governor candidate E.W. Jackson, who made a series of outlandish and reactionary comments and got mopped up by double digits; and Obenshain. He of course underwent far less national observation and scrutiny than Cuccinelli did, and he drew far fewer cameras than the bombastic Jackson, but his views are essentially indistinguishable from the gubernatorial candidate’s—transvaginal probes, criminalization of any failure by a woman to report a miscarriage to the police, hating on gay people, the whole ball of fetid, intolerant wax.

[A] Herring win would seem to make a future Obenshain gubernatorial term that much less likely.

It’s not for want of trying. As recently as Friday, the Virginia State Board of Elections, controlled by Republicans, voted to change a rule in the law that covers how provisional ballots are scrutinized. This business is a little technical and confusing, but basically the question revolved around whether a voter had to be present if he or she wanted the government body going through the provisional ballots to count his or her vote. Heavily Democratic Fairfax County and the state disagreed about both the rule and past practice, and the state overruled the county, which appeared to give Obenshain the advantage because the ruling would have the effect of making it harder for Fairfax voters, who are more Democratic than not, to have their ballots counted. That ruling is still in effect and still would help Obenshain, but it now seems mooted by the late developments from Richmond.

If the Virginia GOP ends up going 0-for-3 here, that’s a watershed moment, I think. I know; we’re just talking about a few hundred votes shifting around. But winning is winning and losing is losing. Bill Buckner only missed that ball by 2 inches. If the Republican Party of Virginia has no statewide officeholder for the next four years—and of course if the Democrats from McAuliffe on down do their jobs adequately—it would, speaking of climate change, alter the political temperature of the state considerably between now and 2016.

[I]f the results as of Monday evening hold, 2013 will stand as the most embarrassing election in Virginia for Republicans in years. Maybe in recent history. So maybe Virginia is for lovers. Of sanity.

Those Virginians who value reason and sanity need to hope that Herring maintains his lead.  The thought of Obenshain as Attorney General is nothing short of frightening.

Mark Herring Now Within 17 Votes of Obenshain

If people think that their vote doesn't matter or count, the Virginia Attorney General race underscores the foolishness of such thinking.  As the counting of provisional ballots and absentee ballots continues, Mark Herring is now down only by 17 points from Ken Cuccinelli clone, Mark Obenshain.  Clearly, EVERY vote counts.  Hopefully, as the counting continues enough votes will be found to put Mark Herring over the top.  Here are excerpts from the Richmond Times Dispatch:

The latest count from the Virginia State Board of Elections shows Republican Mark D. Obenshain with a 17-vote edge over Democrat Mark R. Herring in the Virginia attorney general's race.

According to a tally posted this morning on the board's website, Obenshain has 1,103,443 votes. Herring has 1,103,426.

The updated totals reflect the counting of provisional ballots in the aftermath of Tuesday's general election, a tally that is not yet complete across Virginia.

With the post-election shifting of numbers _ Obenshain's apparent lead grew to more than 1,200 votes late last week _ the election that now seems likely headed for an official recount. That would mean Virginia voters won't know who their next attorney general is until next month.

History Suggests Mark Herring May Prevail in Recount

With stories of missing votes in the Virginia Attorney General race such as the one in the Roanoke Times, Virginia sounds like some third world country.  The result is that it will probably be sometime in December before a confirmed winner is announced in the race.  Obviously, I am hoping that Mark Herring makes up the current deficit once provisional ballots and newly found ballots are fully counted.  As a piece in the Washington Post notes, history suggests that there is reason to hope that Mark Obenshain - a creepy Ken Cuccinelli clone - will go down to defeat in the end.  Here are highlights:

The Virginia attorney general’s race appears headed for a recount, with the latest results showing Republican Mark Obenshain leading Democrat Mark Herring by fewer than 800 votes out of about 2.2 million cast.

And according to a study by the group FairVote, Herring is currently well within the margin under which the race could flip in his favor.

The study shows the average statewide recount between 2000 and 2012 shifted the vote total by about 0.03 percent, with the largest shift being 0.11 percent.  According to the latest numbers, Obenshain’s lead over Herring is just more than 0.03 percent.

Now, it should be noted that the vote count will continue to shift as provisional and other ballots continue to be counted. But at this point, it seems a recount could indeed flip the contest to Herring . . . . .

Here are more details from the Roanoke Times piece cited above:

Fairfax County election officials focused on a faulty voting machine as the cause for an unusually low number of absentee ballots recorded in one of the county's voting districts.

The Fairfax County Electoral Board said it would meet Saturday to hear the results of an investigation into the apparent voting discrepancy and release the results of a canvass on Sunday.

Statewide, Republican state Sen. Mark D. Obenshain of Harrisonburg has a 1,272-vote lead over state Sen. Mark R. Herring, a Loudoun Democrat. But Herring won Fairfax County by a wide margin in Tuesday's election, 60 percent to 38 percent, and up to 2,000 votes could be up for grabs in the canvass.

Some 3,158 provisional ballots also remain to be certified statewide. Those ballots typically involve a voter who lacked an ID or voted in the wrong precinct. Local registrars have until Tuesday to certify those ballots, and the state has until Nov. 25. Either way the votes fall, each candidate is expected to seek a recount.

The combination of the unaccounted Fairfax County absentee ballots and the provisional ballots make it increasingly likely the successor to Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli won't be known until the state certifies the vote later this month.

New Ads Focus on Mark Obenshain's Extremism

While I despise most everything about him, I will concede that GOP attorney general candidate Mark Obenshain has run a slick, although thoroughly dishonest campaign.  He has done everything possible to try to fool voters into thinking he's moderate on issues rather than the Ken Cuccinelli clone that he is in reality.  Thankfully, a new ad is set to run that will help inform voters that Obenshain does not work to "protect" Virginians as he claims and instead has backed policies and bills that aid violent criminals, especially those seeking easy access to guns.  Here are highlights from a piece at Politico:

New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s super PAC is launching a $1 million ad blitz in the final week of the Virginia Attorney General’s race, focusing on Republican nominee Mark Obenshain’s record on guns in a saturation-level television buy.

The spending comes on top of nearly $2 million that Bloomberg has laid down in the Washington television market in negative spots against Virginia AG Ken Cuccinelli . . .

And it creates a dynamic of Bloomberg directly going up against the National Rifle Association, which launched spots attacking the New York mayor shortly after his Independence USA PAC started reserving air time for the anti-Cuccinelli spots last week.

The Bloomberg spot broadly paints Obenshain as a hard-right candidate, using his support six years ago as a state senator for a so-called “personhood” amendment and pivoting to a vote against background checks at gun shows.

“Here are few things Mark Obenshain tried to outlaw,” the narrator of the ad says. “Birth control pills. Women choosing to have an abortion, even in the case of rape or incest.”

The ad goes on: “But when it comes to actual criminals, Obenshain voted to let convicted felons avoid background checks at gun shows, and voted to repeal the one gun a month law, meaning criminals could buy guns in bulk. Instead of dictating to women, Virginia needs an Attorney General who cracks down on real criminals.”

“Virginia has now become a major battleground with the NRA in the fight over sensible gun safety legislation,” said Independence USA PAC spokesman Stu Loeser.  The NRA is reportedly spending about $500,000 to air an ad against Herring in Virginia.

Obenshain, despite his grossly dishonest campaign, is a far right radical.  His votes on a personhood bill, his bill to criminalize women who have miscarriages and his record on guns all paint a stark picture of the real Mark Obenshain.

Rank Republican Dishonesty

Mark Obenshain - An Anti-Woman Liar

With the Virginia 2013 elections now just two weeks away, the political ads on the airwaves are becoming overwhelming.  Most annoying and disgusting are those being run by Ken Cuccinelli which seem to prove that no one lies more than the self-anointed Christianist crowd.  Only in their alternate universe can lying be "telling the truth."  Among Cuccinelli's ads is one that strives to give the impression that the Washington Post has criticized Terry McAuliffe and backs Cuccinelli.  The truth, of course, is that the Post endorsed McAuliffe, not Cuccinelli.  Not that this fact would ever be known from Cuccinelli's ad.

Perhaps the most outrageous ad is one being run by Mark Obenshain which claims that Democrat Mark Herring has "lied about" Obenshain's record in the Virginia Senate where Obenshain claims he has a consistent record of "protecting women."   The truth is that Herring's ads have been 100% accurate on what Obenshain's true record is - which is apparently what is so damaging that it has prompted Obenshain's prissy conniption fit.  Let's review what Obenshain's record is really all about:

1.  Miscarriage Bill: Sponsoring a bill that would send women to prison for a year if they had a miscarriage without a doctor in attendance and failed to notify local police of the miscarriage within 24 hours.  

2. Personhood Amendment: Obenshain was a sponsor and champion of a bid to amend Virginia's constitution to give a fertilized egg all of the rights of a citizen from the moment of conception.  This would have the effect of outlawing all abortions in all circumstances, including rape and incest.  It would also outlaw many forms of birth control and in vitro fertilization.

3. Transvaginal Ultrasound: Governor Bob McDonnell got the name "Governor Ultrasound" thanks to Virginia GOP backed legislation that would have required women to have an invasive ultrasound before they could seek an abortion.  Under Virginia's current rape statute, the procedure would have constituted rape.  Obenshain was a sponsor and supporter of this legislation.

4. Religious Based Discrimination: Obenshain has been a true foot soldier of the Christofascist at The Family Foundation and supports discrimination in adoption and foster parent placement based on applicant's religious beliefs and sexual orientation.

Frankly, it is difficult in any world based on objective reality to see where these measures constitute "protecting women."  This extreme record based on Obenshain's record is what Mark Herring has focused upon.  It is all documented by Obenshain's legislative votes and actions.  It's no lie.  The lie is what Obenshain is trying to say to Virginians in his thoroughly untrue ads against Mark Herring.

Mark Obenshain Bill to Criminalize Miscarriages Drags Him Down

Mark Obenshain with con-artist/lunatic E. W. Jackson

Mark Obenshain is running hard - not for Attorney General but rather from his own legislative record.  Among the things Obenshain doesn't want voters to know about are (i) that he sponsored a so-called "personhood" bill that would have outlawed many forms of contraception and in vitro fertilization, and (ii) that he sponsored a bill that would have criminalized women who had miscarriages and failed to report the miscarriage to the local police within 24 hours.  It goes with out saying that Democrat Attorney General candidate Mark Herring believes voters need to know Obenshain's true record.  A record that when not pandering for votes, Obenshain still supports 100% as do his Christofascist masters at The Family Foundation.  A new poll by the Herring campaign shows just how toxic Obenshain's true record is wityh voters.  Here are some highlights:

According to the findings from our recent survey1, it is crystal clear that though he may try to reframe his extremist record, Republican Mark Obenshain will have a hard time doing so. 

 

After voters are presented with information about Obenshain’s sponsorship of a bill that forces women to report miscarriages to the police, the race moves against him, with Herring capturing majority support and leading, 52 to 44 percent.

 

Indeed, among the strongest attacks against Obenshain is his authorship of a miscarriage registry, which would force women who have a miscarriage to register with police within 24 hours or risk going to prison2.  Besides this message’s obvious salience and the doubts it creates about Obenshain, it also has the overall effect of joining Obenshain hip-to-hip with E.W. Jackson and Ken Cuccinelli, a ticket already seen as among the most extreme in Virginia’s history.

Obenshain can try to run from his past actions, but Herring and many others will do all possible to educate voters on the real Obenshain, not the phony image being paraded for uninformed voters. 

 

All Of New Mexico's County Clerks Seek State Supreme Court Ruling for Gay Marriage

What began as a trickle with one county clerk issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples has become a raging torrent as all 33 of Mew Mexico's county clerks have voted to join in a petition seeking a ruling from the New Mexico Supreme Court confirming gay marriage.  With the announcement today by the IRS that it will recognize legally married same sex couples regardless of their state of residence and the Social Security Administrations signal to same sex couples to apply for benefits, the pressure on anti-gay states like Virginia which are becoming increasingly non-competitive in terms of attracting progressive businesses and entrepreneurs will be increasing markedly.  The Alburquerque Journal has details.  Here are highlights:

New Mexico’s 33 county clerks voted Wednesday to seek a state Supreme Court ruling on the legality of same-sex marriage, even as gay and lesbian couples continued flocking to county offices in all corners of the state.

The move came on another whirlwind day: Attorney General Gary King upholding the validity of marriage licenses issued to same-sex couples in 2004 by a former Sandoval County clerk; and the state Supreme Court turning down a request by the lawyer for two Santa Fe men to consolidate and take over several pending gay marriage lawsuits.

County clerks in six counties — Bernalillo, Santa Fe, Doña Ana, San Miguel, Valencia and Taos — started issuing same-sex marriage licenses in the past two weeks, either voluntarily or in response to lower court orders.

However, legal uncertainty over whether other county clerks should follow suit and whether clerks can alter marriage application forms to make them gender neutral prompted the clerks to take action Wednesday.

New Mexico is the only state that has not explicitly allowed or disallowed same-sex marriage — via legislation, a popular vote or a high court ruling, according to legal experts. That statutory uncertainty has led to a range of legal interpretations.

During a Wednesday conference call, county clerks voted 31-0 to have their attorney seek a state Supreme Court ruling to address their concerns and determine whether the constitution’s equal-rights protection allows for same-sex marriage, said Daniel Ivey-Soto, executive director of the New Mexico County Clerks Affiliate.

Since the floodgates opened, county clerks in most, if not all, 33 New Mexico counties have been visited by same-sex couples seeking marriage licenses, Ivey-Soto said. He said it’s expected that lawsuits will be filed against county clerks who refuse to issue them.

“Instead of getting picked off one by one, the county clerks decided they need an answer,” Ivey-Soto said. “County clerks need to know what is their responsibility.”   All the state’s county clerks — 21 Democrats and 12 Republicans — offered to have their names listed in court briefs, he said.

Meanwhile, a letter Attorney General King emailed on Wednesday to current Sandoval County Clerk Eileen Garbagni said a license issued by a county clerk in New Mexico is “presumptively valid” unless a court of competent jurisdiction acts to invalidate it.

Suit Filed Challenging Pennsylvania DOMA - Attorney General Won’t Defend "Unconstitutional" Law

Making good on its promise, the ACLU filed suit today in federal court challenging Pennsylvania's anti-gay DOMA law.  The ACLU has promised to file suits shortly in both Virginia and North Carolina challenging those state's anti-gay state constitutional amendments.  Here in Virginia, a new poll shows that 55% of Virginians now support gay marriage.  That, of course will mean nothing to self-loathing closet case, Attorney General/GOP gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli who will no doubt defend Virginia's animus based amendment and dutifully following orders dictated to him by the Christofascists at The Family Foundation.   But back to Pennsylvania.  Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane (pictured above) has said that she will not defend the statute because it is "wholly unconstitutional" in the wake of the holding in United States v. Windsor.  Now, the question is whether or not GOP Governor Tom Corbett will step forward to defend the anti-gay law.  Here are highlights from the Washington Post:

Pennsylvania attorney general Kathleen Kane announced Thursday afternoon she will not defend the state in a federal lawsuit filed this week challenging the constitutionality of the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, calling the prohibition “wholly unconstitutional.”

The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit Tuesday on behalf of 23 Pennsylvania residents, including 10 couples, a widow and two children, naming Kane and the state’s Republican Gov. Tom Corbett as defendants. Kane’s move, announced to reporters at Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center, places the burden of defending the law on the governor’s general counsel. Corbett supports the prohibition on same-sex marriage, which passed the state legislature in 1996.
“If there is a law that I feel that does not conform with the Pennsylvania state constitution and the U.S. Constitution, then I ethically cannot do that as a lawyer,” she said.

Thomas Peters, spokesman for the National Organization for Marriage, said Kane’s refusal to defend the ban represented a sort of “pocket veto” of the law.

Kane framed her decision both in terms of her constitutional obligations and her commitment to Pennsylvania residents, saying that in a choice between defending the law and serving the public, “I choose you.”

Mary Catherine Roper, a senior staff attorney for the ACLU of Pennsylvania, said she and others involved in the lawsuit were “celebrating” in the wake of Kane’s announcement.

“To have the highest law enforcement official of the Commonwealth come out and say, ‘I agree with you, this law is unjust, that’s huge for us,’” Roper said in a phone interview, her voice audibly emotional.

However the the state GOP chairman Rob Gleason released a statement calling it “unacceptable for Attorney General Kathleen Kane to put her personal politics ahead of her taxpayer-funded job by abdicating her responsibilities.”

As a licensed attorney of over 35 years, I believe that Kane has taken the ethically correct posture.  As an attorney - which she is - she is ethically bound NOT to make false and fraudulent arguments to the Court.  With the decision in Windsor so clearly zeroing in on the anti-gay animus that was behind the federal DOMA law - the same type of anti-gay animus that was behind both the Pennsylvania law and the constitutional amendments in Virginia and North Carolina - to defend such a law law that is based on nothing but animus and extreme religious beliefs could theoretically expose an attorney to sanctions by the Court and disciplinary actions by the applicable state bar.  Not that such concerns will constrain Ken Cuccinelli and similar Christofascists who deem themselves above the laws and rules that govern the rest of us.   Religious belief has no place in the civil laws of the states or the nation.

Virginia State Senator Wants Cuccinelli's Office Investigated - Or, Follow the Money

Governor Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell has gotten himself into a good deal of political trouble by accepting large sums of money from political supporters.  Now, it appears that Ken "Kookinelli" Cuccinelli, the GOP's 2013 gubernatorial candidate may suffer from similar tendencies.  How else to explain an attorney in Cuccinelli's office assisting corporate litigants who - surprise, surprise - gave $100,000 to Kookinelli's campaign.  State Senator Phillip Puckett is from a Southwestern Virginia district where a lawyer from Cuccinelli's office was assisting two companies being sued by landowners for gas royalties.  He wants answers.  So should every Virginia voter and citizen.  Here are excerpts from a Virginian Pilot piece that looks at Puckett's call for an investigation:

A state senator said Monday he is seeking an investigation into the role of the Attorney General's Office in a natural gas lawsuit after a federal judge wrote she was shocked a lawyer from that office was assisting two companies being sued by landowners for gas royalties.

Sen. Phillip Puckett is a Democrat whose southwestern district encompasses landowners who are suing the companies. He said he is asking the Inspector General's Office to investigate whether the Attorney General's Office had violated any laws or ethics rules.

Puckett noted that one of the companies, CNX Gas Co., is owned by Consul Energy Inc., which had donated $100,000 to the Republican gubernatorial campaign of Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.

"The attorney general of Virginia or any elected officer of the state, including me, should be doing the right thing for the people that we serve and not be on the side of someone else just because of campaign contributions or any other reasons," Puckett said in a conference call.

In an opinion issued last week, U.S. Magistrate Judge Pamela Meade Sargent cited emails between an assistant attorney general and EQT Production Co. and CNX, Pittsburgh-area energy companies. The attorney, Sharon Pigeon, advises the Virginia Gas and Oil Board.

Sargent wrote: "Shockingly, these emails show that the board, or at least Pigeon, has been actively involved in assisting EQT and CNX with the defense of these cases, including offering advice on and providing information for use on the motions before the court."

EQT has declined to comment on Sargent's written comments, while CNX has not responded to telephone messages and emails.

When first out of law school I worked with a large law firm and worked on oil and gas lease litigation matters.  I also frequently appeared before the state oil and gas board.  Let's be clear: these lawsuits are private civil litigation matters and the AG's office and the State Oil and Gas Board should have no role in them other than to provide copies of public records to parties if requested to do so.  "Offering advice on and providing information on the motions before the court" far exceed these duties.   Cuccinelli has time and time again shown that he sees himself as above the law, above the Supreme Court and above Congress.  Taking a $100,000 payment in exchange for help for the AG's office to the donor(s) would be only too much in keeping with his level of arrogance.

Lawmakers Call on Cuccinelli to Resign Attorney General

First for some personal background: when he successfully ran for attorney general, Mark Earley and I were members of the same law firm and I saw first hand how running a statewide campaign meant that he was nearly never in the office or in court handling client matters.  It was campaign mode 24/7 and the rest of the firm carried his case load and we basically helped underwrite his campaign.  Ditto when he unsuccessfully ran for governor after resigning from the office of attorney general. Fast forward to 2013.  Ken "Kookinelli" Cuccinelli to date has refused to resign his position as attorney general claiming he can do his job and campaign at the same time.  Excuse me, but that is simply something that is impossible and Kookinelli is a liar if he claims otherwise.  I have seen the reality first hand.

Let's be blunt: Kookinelli is simply trying to make Virginia taxpayers underwrite his campaign in an amount equal to his salary.  If Kookinelli is too insane and toxic to have any major law firm put him on its payroll as former gubernatorial candidates have had done, that should be his problem and not force many of us to underwrite his campaign by paying his salary while he campaigns full time.  In recognition of this reality that is obvious to anyone sentient, a dozen members of the Virginia General Assembly have sent Kookinelli a letter demanding that he resign his position.  One can only hope that the media gets all over this conflict of interest and inappropriate conduct on Cuccinelli's part (perhaps a petition need to be launched?).  Here are highlights from a Richmond Times-Dispatch column:

A dozen Democratic lawmakers on Friday sent a letter to Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli asking him to resign his office because he is running for governor. The letter signed by four state senators and eighth members of the House of Delegates, argues that Virginia deserves a full-time attorney general and notes that the previous six attorneys general resigned before their terms expired in recognition that running for governor creates too many demands on fulfilling the duties of the office.

 

The letter even quotes current governor and former attorney general Bob McDonnell’s remarks in 2009 at the time of his resignation: ”The office is a very difficult job. It demands a full-time attorney general to do the hard work that’s required.”

Of course, in most cases, attorneys general typically slide into a comfortable jobs at politically connected major law firms — where they are given time to pursue their political ambitions while making salaries that far exceed their public service wages.

In a brief interview Friday, the Republican gubernatorial nominee he said he intended to keep his word and downplayed the difficulty in public service and political multi-tasking. . . . . “It’s not a tradition that I think ever should have developed in Virginia,” he added, referring to the practice of resigning. “I made a promise when I ran four years ago… and I’m going to do it.” 

As for his "promise" four years ago, Kookinelli assured voters he wasn't going to do what he is now doing.  His sole focus supposedly was going to be serving as attorney general.  As is always the case, Kookinelli believes he is above the laws and traditions that govern everyone else.  In that regard, he's a typical Christofascists.  This man needs to be defeated.  He is a clear and present danger to Virginia's future and the rights of many Virginians.  Should Bill Bolling mount an independent campaign, I might even make a contribution just to keep Kookinelli out of the Governor's Mansion.  The man is insane.

 

Virginia AG Ken Cuccinelli Fires King & Spalding

You can always depend on Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli - or Kookinelli as he is less than affectionately referred to by Virginian's embarrassed by Cuccinelli's lunacy and ongoing generation of negative press for the state - to do two things: (1) take action and make moves to get his name in the press and (2) bash and denigrate LGBT citizens whenever possible. Keeping with his past conduct, Kookinelli utilized the foolish missteps of Atlanta based law firm King & Spaulding and defense of DOMA to get his name in the press and send yet another message that LGBT citizens are not welcome and certainly will not be afforded civil law equality on his watch as Virginia Attorney General. I'm sure Kookinelli's stunt played well with the coven of Christianists at The Family Foundation - Daddy Dobson's Virginia affiliate - even though rational and sentient Virginians are shaking their heads in dismay. Kookinelli talks about Virginia needing firms that are committed, yet its Kookinelli in my opinion that needs to be committed - to a mental institution. Both the Huffington Post and the Washington Examiner have highlights on Kookinelli's latest batshitery. First this from Huffington Post:
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Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) is terminating his office's relationship with law firm King & Spalding after the firm decided to drop its defense of the controversial Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) last week.
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"King & Spalding's willingness to drop a client, the U.S. House of Representatives, in connection with the lawsuit challenging the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was such an obsequious act of weakness that I feel compelled to end your legal association with Virginia so that there is no chance that one of my legal clients will be put in the embarrassing and difficult situation like the client you walked away from, the House of Representatives," Cuccinelli wrote to firm partner Joseph Lynch in a letter obtained by the Washington Examiner.
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According to the letter, Cuccinelli said: "Virginia does not shy away from hiring outside counsel because they may have ongoing professional relationships with people or entities, or on behalf of causes that I, or my office, or Virginia as a whole may not support. But it is crucial for us to be able to trust and rely on the fact that our outside counsel will not desert Virginia due to pressure by an outside group or groups."
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"Virginia seeks firms of committment, [sic] courage, strength and toughness, and unfortunately, what the world has learned of King & Spalding, is that your firm utterly lacks such qualities," he added, according to the Washington Examiner. He also said that the firm would not be able to reapply for special counsel status for the state of Virginia as long as he was attorney general.
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The Washington Examiner adds these following highlights:
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A copy of the letter was made available to The Washington Examiner. A request from the newspaper for a response has been emailed to [Joseph] Lynch [at King & Spaulding].
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As Attorney General, Cuccinelli represents Virginia state agencies in court in the same attorney- client relationship as a private individual who retains a lawyer to represent him in a legal case.
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The firm had been retained by the Virginia AG's office Sept. 15, 2009. Cuccinelli said the firm was being terminated "effective immediately."
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It is noteworthy that the AG's office has only utilized King & Spaulding since 2009 and - having bid on AG office RFP's in the past myself while in a former law firm - most legal work goes to Richmond, Virginia based mega firms that perennially under bid other firms to keep their strangle hold on the state's legal business.

Bob McDonnell beginning to flinch?

This post is cross posted from The Bilerico Project and also includes an update in the form of the directive that Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell. The directive flies in the face of an attorney general opinion McDonnell issued as Attorney General attacking former Gov. Tim Kaine's Executive Order 1 (2006), which is the subject of a case now pending before the Virginia Supreme Court. It also contradicts the opinion issued by current Virginia Attorney General "I'm a Kool-Aid Drinker" Cuccinelli. Here's the post:
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With all Hell breaking loose at colleges and universities and even some Republican members of the Virginia General Assembly seeking to insert gay non-discrimination protections in pending legislation, Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell has issued what some are calling an edict (others a directive) barring all forms of discrimination in Virginia's governmental offices. This action would seem to be a direct blow to Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli who inflamed the issue last week with his directive to Virginia's public colleges and universities to rescind their non-discrimination policies that made sexual orientation a named protected category. Only time will tell if this action can stem the firestorm that McDonnell and Cuccinelli have unleashed on themselves and the GOP in Virginia. Hopefully, but most of us see McDonnell's action as too little too late.
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Both the Virginia Pilot and the Richmond Times Dispatch have stories. First highlights from the Richmond Times Dispatch:
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In an executive directive sent today to all state employees, Gov. Bob McDonnell projected his strongest stance yet on non-discrimination in the workplace, but stopped short of calling for the legislature to add a protection based on sexual orientation.
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"Employment discrimination of any kind will not be tolerated by this administration," it states. "Consistent with state and federal law, and the Virginia and United States Constitutions, I hereby direct that the hiring, promotion, compensation, treatment, discipline, and termination of state employees shall be based on an individual's job qualifications, merit and performance.
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"No employee of the Executive Branch shall engage in any discriminatory conduct against another employee." The first Executive Directive from McDonnell further states that "any cabinet member, agency head, manager, supervisor or employee who discriminates against a state employee or prospective employee in violation of the law or this standard of conduct shall be subject to appropriate disciplinary action, ranging from reprimand to termination."
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On the House of Delegates floor this afternoon, Dels. Joseph D. Morrissey, D-Henrico, and David L. Englin, D-Alexandria, called on the governor to send a bill to the General Assembly before it adjourns on Saturday to add sexual orientation as a protected class in the state code. Just this week, the Republican-majority House refused to act on a tabled bill that would have added that protection to the state code. . . . At Virginia Commonwealth University, meantime, more than 1,000 people turned out to protest Cuccinelli's opinion.
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The Virginian Pilot is also carrying the story. Here are highlights from that coverage:
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In a strongly worded edict, Gov. Bob McDonnell today instructed state agencies not to discriminate against gay and lesbian workers during the hiring process or in the workplace.
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His directive comes in the wake of a recent firestorm ignited after Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli wrote to Virginia college and university officials telling them they lack the legal authority to adopt employment policies with protection for gay workers.
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While McDonnell's missive takes a strong stand on Virginia's non-discrimination posture, it doesn't carry the weight of law, as an executive order does.
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Earlier Wednesday, Sen. Tommy Norment tacked a sexual orientation amendment onto an economic development bill from the McDonnell administration as it passed out of the Senate Finance Committee. The James City County Republican altered legislation that would give the governor greater flexibility to offer financial incentives to attract companies to Virginia.
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It is widely viewed as vehicle to recruit defense giant Northrop Grumman, which is considering Virginia as a site for a new headquarters.
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Inasmuch as the question of the strength of an Executive Order is now pending before the Virginia Supreme Court, equality advocates need to insist on legislative action. The irony, of course, if this happens will be that Cuccinelli's overreaching with the backing of The Family Foundation might prove to be the undoing of The Family Foundation's anti-gay agenda. Here is the text of McDonnell's Directive: