Jim Bacon, our favorite bloviator, seems to be a little too enamored with Kenneth Cuccinelli, our hard-charging attorney general who battles his highly-politicized court fights and opinions.
As the Grand Baconator Deluxe writes:
“It will be take-no-prisoners time in Northern Virginia this Tuesday evening at the Virginia Conservative PAC fundraiser. Ken Cuccinelli will be the headline speaker. I don’t know what the Attorney General plans to talk about, but I suspect the words “kicking butt” and “taking names” will apply.”
Well, Jimbo, Ole Cooch just got his ass whupped in Charlottesville.
Today, Albemarle County Judge Paul M. Peatross Jr. threw out that five civil investigative demands issued by Cuccinelli against the University of Virginia in his probe of possible fraud by global warming specialty Michael Mann.
Peatross ruled that the attorney general had not shown that the CIDs were relevant and had not sufficiently “stated the nature of the conduct” that is allegedly fraudulent.
Mann, who left U.Va., 2005 and now teaches at Penn State University, believes that human activity has contributed to global warming. Cuccinelli, a staunch conservative who doubts global warming, believes that Mann fudged research while at U.Va. He is demanding data and emails from 40 scientists around the world.
The case has gained international attention and outcries from such groups as the American Association of University Professors and the Union of Concerned Scientists which says that at least one of Cuccinelli’s CIDs seeks information that has nothing to do with Mann.
The Charlottesville judge also ruled that Cuccinelli has the power to issue CIDs against the university and could come back with revised ones.
Since taking office in January, Cuccinelli has issued a series of controversial opinions and filed politically-tainted lawsuits. He has said that gays have no right to protection at public universities, that the Environmental Protection Agency cannot regulate carbon dioxide, and that Christmas decorations can be erected on public property if equal space is given to other religions. On Aug. 2, a federal judge in Richmond allowed his lawsuit against a new federal health care plan to proceed.
Does that make it 1-1? What’s the expense to taxpayers for all this nonsense? Groveton? Any ideas?
Peter Galuszka
