Despite being the keynote speaker at tea bagger and pro militia events Cuccinelli has been dodging the bullet on addressing his right wing “third position” politics , his support for and from dangerous racist militia groups, his burning hatred of gays and immigrants, not to mention he believes birth control is equal abortion and both should be made illegal and unavailable to the public.
Hard Right Republican Favored to be Next Attorney General of Virginia
In Virginia, registered voters are preparing to cast their ballots in a statewide election that could significantly affect the future of the Commonwealth. The governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general seats are all open and Virginia Republicans appear to be within electoral reach of each seat.
While the governor’s race has received the most attention from the local media and Virginia voters, the Republican candidate for attorney general might be the key political player who shapes the state’s future should he win the race.
Ken Cuccinelli, a state senator from Virginia’s 37th district, is favored to be the state’s next attorney general according to several reputable polls.
Cuccinelli is a hard right Republican who believes global warming is fabricated, thinks state law should reflect his derogatory views of homosexuals and introduced a law in the state legislature that would have allowed employers to fire workers who did not speak English and subsequently deny them unemployment benefits.
Here is a breakdown of his views on three critical issues:
Environment
The far-right Republican denies global warming exists. He told a group of William and Mary university students in late September that the climate is getting colder and it is a natural part of the Earth’s climate cycle.
When a W&M student asked him about the professional views of Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, Cuccinelli described his science as “absolutely baseless.” Chu has a Nobel Prize in Physics and has publicly advocated for national economies to reduce or eliminate fossil fuels and adopt renewable sources of energy. When the same student asked about the educational experiences that shaped his views on climate change, Cuccinelli responded by saying that he took a few engineering courses in college.
Cuccinelli then ominously warned the W&M students that “the environmental movement has been used more than any other movement…to destroy and get rid of capitalism.”
The Republican state senator has also threatened to sue the federal government if it institutes carbon cap emissions. He said this year that supporters of carbon cap emissions are like “watermelons”: green on the outside but communist red on the inside.
He enthusiastically supports granting permits for companies to explore and possibly drill for petroleum and natural gas off Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Sites already eyed for potential exploration and subsequent drilling include areas off Virginia’s famous southern portion of Assateague Island.
Assateague Island, which is shared territorially between Virginia and Maryland, includes a National Wildlife Refuge (NWF) that serves as a resting spot for numerous migratory birds. It is a nationally protected park and continues to serve as a vital part of the area’s ecological system.
If a petroleum spill were to occur, whether accidental or intentional, Assateague’s NWF could be destroyed.
Homosexuality
Cuccinelli recently told the Virginia-Pilot, a daily newspaper based in Norfolk, that “ homosexual acts are wrong…intrinsically wrong. And I think in a natural law based country it’s appropriate to have policies that reflect that.”
He was instrumental in promoting the November 2006 statewide referendum which defined marriage as “only a union between one man and one woman.” The Marshall-Newman Amendment was approved by 57% of Virginia voters and is now part of Virginia’s state constitution.
Cuccinelli attends St. Andrew the Apostle Catholic Church in Clifton, VA. It is the same church that hosts former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum. The former Pennsylvania Senator was arguably one of the most homophobic members of the U.S. Senate. Santorum famously compared homosexuality to sexual intercourse with non-human animals in an interview with the Associated Press in 2003.
Cuccinelli was spiritually nurtured by Father Jerome W. Fasano. The priest, who is now the resident pastor at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Front Royal, Virginia, preaches homosexuality is perverse. Fasano’s sermons include hysterical homophobic diatribes and condemnations of individuals who are not both Roman Catholic and socially conservative.
Father Jerome W. Fasano can be reached at his current office phone, 540-635-3780, for questions or concerns about Cuccinelli.
Cuccinelli has avid support from the laity of St. Andrew the Apostle Catholic Church. Supporters of Cuccinelli are often seen after weekend masses in Clifton holding supportive signs.
St. Andrew the Apostle Catholic Church is located at 6720 Union Mill Road Clifton, VA 20124. The Parish office can be reached at 703-817-1770 for questions or concerns about Cuccinelli.
Immigration
Cuccinelli has notoriously anti-immigrant views. In the Virginia State Senate, he proposed amending Section 1 of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to revoke citizenship rights of the children of undocumented immigrants who were born in the United States.
The Republican state senator gained national attention in early January 2008 when he introduced a bill in the Virginia state legislature that would have allowed employers to fire individuals for the “inability or refusal” to speak English in the workplace and subsequently deny them unemployment benefits. The bill, SB339, would have even allowed employers to fire employees who spoke a non-English language on the phone or to co-workers when away from clients and the public.
Cuccinelli boasts on his official AG campaign website, that he will deport “Illegal aliens who choose to break additional laws by stealing identities, dealing drugs, joining criminal gangs, driving without a license.”
He also introduced a bill in the State Senate which would allow a Virginia business to file suit against another competing Virginia-based business “if the [competing business] employs or employed persons it knew or should have known were illegal aliens.”
