Mental health services in Virginia continue to take center stage after series of ‘incidents’

In a recent report by the Richmond Times Dispatch, the list of available psychiatric beds at public and private hospitals was delayed by budget cuts and “other priorities,” shining an even brighter spotlight on Virginia’s mental health system and the budgetary problems that have undermined its effectiveness.

In June 2012, the commissioner of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, James W. Stewart III, stated that the software needed to run the Virginia Acute Psychiatric and CSB Bed Registry “is completed,” paving the way for a Web registry for psychiatric beds at public and private hospitals in addition to units run by local community services boards.

Virginia’s mental health system has been given greater public attention following the suicide of Virginia Sen. Creigh Deeds’ son, Austin C. “Gus” Deeds. After being admitted into emergency custody, Gus Deeds was released after no psychiatric bed could be located for him. That is, another death that could have easily been prevented became another unfortunate consequence of the Republican Party’s ceaseless efforts to ‘slash’ budget deficits in Virginia and throughout the country.

While no political party is guilt free, the Republican Party’s ideological insistence on “balancing the budget” and individual responsibility have left it either unwilling or incapable of dealing appropriately with mental health services. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, an estimated 26.2 percent of 

Americans ages 18 and older have a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. The problem of mental health in the U.S. is not going away, in other words. And as long as individuals and groups neglect to hold the Republican Party accountable for its inaction or counter-actions regarding mental health services, mental health problems will not decrease and may even grow with time. 

Terry McAuliffe’s governing inexperience may prove to be a boon for Virginia

Much has been made of Governor-elect Terry McAuliffe’s lack of experience managing the affairs of government. In a recent interview, Mr. McAuliffe acknowledged the skepticism surrounding his ability to govern as well as the reasons why he’ll be an effective governor.

While it’s true that experience is helpful in just about any occupation that comes to mind, Terry McAuliffe will have a number of advisers and cabinet officials that will assist the former Democratic Party fundraiser while he settles in to his new role as governor.

But all of the talk about government experience and its perceived correlation to governing effectiveness has left out the idea that a lack of governing experience may be more of an advantage than a disadvantage. Mr. McAuliffe may not have the personal relationships, the political know-how, or the confidence of more experienced Virginia politicians, but McAuliffe also doesn’t have the personal baggage or entrenched perceptions based upon prior experiences that could inhibit more experienced individuals from being effective governors. In other words, McAuliffe’s ‘blank slate’ could be an opportunity to take on old policy challenges from a new, ‘outsiders’, perspective.

As with any institution, there are rules and norms that members abide by explicitly or implicitly, a culture that every member affirms and reaffirms through their thoughts or behaviors. Virginia government is no different in this respect; each branch of Virginia’s government has its own culture, a set of ideas and beliefs that members either knowingly or unknowingly view the world with.

While an institutional culture may be the catalyst for creativity and innovative problem-solving, government is in essence a conservative institution bent towards maintaining the status quo until the status quo becomes unsustainable. Terry McAuliffe has had little involvement with this institution as a member of Virginia’s government.

McAuliffe represents a ‘fresh’ pair of eyes that could be just what the commonwealth needs to overcome many of the issues that have confounded previous governors such as transportation, energy, women’s rights, political party relations, and so on. There are no easy solutions, of course, but perhaps McAuliffe’s governing inexperience could turn out to be his greatest asset. 

Exploration permit 90484EX quietly renewed for Virginia Uranium Inc.

In case anyone needed additional evidence that Virginia Uranium Inc. (VUI) hasn’t given up on lifting Virginia’s moratorium on uranium mining, Exploration Permit 90484EX was renewed on November 13^th, 2013 and will remain in effect until November 20^th, 2014. The permit was first issued to VUI in 2007.

With billions of dollars worth of uranium ore deposits on the line, it’s not surprising that VUI has taken a long-term approach to achieving its goal of lifting Virginia’s ban on mining uranium. Once believed to be an inevitable short-term outcome, VUI has had to settle for waiting at least another 4 years before there is a serious chance of mining uranium in the state.

For many residents of Southside Virginia, VUI has been a symbol of the tension between capitalism and democratic governance in our modern era. While some polls have shown a close split among Virginians who favor or oppose uranium mining, no polls that I am aware of have been targeted towards the people of Southside Virginia, where the uranium mining would actually take place. With all due respect to Virginians living outside the Southside, your backyard isn’t the one where the process of uranium mining will take place (at least, not yet).

As long as a majority of Southside Virginians wish to retain the moratorium on uranium mining and the process remains open to considerable risk, the question about whether or not the moratorium should be lifted is moot. The communities that will be most directly affected by this decision should be the ones who have the final say in whether or not the process is started. Isn’t this a large part of what our democratic form of government is about?

Virginia Uranium Inc. throws in the towel until political winds blow favorably

In a not so unfortunate turn of events, Virginia Uranium Inc. (VUI) announced that it would be “suspending its campaign” to purge Virginia of its uranium ore deposits due to the opposition that Governor-elect Terry McAuliffe has publicly voiced for this risky enterprise.

VUI’s faithful ally in the Virginia General Assembly, Sen. John Watkins, had planned on reintroducing legislation in 2014 that would allow uranium mining in Virginia to occur. During the 2013 session of the General Assembly, Watkins’ legislation never made it out of the Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources committee.

The “low-key” announcement made by VUI marks a significant short-term victory for opponents of uranium mining in Virginia, marking the culmination of years of raising public awareness about the risks of uranium mining and milling, particularly in a wet climate like Virginia’s.

With billions of dollars on the line, however, there won’t be any shortage of attempts by groups to lift the moratorium on uranium mining, a moratorium that has been held in place since 1982. According to the VUI project manager, Patrick Wales, "We are in this for the long haul and are committed to developing the Coles Hill project. We will continue evaluating all options to move the project forward." And by “all options,” Wales must have also meant half-truths and spurious scientific correlations.

So while Virginians concerned about the vitality of their state can breathe a collective sigh of relief for now, my hope is that Virginians do not completely wipe this issue off of their ‘radars’. VUI has made it clear that the towel is not being thrown in indefinitely.

For all of the Virginians who worked tirelessly to achieve this victory for the commonwealth, enough thanks cannot be given! Many of their names will probably never be household names in the state, but they deserve just as much praise and gratitude as some of Virginia’s most memorial historical figures. Only time will tell, but the contribution of these individuals could one day prove to be absolutely priceless. 

So much for Mark Obenshain’s graceful election defeat for attorney general

As the deadline approaches to formally challenge the results of the November 5^th attorney general’s election, Republican Sen. Mark Obenshain’s lead attorney gave the first indication on Monday that the election could be contested in the Virginia General Assembly if the votes don’t end in Obenshain’s corner. So much for a graceful election defeat…

In front of a three judge court overseeing the recount in the attorney general’s race, Obenshain’s lead attorney, William H. Hurd, stated that it is “critically important” for his legal team to obtain complete access data from electronic poll books before the Dec. 23^rd deadline to formally contest the results of the election in the General Assembly.

Under Virginia law, Obenshain could legally request that a joint session of the Virginia legislature reverse the results of the attorney general’s election. According to the Times Dispatch, “grounds for a contest include objections to “the conduct or results of the election accompanied by specific allegations which, if proven true, would have a probable impact on the outcome of the election.”” That is, prepare for Obenshain and/or his team of legal henchmen to make “specific allegations” that could overturn the election’s results.

Without getting into the nitty-gritty of the court’s ruling on specific ballot recount specifications, the Virginia-wide recount has been set for Dec. 17-18, leaving 72 hours for either candidate to challenge the ballot results.

Although no one can reasonably blame Mr. Obenshain for asking for a statewide recount in an election decided by 165 votes, Virginians will have cause for outrage if Obenshain swings the ultimate outcome of the election to the Virginia General Assembly, an institution “dominated” by Obenshain’s Republican Party.

If we are to assume that Republicans in the legislature will allow party politics to trump ethics and individual integrity (big assumption, I know), the Republican Party could in effect overturn the will of a majority of Virginians on trumped up allegations.

Not only would this set of events undermine the democratic process in Virginia, it would also set up an increasingly toxic relationship between the Democratic and Republican parties as the 2014 session of the General Assembly nears. Neither scenario seems particularly optimal, to say the least.

Here’s hoping that the Democratic Party doesn’t role over as usual in the face of Republican Party aggression.  

The world’s smallest violin is playing for Ken Cuccinelli and his victimization rhetoric

An immediate Cuccinelli political comeback was dispelled on Saturday during a dinner speech at The Homestead Resort. According to one source, Ken Cuccinelli stated “I don’t mind not having an elected role in about a month or so. I’ve been in office 11 years… I look forward to a little bit of a break. … but I’ll be back with you. I’m not talking as a candidate, but just fighting for these principles because I believe in them.”

Before anyone except staunch Cuccinelli supporters get too excited, the attorney general’s words seem more like those of a man still licking his wounds from a recent election defeat rather than those of someone who’s given himself enough time to make a resolute long term decision. And if there is one thing that Virginians should know by now, it’s not to trust a good deal of what Ken Cuccinelli says.

Cuccinelli’s defense of his election defeat should also leave anyone interested more than a little suspect about Cuccinelli’s intentions to stay out of electoral politics. The ‘blame the Republican Party of Virginia (RPV) for not supporting me’ defense that Cuccinelli has been playing sets this one-time tea party hero into the role of victim, a good position to put oneself in if and when Cuccinelli ever decided to re-enter politics.

By setting himself up as the victim of ‘unfaithful’ or ‘compromising’ RPV members, Cuccinelli not only shrugs the blame for the election defeat off of his shoulders, he also scores cookie points with a Republican Party base that seems disillusioned with what have been called “establishment” Republicans.

If we learn nothing else from Cuccinelli’s most recent public speech to the Republican Party faithful, however, we should be able to discern a man that is far from being a leader that Virginia wants or needs, a man who is too proud and too blinded by his own ideological beliefs to concede blame for his own political defeat. In typical Cuccinelli-fashion, everyone else is to blame, not him.  

Casinos or no casinos, a real gamble for Virginia

While Virginia’s legislators have held steady against the growing tide of casinos spreading across the U.S., there are millions of reasons to believe that it’s only a matter of time before the commonwealth folds, even if legislative opposition is still strong.

According to the Washington Post, there are casinos in “various forms” across 39 states in the U.S. Twenty-five years ago, casinos were limited to New Jersey and Nevada. While these two cities remained the top earners in 2012, there were six other cities/states that raked in over one billion dollars in annual revenue during 2012. Even in the best of economic times, it’s difficult to look the other way at the potential state income generated by the casino industry.

While moral arguments have long been used to deflate attempts to legalize casinos in Virginia, critics of legalizing casinos have also cited the correlation between casinos, crime, substance abuse, and mental illness (i.e., the social corruption argument). There appears to be statistically significant evidence to prove such a correlation exists, albeit with a few reservations for factors that are difficult to control for.

As more evidence accumulates from states where casinos are legal, Virginia’s citizens and legislators can come to more informed conclusions about what effect legalizing casinos could have in Virginia. If it can be shown that casinos do not have a strong correlation to social corruption, the legalization of casinos could be well on its way in the commonwealth.

Regardless, there are millions of reasons why legalizing casinos in Virginia may go ahead anyways. While Virginia has shown a slow but steady economic recovery following the last economic recession, casinos will prove to be a very tempting source of revenue if and when a new economic recession/depression sweeps through the state. 

Rep. Morgan Griffith of Virginia: tis the season for more absurd remarks

Tis the season for more absurd remarks by Republican members of congress, and Rep. Morgan Griffith (9^th District) didn’t waste any time. While recently visiting Tazewell, Griffith told a crowd of supporters during lunch that if 95 percent of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) employees were classified as ‘non essential’ during the federal government shutdown in October then “they should be able to cut 15 percent.”

Indeed, the august Griffith claimed that he intends to introduce legislation during the next session of congress that would cut the EPA’s staff by 15 percent even though he concedes that “I don’t want to mislead anyone, I don’t think it will pass in the Senate and maybe not the house but we are going to ask for their staff to be cut by 15 percent.” In essence, then, Griffith’s legislative gamble will once again waste legislative time, energy, and taxpayer dollars.

It is interesting, however, that Rep. Griffith doesn’t also believe, by implication, that the approximately 350,000 civilian Department of Defense employees who were considered “non essential” should be reduced by 15 percent. According to Griffith, then, EPA employees are essentially worthless, reflecting a widespread and fundamentally flawed view by many Republicans on which federal agencies are and are not worth their share of taxpayer dollars.

But if Griffith’s standard of reducing the number of individuals working for the government who are draining the U.S’s budget is to be applied consistently, then he might think about firing himself and a number of his Republican Party colleagues. According to a recent Standard and Poor’s analysis, the recent government shutdown cost the U.S. $23 billion in gross domestic product. That is, the government shutdown cost the U.S. almost three times the total 2013 fiscal year budget of the EPA ($7,901,104,000). Those darn facts are terrible, aren’t they?

If there is any unnecessary drain on the U.S. economy, it can easily be found in the U.S. Congress among a political party that has made economic homicide an essential part of its political tactics. The carelessness and ignorance of the Republican Party in congress is the real threat to the U.S.’s economic success, not the EPA, and at the forefront is Virginia’s very own Rep. Morgan Griffith. 

Mark Obenshain orders a recount while Mark Herring prepares for new job

Much to the surprise of interested onlookers (*sarcasm*), state Senator Mark D. Obenshain formally requested a recount on Tuesday in what has become a “historically tight race for Virginia attorney general.”

The results of the November 5^th election for Virginia Attorney General were certified by the Virginia State Board of Elections on Monday. State Sen. Mark R. Herring (D-Loudoun) was announced the victor by 165 votes, making the 2013 election for attorney general the closest Virginia political contest in “modern Virginia history” (however “modern” is defined). 

Meanwhile, state Sen. Herring announced the five co-chairmen of his inaugural committee, another unforeseen action (*sarcasm again*) that signals Herring’s own expectation of becoming Virginia’s next attorney general. According to a statement made on Tuesday by Sen. Herring, “It is within Senator Obenshain’s right to pursue electoral victory to an ultimate conclusion beyond the original count, canvass and certification.” Herring went on, “His tactics, however, will not impede our efforts to build the finest team to serve all Virginians in the Office of Attorney General or prepare for the 2014 legislative session.”

Indeed, Obenshain is well within his political rights to request a recount. Sen. Herring would undoubtedly have done the same were he in Obenshain’s position. The more important question at this juncture is what action(s) Sen. Obenshain will take if the recount returns the same result?

Some have argued that Obenshain will act honorably, but Obenshain is not the only factor in this equation, even if he is the most important factor. Another significant variable in this complex equation of power politics is the Republican Party of Virginia (RPV), an institution that is no doubt reluctant to easily concede a clean sweep by the Democratic Party on Election Day. The RPV could well influence what actions Obenshain takes if the vote count is upheld. 

As to Obenshain’s own honor or that of the Republican Party, I question anyone who believes any politician or institution on the right of the political spectrum is willing to put the country ahead of its own self-interests. I’d like to believe that Obenshain is such a politician, but recent actions by elected Republican representatives of Virginia and the U.S. have left me a bit jaded on this point.

If anything is for certain in Virginia politics, it’s that politics in Virginia needs to regain some sense of civility that existed in the not too distant past 

Height of Insanity: Virginia’s repeated unwillingness to address mental health

Most of us have heard the old chestnut regarding insanity: insanity is repeating the same mistake over and over again. If applied to Virginia’s repeated unwillingness to appropriately address the issue of mental health and the commonwealth’s mental health system, then the state is literally insane.

With the events of state Sen. Creigh Deed’s tragedy still fresh on the minds of Virginians and occupying the headlines of Virginia’s newsmakers, the insanity of Virginia’s mental health system have once again been catapulted into the uncomfortable spotlight of…reason.

It stands to reason, for instance, that if “mental health patients” are being turned away from state institutions due to a lack of adequate resources, then more resources should be purchased. We’re only discussing the lives of human beings, however. Indeed, having enough beds to house mental health patients seems to be something akin to a ‘critical need’.

Within the cultural narrative of individual responsibility in Virginia, an inability to account, much less financially provide, for individuals deemed “mentally unstable” has grown alongside. These two conceptually disparate phenomena have left Virginia’s political ‘leaders’ and bureaucrats uncertain on how to proceed. On the one hand, each individual is considered rational and responsible for his or her own success or failure in the game of life. On the other hand, there is the pesky phenomenon of mental illness, which reduces or eliminates the ability of individuals to make rational decisions.

The point is that there seem to be more than a few political leaders in Virginia who believe mental illness is more or less a hoax that does not require extensive state attention or funding. Unfortunately for all Virginians, mental illness is a very real phenomenon that deserves extensive attention and, if necessary, funding.

At this point in this issues history, how many more people have to be harmed before Virginians and their political representatives begin taking mental health seriously? If you prefer the cold-hearted pragmatic question: how many more taxpayer dollars do we have to lose related to mental health related tragedies before Virginia begins taking mental health seriously?

STEMing the tide of Virginia’s educational woes as Terry McAuliffe takes over as gov

When the Virginia Chamber of Commerce handed Governor-elect Terry McAuliffe its “Blueprint Virginia” at the chamber’s yearly Economic Summit in Williamsburg, there weren’t many surprises. The ‘blueprint’ asks the soon to be governor to place a greater emphasis on science, technology, engineering, math (also known as STEM) and health instruction at all levels of education. The blueprint also “calls for vigorous efforts to retain Virginia military assets and support military families and veterans.”

Blueprint Virginia is the Virginia Chamber of Commerce’s plan for economic development and business leadership, and it was received with open arms by Terry McAuliffe. According to one source, McAuliffe informed over 600 business leaders in attendance during the summit that the blueprint will be a “valuable resource” as McAuliffe’s administration develops Virginia’s economic plan for the next 48 months.

While the Virginia Chamber of Commerce isn’t exactly a bastion of progressivism, it certainly realizes the importance of ensuring that Virginia’s next generation of job seekers actually have the skills necessary for America’s increasingly sophisticated economy.

Unfortunately, for all of the hours that many U.S. children spend receiving instruction, the U.S. ranks low in the STEM disciplines compared to other countries around the world. Longer term, what this trend means is that as more STEM jobs open up, there won’t be enough American workers who have the skills or knowledge to take them. Enter workers from other countries…

In my humble opinion, it’s not Duck Dynasty or any of the other mind-numbing shows on TV that are adding to America’s education woes, it’s the way that we as Americans approach education. More work, more hours spent in instruction, and standardized tests have continuously failed the test of effectiveness. It’s time to reevaluate how we as Americans approach educating our country’s youth.

Virginia’s business community and Gov.-elect Terry McAuliffe appear to be fully aware of Virginia’s weakness in the STEM disciplines. The only questions are will the latter have the political will to shake Virginia’s educational system into high gear and will the former put its money where its mouth is by offering incentives for students to enter into and complete STEM lines of study? 

The story we’ll never know: Gus Deed’s and the need for mental health expansion

As has become readily apparent, Gus Deed’s stabbing of his father, state Sen. Creigh Deeds, and subsequent suicide has highlighted the reduction in Virginia funds for mental health programs.

According to a report by the Times Dispatch, Gus Deed’s had undergone a psychiatric exam performed under an emergency custody order on Monday, “but was ultimately released because there were no psychiatric beds available for his use in western Virginia.” In other words, the tragic events that occurred on Tuesday could have been prevented.

Ironically, as America as a whole has witnessed numerous mass murders and murder-suicides over the last year alone, states are actually reducing the amount of psychiatric services that they provide their citizenry. According to a 2012 report by the Treatment Advocacy Center (TAC), “Many states appear to be effectively terminating a public psychiatric treatment system that has existed for nearly two centuries.” 

Apparently, not enough people have died to warrant an expansion, or at the very least a stay, of America’s mental health services.

The report found that between 2005 and 2010 Virginia reduced 15 percent of its public psychiatric beds. Good Ol’ Governor Bob McDonnell asked for even more cuts in mental health programs in 2012.

Although America and many Americans seem to adhere to the belief that each individual’s ‘mental problems’ are their own responsibilities, the simple truth is that some individuals with mental health problems require professional psychiatric attention, attention that can only be usually afforded through public programs.

And contrary to the common belief that reliance upon some external ‘other’ (i.e., someone or something other than our selves) will somehow lead one further away from individual self-reliance, seeking professional help can oftentimes be the key to progressive self-reliance. That is, the domino theory that relying on other individuals and/or institutions will continue to perpetuate ad infinitum is only true to the extent that we choose to accept it as truth.

We’ll never know if Gus Deed’s murder-suicide could have been prevented, but we can at least hope that similar incidents in the future can be prevented if state governments expand their mental health programs so that patients who clearly need professional help won’t be turned away. 

Cuccinelli’s defeat theory turns individual responsibility on its head, another Cuccinelli contradiction

In the first edition of tales from a sore loser, Virginia Attorney General and loser of November 5^th’s race for governor, Ken Cuccinelli, suggested that Sen. Mark Warner will be vulnerable during the 2014 election because of the perceived flaws of the healthcare reform legislation. In other words, Cuccinelli could be positioning himself for a senatorial run against Mark Warner in 2014.

According to Cuccinelli, “There is no such thing as an unendangered Democrat who promised, as Mark Warner did, on video, sitting in his Senate office, ‘I would not vote for a health-care plan that doesn’t let you keep health insurance you like.’ ” On the other hand, there is no such thing as an unendangered Republican who compares abortion to slavery.

Unfortunately, Cuccinelli may not have learned much from his gubernatorial loss to Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe. Fortunately for Virginia, Cuccinelli may not have learned much from his gubernatorial loss to Terry McAuliffe.

Instead of graciously accepting his defeat in the November 5^th election, Cuccinelli sounds like a man deeply embittered by a ‘race’ he apparently thought he should have won. In his interview with the Washington Post, Cuccinelli claimed McAuliffe lied his way to victory.

Cuccinelli also went on to say, “Truth still has a lot of value, but apparently it’s somewhere between zero and $15 million.” It’s ironic that Republican politicians only find money to be a bad thing when it’s used against them. And if Cuccinelli thinks the gubernatorial race witnessed a large infusion of greenbacks, he might be astonished by the amount of money that could flow into Sen. Mark Warner’s coffers during his reelection bid.

Cuccinelli didn’t lose the race for governor due to any nefarious methods used by McAuliffe or any corrupt out-of-state cash for favors bargains. Cuccinelli lost the election because Virginians don’t want a governor who is more interested in writing books and grandstanding than serving the public interests. Virginians don’t want a governor more interested in dividing the political parties than finding a common ground. Cuccinelli lost because Cuccinelli is…Cuccinelli, and if he runs against Mark Warner, Cuccinelli may once again prove to be his own worst enemy. 

Terry McAuliffe’s Transition Committee may be more of the same or just a fluke

While I would like nothing more than to believe that Governor-elect Terry McAuliffe is unequivocal in his opposition to uranium mining in Virginia until the science proves such an endeavor safe for Virginians (not for the foreseeable future), we are dealing in politics, a world where positions can change with the blink of an eye. With this in mind, it’s concerning to note that at least one member of Gov. McAuliffe’s “transition team” has ties to Virginia Uranium Inc. (VUI).

As Co-chair of McAuliffe’s Transition Committee, former Virginia delegate Whitt Clement is situated in an authoritative position steer Terry McAuliffe in a direction altogether different than the one he announced shortly following his election on November 5^th.  Clement was a delegate of the 20^th District from 1988-2002, a district which encompassed Danville and parts of Pittsylvania County. More alarmingly, Clement is also a former lobbyist for VUI and the brother-in-law of VUI President and Chief Executive Officer, Walter Coles Sr.

While this correlation is not a cause for turning McAuliffe’s veto promise on its head, it is a reminder that until the issue of uranium mining has been settled once and for all (i.e., uranium mining banned indefinitely), pro-mining advocates will continue to spin their webs under the radar of the public’s attention until they achieve their objective.

I cannot imagine that Gov. McAuliffe would so clearly announce his intent to veto any bill that sought to lift the moratorium on uranium mining in Virginia until the process was unequivocally proven safe only to reverse his position months or years later, but in the world of politics, policy positions can change as quick as the direction of the wind.

For the time being, Gov. McAuliffe should be given a cautious benefit of the doubt. We did just help elect him, after all. 

Terry McAuliffe's Opposition to Uranium Mining a Boon for Virginia

Newly elected Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe's public opposition to uranium mining in Virginia shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who has observed the numerous and consistent opposition posed by academic, local, and regional governmental bodies towards lifting the moratorium on uranium mining in Virginia.

The only real surprise in the debate surrounding the issue of the governor's position on uranium mining in Virginia is lame-duck Gov. Bob McDonnell's unwillingness to strongly oppose uranium mining in Virginia until considerable safety controls have been put in place and the people of Southside Virginia have given the green light.

That the debate around the moratorium on uranium mining in Virginia has gone on for this long is a testament to the political influence Virginia Uranium Inc. (VUI) has inside Virginia's capitol, not the legitimacy or soundness of their arguments in favor of lifting the moratorium on uranium mining.

What Gov. McAuliffe did in announcing his opposition to uranium mining is what any governor or public servant should do: assess the evidence supporting and/or not supporting the issue in question and make a final decision based upon the overall benefits versus costs to the people.

In so doing, Gov. McAuliffe has already demonstrated his willingness to set powerful special interests aside based upon sound and consistent evidence for the common good of Virginia and Virginians. Gov. McAuliffe's opposition also shines an even brighter spotlight on the policy decisions (or lack thereof) of his predecessor, Gov. McDonnell.

Gov. McAuliffe has reignited a belief in the idea that the "David's" of the world can triumph over the "Goliath's" if enough energy, determination, and truth is infused in the public debate. It may take years, maybe even decades, but policy decisions for the greater good of society are still possible in a world of domineering special interests.

Mo’ Money and a Republican governor in Virginia?

The blame-game began in earnest shortly following Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe’s gubernatorial victory over lame-duck Virginia Attorney General, Ken Cuccinelli, on November 5^th. Once the election results became official, Tea Party and conservative groups quickly pointed the finger at the Republican Party ‘establishment’ as the primary reason for McAuliffe’s win over Cuccinelli.

According to these groups, Terry McAuliffe could have been beaten if the “party’s establishment” hadn’t reduced its financial support during the remaining weeks of the gubernatorial contest. In the words of Cuccinelli strategist Chris La Civita, “There are a lot of questions people are going to be asking and that is, was leaving Cuccinelli alone in the first week of October, a smart move.”

Instead of focusing on why the ‘GOP establishment’ reduced its funding for Cuccinelli in the first place, angry conservative and Tea Party groups have set their sights on the reduction of financial contributions by a group of traditional Republican financial contributors dubbed the ‘party establishment’. In other words, these groups have chosen to ignore the possibility that Ken Cuccinelli was an extremist candidate for governor in a state that largely frowns upon political extremes on either end of the political spectrum.

The lesson these groups should draw from the November 5^th General Election in Virginia is that the Ken Cuccinelli’s of the political world are short-term fads, at best, that quickly fall out of favor once the American public realize just how harmful their extreme policies are.

The focus on ‘establishment Republicans’ by conservative and Tea Party groups will only fuel the flames of internal Republican Party turmoil that may damage the GOP ‘brand’ even more and/or divide the party even further into two camps, establishment and non-establishment (assuming there is an ‘establishment’ wing of the Republican Party). Either of these outcomes would be fine by me.  

The waning of Ken Cuccinelli, a case study for how not to run a campaign for Virginia governor

In a last gasp attempt to ‘fire up the troops’ before Election Day, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli spoke to a crowd of supporters in Henrico County on Saturday, claiming his campaign has the “momentum.”

According to Cuccinelli, “If we win Henrico, the odds are pretty darn good we win this race. I need you all to push that through for me.” And one wonders why Cuccinelli is so far behind in the polls… By Cuccinelli’s reasoning, winning one county in Virginia makes the odds “pretty darn good” to win the election for governor. Last I checked, however, Henrico County is not the sine qua non of gubernatorial elections in Virginia.

But besides the typically hyperbolic or untruthful statements of Ken Cuccinelli, the most interesting aspect of the event was the fact that only one Virginia legislator was present on Saturday, Del. John O’Bannon. Other careerist Republicans that were in the crowd were “local Republican Party organizers and a healthy contingent of lawyers who work with Cuccinelli at the Attorney General’s Office.”

As the polls continue to show a comfortable lead for Democratic candidate for governor, Terry McAuliffe, some Republicans have already started to ask how they could have lost an election that was theirs to win (of course, this assumption is itself questionable). And as political consultants, pundits, and average Virginians weigh in on the factor(s) that led to Cuccinelli’s demise, it’s clear that a number of complex factors came into play that forced Cuccinelli’s political star into the dimming background of political irrelevance.

Above all, Cuccinelli was first and foremost his own worst enemy. Not one to hold his tongue or principles, Cuccinelli fell into the image trap that the Democratic Party laid for him as quickly as it was set. Instead of eschewing some of the more radical policies that he advocated to win over the so-called tea party, Cuccinelli stayed to the right of the political spectrum and alienated a number of ‘independent’ Virginia voters.

For all of the criticisms I can lay at Virginia’s feet, Virginia has consistently proven to be a moderate state that is not a hotbed for radical political movements from either end of the political range. Cuccinelli, apparently, never gleaned this and his campaign will no doubt be used in the future as a case study for how not to run a campaign for governor in Virginia. 

Virginia Uranium Inc. sets up a billboard and further reduces its credibility

The public relations onslaught by Virginia Uranium Inc. (VUI) continued in earnest this week as the uranium mining company set up a “safest uranium mine in the world” billboard just outside of Pittsylvania County’s boundary on Route 29. With the 2014 General Assembly session just around the corner, Virginia’s uranium Goliath wants residents of Pittsylvania County to see the safer side of the uranium mining and milling project to nullify the voices of those who see more cost than benefit.

According to VUI’s Project Manager, Patrick Wales, "We just really wanted to have a public reminder of the commitment made to these communities.” Wales continued, "If we take the best measurement practices that are being used in Australia, in Canada and in the United States and apply them right here, we're very confident that we're going to build the safest uranium mine in the world..."

But what has residents of Pittsylvania County concerned about most at the moment is the “presumptuous” statement on the VUI billboard. The billboard’s main text reads, “Pittsylvania County: Future home [emphasis mine] of the safest uranium mine in the world.” The problem here is that the moratorium on uranium mining in Virginia is still very much in place and as such, uranium mining in Virginia is illegal.

Among the many additional problems with the billboard’s message is the issue of safety and evidence. The billboard claims that a uranium mine in Pittsylvania County will be “the safest uranium mine in the world” without giving any reference to details or evidence of how this might be true. In other words, VUI is relying on the same tactic of playing the claim game without providing substantive supporting evidence. Are the residents of Pittsylvania County supposed to blindly put their lives and/or livelihoods in the hands of VUI?

The billboard also adds to a long line of evidence regarding VUI’s arrogance about its ability to roll over the will of Virginians. Because VUI is arrogant in this respect, one has to ask what other areas VUI is arrogant in as well, such as safety for example? Have you ever witnessed someone so arrogant that they claimed to be “okay” to drive home after downing a 12-pack of beer over the span of an hour? How did that turn out for the driver?

VUI is like that driver who claimed to be able to defy human physiology and drive home safely after drinking high quantities of alcohol. VUI’s claim defies evidence and only reinforces the conviction that the uranium mining company is a deceptive special interest that cannot be trusted with the car keys (i.e., Virginia’s health and safety). 

The Obenshain remains the same: GOP candidate for AG little different than Cuccinelli on issues

At least one national Republican group, the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC), appears to have gone “all in” for Virginia GOP candidate for attorney general Mark Obenshain, leaving current Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and his ‘running mate’, E.W. Jackson, in further electoral dire straits. On Friday, the leadership committee contributed $660,000 to Sen. Obenshain’s campaign, bringing the committee’s total Obenshain contributions to $2.6 million, the largest amount the Virginia state senator has been able to raise from any other sources.

According to its website, the RSLC is “is the largest caucus of Republican state leaders in the country and is the only national organization whose mission is electing Republicans to the office of attorney general, lieutenant governor, secretary of state and legislator.” What this means for Cuccinelli and Jackson is clear: Obenshain is seen by the RSLC as having the best shot at being elected on November 5^th.

A Christopher Newport University report released on October 8, 2013 showed a 3 percent “edge” for Democratic candidate for attorney general, Mark Herring, an edge that the report noted is within the poll’s margin of error. Thus, Herring and Obenshain could be tied for attorney general.

In case you wanted to see a comprehensive list of Obenshain’s positions on issues pertinent to Virginians however, you’ll have to rummage through his public statements, introduced legislation, and other campaign activities since he has declined to tell Virginians where he stands. Why would anyone vote for a political candidate who won’t make their positions on issues freely known to their constituents? Of course, 

Obenshain has good reason to hide his issue positions from Virginians.

While Mark Obenshain has done his best to keep his distance from Cuccinelli’s falling political star, the truth is that Obenshain is little different in terms of issue positions than the extremists Cuccinelli and Jackson. The Republican Party ticket for this November’s general election is packed full of extremist nut-jobs, in other words.   

If Virginians want more fear and government intervention into their private lives, then by all means vote for Mark Obenshain. If not, please look a little bit closer at the issue positions of Mark Herring and Mark Obenshain. One of these candidates stands for tolerance and a positive vision for Virginia. The other, well, not so much.

Bob McDonnell’s legal ‘shipwreck’ is still costing Virginia’s taxpayers thousands of dollars

While the country’s attention has once again been drawn almost exclusively to economic-related issues, notwithstanding the attempt to draw in the Affordable Care Act into the economic debate, it’s only appropriate that legal fees related to a federal investigation into Gov. Bob McDonnell’s behavior in office is once again making headlines.

In the latest cost to Virginia’s taxpayers, the attorney general’s office hired a private attorney in August, Amy Austin, at a rate of $250/hour to “handle inquiries at Virginia Commonwealth University [VCU] from federal prosecutors examining McDonnell’s relationship with a wealthy donor.” For former students of VCU still paying down student loans such as myself, the irony is twofold:  not only are my state tax dollars going towards the fees of a private attorney representing VCU, I’m still paying a significant portion of my paycheck towards my time at VCU. There’s your “Golden Alumni” contribution, VCU.

Austin’s appointment as private counsel for VCU has added yet another attorney to the docket of counselors that Virginia taxpayers have had to foot the bill for. In addition to Austin, legal counsel has been hired for the Virginia State Police, the police investigator that is working on the McDonnell case with federal officials, and two different law firms that are representing/defending Gov. McDonnell and his staff.

According to the Washington Post, Virginia’s taxpayers had been billed $244,000 since the end of July for all of the combined legal services mentioned above (excluding Austin’s representation of VCU). More recent bills have not yet been released.

According to VCU’s counsel, Virginia’s Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli was not given the green light to defend the university because “the university’s counsel did not feel he had the resources or expertise to handle the federal inquiry.” So the question then becomes, what resources or expertise does Cuccinelli actually possess as Virginia’s highest attorney?

The investigation and the accompanying legal representation surrounding McDonnell has undoubtedly become a complex and economically draining affair that should have been downgraded in importance by McDonnell’s resignation. But in an era of American history where eluding responsibility for one’s actions in elected office is the rule rather than the exception, it’s little surprise that McDonnell has chosen to stay aboard the sinking ship that is his political career.

Unfortunately for Virginias’ taxpayers, we weren’t given an insurance policy to avoid the costs of McDonnell’s shipwreck. 

While House members of the tea partly implicitly or explicitly argued that their goal during the government shutdown was to create policies that would somehow reduce America’s debt and reduce the size of the federal government, it seems clear that in terms of the former goal, America has only been plunged deeper into short and long term debt (not to mention President Obama has overseen record-setting declines in public employment). For this reason, Sen. Mark Warner (VA) recently requested the Government Accountability Office (GAO) conducta report that analyzes the economic impact of the 16-day federal governmentshutdown.  

In his request letter to the GAO, Warner stated, “We just concluded the first shutdown of the federal government in nearly 20 years. Abruptly closing and opening the world’s largest enterprise was completely irresponsible, and there are some indications it caused unnecessary hardship across our economy.” Sen. Warner went on, “The best way to prevent another unnecessary shutdown is to better understand how this irresponsible action fully impacted our economy.”

Somehow along the road of political strategy, tea party Republicans convinced themselves that sacrificing the certainty and well-being of millions of Americans was a necessary evil to shake off the greater evil of supposedly inescapable public debt and a menacingly big federal government. In this way, if they ever had a sense of what it means to govern responsibly, they lost it in the haze of ideological fervor, and the people of America suffered.

Opponents of Sen. Warner may respond that his request for an economic analysis of the government shutdown is little more than a political stunt. As a politician, there is little doubt that Sen. Warner’s request is at least in some respects a political act, but it’s a good political act. Unlike the tea party Republicans, Sen. Warner’s request could actually help Americans from across the socioeconomic range in America by preventing fiscally disruptive legislative acts that achieve more harm than good. That is, Sen. Warner actually understands what governing is all about.  

Safety is in the eye of the beholder and these eyes see too many risks in uranium mining

Safety, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. When it comes to the issue of uranium mining in Virginia, there are two main groups: those who believe that adequate safety measures can be put in place and those who don’t. I fall in the latter group.

By safety measures, I don’t simply mean physical protections against the various environmental and human health risks that milling and mining uranium pose to Virginians. I also mean legal protections afforded any individual who believes themselves injured by the processes of uranium mining or milling.

When asked if “a locality may subject a uranium mining operation to civil penalties or liability for loss of revenue by agricultural operations for cancellation, rescission, or modification of agricultural contracts due to uranium mining,” Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli responded, “no.”

And what, you might be asking, is Cuccinelli’s reasoning? The federal government prohibits these protections! That is, the Republican candidate for governor who has essentially campaigned on a theme of ‘too much government’ is conveniently using the federal government to oppose local government protections against a sector that Cuccinelli is clearly beholden to (i.e., energy). Something smells rotten in Denmark…

The concern over protections is not just pertinent to Southside Virginians. It is suspected that the uranium deposits found at Coles Hill could be the tip of the iceberg. According to a report by New Republic, “geologists suspect that the Coles Hill deposit is not isolated. Scientists argue about the origins of the ore, but it’s most likely a remnant of the same ancient tectonic processes that created the Triassic Basins--meaning that there could be similar deposits up and down the East Coast.” That is, uranium mining might be coming to a town near you in the near future.

What happens now in terms of staying the moratorium on uranium mining or establishing regulations that will open the door for lifting Virginia’s moratorium on uranium mining will have repercussions for additional discoveries of uranium ore in Virginia. Now is therefore the best time to ensure that we, as Virginians, make the right decision on how to move forward.

Unfortunately for advocates of uranium mining and milling, safety is not something that be assured anymore than someone can be assured that the airplane their riding on won’t malfunction. Since the moratorium was placed on uranium mining in Virginia in 1982, the ball has been in their court to prove that uranium mining can be done safely. But apart from generalized conclusions and half-baked case-study comparisons, advocates of uranium mining have been able to offer little in the way of effective arguments for lifting the moratorium.

The bottom line, however, is that the majority of Southside Virginians and their elected representatives have called for maintaining the moratorium until further notice. Why, then, are we even still talking about this issue?  

Cuccinelli’s next book: governing responsibly is a big government conspiracy

The man who attempted to arm the state of Virginia with the ability to criminalize certain sexual acts between two consenting adults (i.e., Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli) “attacked” President Obama’s (nay, Americas!) Affordable Care Act (ACA) with a “full-throated blast” during the weekly Republican address, calling the ACA an example of big government. Did I also mention that the anti-big government Cuccinelli has also attempted to change Virginia’s divorce laws?

In his address, the attorney general stated, “Let me be plain, the law that carries the president’s name is the hallmark of a reckless federal government that has lost its way.” So, in essence, a law that seeks to allow millions of Americans affordable health care is a “reckless federal government” initiative. I have a solution, let’s shut down the government!

Indeed, instead of discussing ways to legislate towards the elimination of the ACA, Cuccinelli and his band of mindless firebrands (aka, the tea party) decided that shutting the government down was the best route to take, thereby abdicating their responsibility to actually govern. How will Cuccinelli decide to handle the next budget debate, by sending the country into default? A brilliant strategy that present and future generations will certainly hold him in high regard for.

For all of Cuccinelli’s talk about the federal government “eating away at our liberty and crushing opportunity,” the greatest tyrant/bully that has been installed in Virginia’s government over the past four years has been Cuccinelli himself. Cuccinelli has unceasingly attempted to promote his own social agenda against the wishes of many Virginians on a host of issues (e.g., abortion, contraception, the science of man-made global warming). That doesn’t seem very “hands off” to me.

The primary faux pas directed against Cuccinelli and the tea party is their unwillingness to play by the rules that everyone else has to play by or shrugging off their responsibilities to govern when they don’t get their way. If they cannot win by the traditional means of legislating, they won’t legislate.

Cuccinelli may not like the ACA, but there are responsible ways to deal with derailing this legislation. The responsible ways are, however, not the easy ways and don’t therefore appeal to Cuccinelli. But Virginia needs a leader and not a kamikaze who is more inclined to send the state over the proverbial cliff than to let cooler heads prevail and live to see another day. That’s a big part of what governing is, and that’s a reason why Cuccinelli should NOT be Virginia’s next governor.  

Using the hateful words of a political candidate is not an “attack,” but a fact

Somewhere along the road of mainstream media political coverage, facts directed towards an opponent became an “attack,” a term once reserved primarily for military actions that has become ubiquitous in mainstream media political coverage. Witness one of CNN’s latest headlines:  “Virginia Democrats attack [emphasis mine] Cuccinelli for comparing abortion to slavery, Civil War.”

As Blue Virginia’s Lowell Feld pointed out, however, it’s unclear how the Democratic Party is “attacking” Cuccinelli by pointing out the audacity of his own words. Better said, the Democratic Party is highlighting Cuccinelli’s proclivity for extreme rhetoric and ridiculous comparisons.

It’s no secret to many Americans that the mainstream media has become little more than a frontline source for sensationalist ‘news’ as opposed to a nonpartisan, fact-finding institution that takes its role seriously as the private and public sector watchdog of first resort.

Thus, it’s little wonder that a minority of House members can grind America’s economy to a halt when many outlets within the mainstream media refuse to focus on the root-causes of the problems and instead focus on John Boehner’s fallout with his “troops” and the like. Had the mainstream media been more forthcoming about who was really to blame for the government shutdown and why, the government shutdown may have been ended on the first day.

Instead of lambasting House Republicans for their careless tactics and unknown goals, a number of mainstream media outlets continued to talk as if all parties were equally to blame, perhaps fearful of being tagged as “partisan.” But speaking to facts is not “partisanship.”  

If the Democratic Party had pulled a stunt like the Republican Party, I would have expected the mainstream media to blast the Democratic Party just as forcefully. Ultimately, facts shouldn’t be partisan and aren’t partisan.

So when one political party turns the hateful words of a political candidate against him or her, it’s not an “attack,” it’s a fact, and that’s what makes it so powerful as a political tool. 

Cuccinelli on wealth: it’s great unless you’re a Democrat

In ground breaking news, Virginia’s Democratic candidate for governor revealed an extraordinary fact about himself: he’s wealthy. The horror!

On Wednesday, Terry McAuliffe’s campaign released his 2012 tax summary which showed an adjusted gross income of $9.4 million. According to the Richmond Times Dispatch, “The McLean businessman and former Democratic National Committee chairman also claimed roughly $1 million in itemized deductions on the income and paid $2.74 million in taxes, according to the two-page Form 1040 provided by the campaign.”

Between 2009 and 2012, the tax filings equate to a total of $24.9 million in adjusted gross income.

The highly ironic aspect of Ken Cuccinelli’s strategy to brand McAuliffe as wealthy and therefore as somehow “other” is that wealth is exactly what the Republican Party claims to be so enamored with, unless it’s a candidate from another political party who happens to have more of it.

I tend more often than not to perceive the Republican Party as the ‘Tin Man’ of politics with no heart, but a strong motivation to earn, earn, earn. Of course, I’m over-generalizing to make a point (there are a lot of good Republicans!).

Not only does Cuccinelli’s attempt to tar and feather McAuliffe for his wealth prove that Cuccinelli is a hypocrite with little integrity, McAuliffe also clearly demonstrates that Democrats are not a bunch of non-material loving individuals (there are Democrats who love giving back AND making money). Democrats are on the whole individuals who recognize social oppression or injustice and hope to do something to alleviate it. This means that members of the Democratic Party can come from all walks of life.

McAuliffe’s wealth simply makes him simply, not anymore or any less capable of governing with the people’s best interests in mind. Unlike Mitt Romney, McAuliffe wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth. 

Tea party crazy train may be finally coming to a stop

Before the ‘breaking’ news that U.S. senators had reached a deal to avert the country’s first economic default, congressional representatives from Virginia showed their frustration on Tuesday as the prospects for a resolution then looked bleak.

During a conference call on Tuesday, Sen. Mark Warner said, “The damage that’s being done each day by this political circus is really unprecedented.” For anyone who’s followed Warner’s political career, he’s not one to lay down such emphatic verbiage unless there’s good cause. And what better cause could there be to be upset about than the present “political circus”?

As usual, Sen. Tim Kaine sounded a positive note (given the current political environment) in a call on 

Tuesday: “What we need to do is get over this hump this week, reaffirm our fiscal soundness, continue government operations to reopen government so that people aren’t continuing to get hurt every day, and then we’ll have a budget negotiation.” The “hump” that Sen. Kaine is referring to are the intransient representatives within the Republican Party in the U.S. House.

The unfortunate part of what the radical nuts in the U.S. House are doing is that I don’t disagree with some of their ideas. What I do unequivocally disagree with is the way that these individuals have gone about attempting to solve America’s perceived woes.

Just as bleeding a patient doesn’t get the doctor any closer to curing the disease, so too does the act of recklessly jolting and slashing the American economy not move us any closer to a long term debt reduction. As the libertarian type should know, you don’t change someone or something by force, you convince others that your way of viewing the world is the right one. Given the recent default debacle, however, it’s difficult to see how anyone but the most ideologically stunted individuals could sign up to ride on the tea party crazy train.

As the congress moves closer to finally ending this round of the default debacle, it appears that most Americans, and their representatives, have had enough of the crazy train as well. 

Add to the list of potential casualties: government shutdown threatens veteran’s benefits

Among the multitude of Virginia’s citizens who have been, and may be, economically harmed by the latest Republican Party tantrum is that insignificant group of Virginians known as “veterans,” those individuals who served their country, a country that many Republicans in the U.S. seem hell-bent on destroying.

Instead of the certainty of receiving ‘socialist’ government benefits, veterans in Hampton Roads, Virginia in particular have grown concerned about the prospect of not receiving their government handouts. To tea party Republicans, I suppose these individuals are a bunch of paupers just like the so-called ‘welfare queens’ of America. Say it ain’t so, Papa Cruz!

According to Veteran Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, “without passage of appropriations soon, veterans won’t be paid their earned benefits on November 1.” According to Daily Press, there are 837,000 veterans in Virginia. Translation: almost a million veteran Virginians, a number of which are disabled in some form or another, won’t be able to cover all of their monthly expenses. But as the apparently widespread sentiment among the radical right in the Republican Party goes, you have to break a few eggs to get an omelet.

What some within the Republican Party have unfortunately forgotten, if they ever remembered, is that behind their grand scheme to set the country on a better economic footing, real people would be significantly hurt in very real ways, including Virginia’s and America’s veterans. To add insult to injury, it’s still unclear what the ultimate goal of the Republican Party’s behavior was in the first place. Defund ‘Obamacare,’ shoot down any attempts at raising the debt ceiling, bringing back Paula Abdul to prime-time TV? The end point remains murky.

While John Boehner and his group of merry-men (and women) continue to search for a way out of the noose they’ve put around their necks, thousands of veterans across Virginia anxiously await when and if a deal is reached to raise the debt ceiling. I can only imagine that this is not what many of these individuals thought their country would give them in return for their service. 

Tea Party Prince Cuccinelli and the art of bad politics: you don’t need that job, do you?

If you, dear reader, are partying like it’s 1776 due to the government shutdown, then Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is unequivocally your candidate in Virginia’s ‘race’ for governor. If, however, you disagree with the practice of bleeding yourself until the alleged ailment has abated, then Democratic candidate for Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe is your man.  

While Cuccinelli has recently taken steps to distance himself from the radical Republicans in the U.S. Congress (e.g., Sen. Ted Cruz), the attorney general’s early and consistent tea party rhetoric has seemingly formed a strong link between himself and the behavior of congressional Republicans who have refused to stop holding America’s economy hostage.

Such a link in the minds of Virginia’s voters can perhaps be seen in poll numbers that have been taken since the government shutdown began on October 1. According to the L.A. Times, “With the election just weeks away, Cuccinelli's poll numbers have tumbled [emphasis mine] since federal agencies were closed Oct. 1.”

For anyone who has been keeping up with the governor’s race in Virginia, it’s not surprising that Cuccinelli has had difficulty shaking off the tea party image that he has worked so hard to capture. Tag, you’re it! Now that Cuccinelli has been crowned one of the princes of the tea party movement, he can either sink with the rest of his friends in the political nuthouse or betray the revolution that hoisted him to national prominence and allow his old comrades to undercut his aspirations for higher political office. Decisions, decisions.

Who would have thought that Virginians connected to the federal government for their paychecks would dislike moves to throw their well-being into a tailspin?! Cuccinelli won’t even give up his position as attorney general while he runs for governor. Anyone else see the hypocrisy?  

Republicans like Cuccinelli are a party of destruction and demolition whose political creativity runs dry in the face of solving problems with constructive and positive solutions (e.g., create more jobs, create a larger tax base, lower the nation’s debt, etc.). No, the Cuccinelli Republicans appear to find joy in the destruction they cause until their respective constituencies take notice and throw them out of office.

There’s an old wisdom saying that goes something like this: the road to paradise can’t be paved with wrongful acts. Throwing people out of their jobs and throwing the economy into default are certainly wrongful acts. If Cuccinelli is elected governor, we can expect more of the same. 

Moderate McAuliffe, a recipe for taking over the Executive Mansion & governing effectively

Citing Democratic candidate for governor Terry McAuliffe’s pragmatic governing style, the Washington Post and the Daily Press both endorsed Mr. McAuliffe for governor in lieu of his opponent, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. Ultimately, it was Cuccinelli’s less-than-moderate political tactics that lost him the moderate Virginian vote.  

Come this November, then, Virginia could serve as important model for the rest of the country dealing with radical right-wing candidates for political office (assuming Terry McAuliffe wins the election for governor). Virginia and its citizens could be the dose of political moderation that some of our country so desperately needs.

In each of their endorsements for Terry McAuliffe, the Washington Post and the Daily Press cite a few reservations about Terry McAuliffe’s ability to effectively govern. McAuliffe has no governing experience, for example, a proposed weakness that has been held against the one-time superstar Democratic fundraiser. Each recognized, however, the perilous shift in political culture that could result from a Ken Cuccinelli governorship.

For Cuccinelli, governing has consisted of putting his own social agenda ahead of his duties to uphold the laws of Virginia, ‘doubling down’ on a number of social issues ranging from abortion to what sexual acts individuals can perform in the privacy of their own homes. Furthermore, not only did Cuccinelli’s decision to stay on as attorney general while running for governor fly in the face of Virginian political etiquette, it also flew in the face of the political positions that Cuccinelli has claimed he supports (e.g., fiscal conservatism).  

Virginia hasn’t been a bastion of moderation throughout much of its history. But when it comes to electing representatives to public office, the moderate vote has more often than not declared victory in a state that still hosts sizable pockets of radical right-wing political beliefs. That is, Virginia is far from perfect.

While Virginia may be a far-cry from perfection, however, it does given the rest of the country struggling with issues of political moderation a model to at least provide a glimpse of a political environment not completely upended by partisan fighting. If McAuliffe does win the election in November, the country will see that moderation can still be a winning formula in politics. 

E.W. Jackson, the Anti-Environmental Candidate for Lieutenant Governor

Luckily for Ralph Northam, the senator’s environmental positions appear ‘radically liberal’ in comparison to his drive-the-planet-into-the-ground opponent for lieutenant governor, E.W. Jackson. Not only are Jackson’s political positions on the environment inimical to its preservation, Jackson represents the wing-nut group of conservatives in Virginia whose primary forte is cooking up conspiracy theories regarding every level of government.

Jackson has argued, for instance, that the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality is a puppet of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ‘killing’ Virginia’s coal-mining sector as a result. While Jackson may believe it’s just good politics, a part of me also thinks that Jackson actually believes some of the far-fetched conspiracy theories that he spins out for the mainstream media to print across its front pages.

While Northam may not be the environmentally concerned Virginian’s first choice for lieutenant governor, he represents a candidate who environmentally concerned Virginians can work with to ensure that our environment is not disregarded for the ubiquitous quest of ‘economic growth’. The first thing we can do as Virginians who care about the environment is urge political candidates like Ralph Northam to start talking about the environment in terms that make its intrinsic worth clear.

Jackson, for instance, speaks as if refusing to dig anymore coal out of the ground has no value in and of itself. Just as the government has put a value on an individual life, the environment can also be valued in a similar way. But Democratic representatives in Virginia have been slow to embrace the idea that the environment is more than a foundation for productive units. Members of Virginia’s Democratic Party have also fallen in the “economic development” dogma regarding nature, a similar framework for viewing environmental worth that many within Virginia’s Republican Party share. That is, the environment is only as good as its tangible economic benefits.

There is nothing wrong in believing a healthy environment is a ‘stand alone’ good. For E.W. Jackson and his republican running mates, however, the environment appears as little more than a stepping stone that is either limitless, unimportant, or both. It is the ultimate irony that the economic growth that political candidates like Jackson claim to so ardently support is ultimately undermined by their careless political positions towards the environment.  

Robert Sarvis: The Image that Defied Policy Substance

In a perfect world, political candidates running for office in Virginia named Robert Sarvis wouldn’t be far-right libertarian ideologues hiding behind the farce of moderation.  As Virginia’s very own governor has demonstrated, however, we are far from living in a perfect world.

We are living in a world where the image is rarely the real picture of truth. And so it with Robert Sarvis, the libertarian candidate in Virginia’s contest for governor who has slowly captured more attention from the mainstream media of Virginia with his shadowy political positions, his relative youth, and his heavily underdog status.

What is interesting about some of this ‘coverage’, however, is the lack of political positions that Robert Sarvis is asked to discuss. Instead, the main story is about a plain-ol’ Virginian trying to take on two political goliaths. As has been pointed out by Lowell Feld, however, if Virginians knew about some of Mr. Sarvis’ political positions (or lack thereof), they probably wouldn’t be as enthused about his entry into the governor’s race (at least 8 percent).

Mr. Sarvis can prove me right or wrong by letting Virginians know where he stands on issues pertaining to the environment, corporate spending in politics, the social safety net, and so on. In the case of environmental positions, his website doesn’t even list the environment on his “Issues” page! Again, it’s for the best because we know what the ‘free hand’ of the marketplace will reap upon this beautiful planet of ours.

I don’t know where, when, or how substance became a back-issue in Virginia politics, but if we want to retain the integrity of our democratic system of government, we’re going to have to be serious about holding candidates for political office accountable for building their campaigns on an image and not a positive vision. If we value the great experiment that is popular politics, we’re going to have to focus on the issues that can make and break our way of life, not primarily the personality of the individual running for elected office.