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.

Catholic Bishops Threaten to Block Immigration Reform if Gays Included

In my view, those who believed that Pope Francis might usher in a new climate in the Roman Catholic Church are either delusional or simply have their head up their ass.  In terms of the Church hierarchy's anti-gay jihad, nothing has changed.  And other than nice words, nothing has changed on the sexual abuse cover ups either.  It is all business as usual in terms of gay bashing and no punishment for the members of the hierarchy who aided and abetted child rapists.  Consistent with this continued moral bankruptcy, the U. S. Catholic bishops have renewed their opposition to comprehensive immigration reform if bi-national same sex couples are included in the legislation.  Of course, the biggest question the bishops' latest tantrum raises is that of why anyone decent with a shred of morality pays them an attention at all. A piece in AmericaBlog looks at this latest example of Catholic Church anti-gay animus.  Here are highlights:

The Catholic church, in its traditional move when it doesn’t get its way at the ballot box, is taking human shields in order to force its minority religious view on 100% of the American people.  This time the Catholic leaders, infamous for their ongoing aiding and abetting of child-rape in their own church, have taken 11 million undocumented Latinos hostage in yet another of their ongoing efforts to gay-bash.

The Catholic bishops, who have no business telling non-Catholic Christians like myself how to live our lives, let alone the rest of non-Catholic America, sent yet another anti-gay nastygram to President Obama, demanding he exclude gay bi-national couples from any immigration reform package, or they’ll torpedo the legislation.

The Catholic bishops threw a similar hissy fit over immigration reform in February.  Oddly, the bishops have yet to throw a hissy fit about their own colleagues aiding and abetting pedophilia.  It’s only the gays’ presumed-pedophilia that worries the Catholic bishops – the real thing, not so much.

The Catholics elders are known from their human-shield-taking.  They’ve taken children hostage in Illinois, Massachusetts and Washington, DC as part of their church’s ongoing political vendetta against the gays.  And the lead Catholic bishop in France recently seemed to justify anti-gay hate crimes.  So if they’re willing to harm children, and tolerate a few hate crimes, in order to get their way, they’re certainly willing to take a swipe at Latinos too.  (Perhaps it’s time Latinos learned that the Catholic church is not their friend – and perhaps this latest move will finally prove it.)

As for the Catholic threat to torpedo immigration reform lest the gays be free – let them try.  The only reason immigration reform is moving at all is because the Republican party is terrified that its lost the Latino vote forever, while Latinos are an ever-growing percentage of Americans.  That, along with traditional GOP bashing of gays, women, and African-Americans, among other people and causes, has so turned off young voters that it’s not clear, other than the South and very old white men, just who is willing to vote for a Republican anytime between now and the next century.

So let the Catholic church just try to torpedo the GOP’s big comeback with Latinos.  That should be fun to watch.

I continue to believe that a government investigation of the Catholic Church is needed in America.  It is the only way the truth will ever come out and the only way that the nasty old men in dresses will ever be held accountable for their crimes against children and youths.