Virginia Supreme Court Smacks Down Ultra Conservative Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli on His Witch Hunt

Government Cannot Look for Witches Without at Least a Few Broomsticks Lying Around

The state of Virginia has an ultra Conservative Governor who masquerades as a moderate because he is a smart enough politician to know that strong Conservative views are not a winning political strategy.  The state’s Attorney General is an equally rabid Conservative who does even try to hide his unpopular views.  Recently the AG, a man by the name of Ken Cuccinelli has been trying to get the private documents and e-mails of a climate scientist who was working at U. Va.

See, despite all evidence to the contrary, Mr. Cuccinelli believes that climate science is a big conspiracy for the purpose of; well it is never clear what the purpose of such a conspiracy would be.  This lack of motive does not stop Conservatives, and Mr. Cuccinelli, without any evidence whatsoever decided that a climate scientist at UVa was doing fraudulent work.  So he demanded all of the private research info from the University.  The University, to its great credit, refused.

Now the state Supreme Court has told Mr. Cuccinelli that he cannot just go and demand information without having some reason to do so other than his own fantasies.

Mr. Cuccinelli since 2010 has sought to force the university to release documents for five grant applications made by the scientist, Michael E. Mann, and related e-mails, saying he suspected that Dr. Mann used fraudulent climate data to secure grants.

A lower court also denied the request, saying Mr. Cuccinelli presented nothing to back up his accusation. Dr. Mann, the author of influential research charting a marked rise in global temperatures, has long been a target of climate change skeptics like Mr. Cuccinelli. The State Supreme Court agreed with the university that Mr. Cuccinelli exceeded his authority.

An interesting offshoot of all of this is the hypocrisy of so-called Conservative.  They believe in limited government and limited government authority, yet Mr. Cuccinelli is outraged that he does not have unlimited authority and the right to demand information just because he wants it.

“Today, the court effectively held that state agencies do not have to provide state-owned property to state investigators looking into potential fraud involving government funds,” Mr. Cuccinelli said in a statement critical of the ruling.

So the ruling is not just a well deserved rebuke, it is an illustration of how illusionary are the claims of Conservatives with respect to their governing philosophy. They do not believe in limited government, they believe in limiting government power to only themselves, and  when they use it government power is unlimited.