Is that the best political attack Va.’s attorney general can muster?
AP Photo | Steve Helber
How do you spell political S-T-R-E-T-C-H?
Just consider the kerfuffle Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli attempted to raise against on former Gov. Tim Kaine, who’s running against George Allen for the Senate.
It was the cheapest and most sniveling political attack I’ve ever seen mounted by a top Virginia elected official.
It had to do with the infamous Jens Soering murder case, an issue on which Kaine is certainly vulnerable, because of the former governor’s quiet moves in the latter days of his administration to help Soering get transferred to his native Germany, where the chances he’d get parole are far more likely.
But Cuccinelli didn’t bother with that. Instead, he held a dial-in press conference in which his dished out this sensational “scoop:” Kaine tried to save Soering from the death penalty!
My colleague Mike Sluss had the story here.
“What I find most shocking is that he [Kaine]was a witness on behalf of a double-murderer to help keep him from extradited to Virginia, or at least to keep us from having available the death penalty in this case if he were extradited,” said Cuccinelli, who has endorsed Kaine’s Republican rival, George Allen.
On the surface, it sounds like hot stuff, huh? First, as governor, Kaine tried to get Soering shipped to Europe where he could be freed!
Even WORSE, now we learn he was trying to save the brutal killer’s life!
Except:
- Kaine was never a witness for Soering.
- Kaine never filed a document attempting to spare Soering from the death penalty.
- The document, which never mentions Soering’s name, was something Kaine wrote in 1988, long before he held any state office.
- It was filed in a completely different case, 24 years ago, on behalf of a different defendant, but it apparently got picked up by Soering’s attorneys, without Kaine’s knowledge, and filed in Soering’s case.
Can’t Cuccinelli come up with something better than this? Seriously.
It’s as if he was accusing Kaine of stealing candy from a baby, except there was no baby nor any candy to steal.
Apparently, our attorney general is still reeling from the high-profile court cases he’s lost to get UVa scientific grant records, his failed attempts to sue the EPA to stop them regulating carbon dioxide, and the U.S. Supreme Court affirming the Affordable Care Act, despite a lawsuit the Cooch brought against it.
Why doesn’t he go after con man Bobby Thompson?
July 16, 2012 - 10:39 AM
As I pointed out late last week, this is truly pitiful. Is Allen this desperate?
I believe Kaine, the governor who indeed left Virginia high and dry his last year for the DNC job, funneled money to the DNC from whatever German diplomat to free the murderer. Hey, it’s my own theory, but it wouldn’t surprise me.
It’s a shame there wasn’t a bullet lodged in Jens Soering brain years ago. Lot’s of taxpayer money wasted.
Virginia – your tax dollars at work.
Seen on Facebook:
If you’re voting in an election, we demand to see your ID.
If you’re buying an election, we don’t get to see your ID.
I heard the George Allen camp is holding fundraisers in France, Sweden, Switzerland and even China!
No…wait, that’s Obama.
Move along folks, no story here.
Sounds like the same attack that Obama is using against Romney.
Bob, you must have Kaine confused with another governor who bailed on her state and moved mid term. Her name is Palin. You might have heard of her.
Bugs…
Really?
Maybe you could enlighten
us and point out the similarities
in this discussion and Obama/Romney..
the Swoozies etc of this microcosm are
quite similar.
Run from the schoolroom…shout a few names at recess
then run back and cower behind the teacher.
Documentation can be a beach…if’n you know what I mean.
#5 So, Lake Claytor, buddy, still waiting to hear if you really consider calling people “rubes” a civil way to address them. Pretty simple question. Yes or no will do.
I can’t understand why McDonnell worshippers on this blog haven’t been around to note the fact that the commonwealth dropped from 1st to 3rd in the nation as a state to do business (lower than under Kaine) and from 10th to 33rd based on the quality of it infrastructure. This after McDonnell promised to fix that little problem.
Nice work, Bobby!!
ADVANTAGE TEAM OBAMA!
President Obama’s campaign said Mitt Romney should release minutes from meetings with Bain Capital to prove he left the firm when he said he did.
“As we all know, Mitt Romney did a round of interviews on Friday where more questions were raised than answered, and over the weekend there were a series of new reports, some from the Boston Globe, from Bloomberg News, from the Huffington Post, that raised additional questions,” Jen Psaki, the Obama campaign’s deputy communications director, told MSNBC at a campaign stop in Cincinnati on Monday.
“So what we know is there is still a lot of questions, and we can solve this by having Mitt Romney release his tax returns, something that [former Mississippi Gov.] Haley Barbour (R) and [conservative columnist] Bill Kristol called for this weekend,: she continued. “And even releasing the minutes of the Bain meetings — the ball is in his court, so we’ll look forward to reviewing that.”
http://thehill.com/video/campaign/238117-team-obama-romney-should-release-minutes-from-bain-meetings
gdad, according to what passes for logic in liberal circles these days, anything that might be percieved as negative with respect to the current state of the economy is unquestionably the result of the previous administration’s “failed policies”. So I guess you would have to give McDonnel a pass on this one, right? I mean, you wouldn’t seriously propose that voters hold Governor McDonnel to a more exacting standard than that to which you hold President Obama (i.e., it’s still George W. Bush’s fault), would you?
Romney should agree to release his tax returns for the previous 12 years the same day Obama agrees to release his full college transcripts.
“Under terms of the scuttled transfer agreement, Soering could have been released from German prison in as little as two years, but would not be permitted to return to the U.S.”
The preceding line is the very last sentence of your colleague’s article that you linked to (buried as the very end, speaking of integrity). Though he rightfully bashed all the lies from Cuccinelli, that little nugget still remains. Do you see what it means? Soering is the son of a high ranking diplomat! So it’s guaranteed he’s walking around free in his native Germany in two years!
So, yep Dan, you’re right – Cuccinelli is a putz. But Soering is a monster and the idea of transferring him to Germany, where he would go free, was a jackass move by Kaine.
@11- Ok, Romney should do that the minute Obama releases ALL of his college records.
#s 13 & 15 Please explain what his college transcripts have to do with being president.
What incredible silliness.
gdad,
Not sure I follow you on the “rube” comment. Where did I call anyone a “rube”, or condone it? Not here very often anymore.
Re: college records, Its obvious he’s hiding something….BUT, I am more interested in Obama releasing the complete Fast and Furious documents. Several people have been KILLED, after all.
Funny thing is, nobody is talking about any college transcripts. But, come tomorrow, they will be talking about Mitt’s taxes, and Bain, and taxes, and Bain, and outsourcing at Bain, and taxes, and Bain, and outsourcing at Bain, and taxes…….drip drip drip………..
-Romney should agree to release his tax returns for the previous 12 years the same day Obama agrees to release his full college transcripts.
Comment by Adam — July 16, 2012 @ 4:15 pm
@11- Ok, Romney should do that the minute Obama releases ALL of his college records.
Comment by Walker — July 16, 2012 @ 4:30 pm
“Re: college records, Its obvious he’s hiding something…”
In the way of Rmoney and his tax return? Hiding something like that?
The absolute stupidity of this tired old RW meme on releasing educational transcripts – Why” because his graduating magna cum laude from Harvard with a Juris Doctor degree is SOOOOO easy to fake?
The memes just gets dumber and dumber, more and more desperate every day…pathetic.
Ok all you blogo pundits out there. It’s been Bain this, Bain that all week. Outsourcer and chief, tax records blah blah blah.
I’m sure Mr. Romney wishes the whole would just go away, and eventually it will. But be careful what you ask for, cause there’s a whole lot positions left to challenge. My question is what will the next attack be once the Bain dog don’t hunt no more?
You can bet team Obama has’m lined up from here till November, and they don’t seem to shy away from mean and nasty.
“college records, Its obvious he’s hiding something….”
Yeah.. he’s hiding the fact that he was a very successful student and sitting calmly with a poker face on this stupid RW talking point until such time it benefits him to release’m.
Here’s when it will happen: About a week before the election, Rush, Hannity et al will start yammering away about these “suspicious college transcripts” that prove Obama is an empty suit. They’ll drop some innuendo about him being the beneficiary of affirmative action and Fox News will pile on with more of the same, and poof, the transcripts will materialize, and show the President actually did well in the academic arena.
Within microseconds of releasing said transcripts, the same folks who wanted to see the transcripts will claim they are fake and find countless experts in transcriptology who will cast doubt on their authenticity.
I’d like to see both Rush and Hannity’s transcripts myself. Surely such bright, loquacious and talented men have nothing to hide.
20 Shrillary,
0bama was an AA admission at a university where ‘A’s are given out like candy and most of the classes are taught by TAs. It’s a very inferior education in addition to one totally lacking in moral bearing. If I were a student today, I would pick one of the state schools any day of the week over Harvard.
In addition, his branch of law is bogus. “Civil Rights Law” is very much like having a ‘Black History” or “Women’s Studies ” degree”. It’s worthless, and it doesn’t do a damn thing for anybody. It encompasses 0bama’s lifetime record of non-achievment perfectly.
BUT, I am more interested in Obama releasing the complete Fast and Furious documents. Several people have been KILLED, after all.
The MSM isn’t interested in demanding those documents, Lake Claytor. Just as they have no interest in:
1) 0bama overturning welfare reform and scrapping the widely heralded law that required welfare recipients to work
2) American casualities in Afghanistan that have topped American deaths under Bush in wars at the same point of his administration.
3) An economy that has LOST net jobs despite spending $2 trillion on “stimulus” plans and jobs bills
4) The bankruptcy of green companies that receive huge 0bama bailouts
5) The outsourcing of 80% of 0bama’s ‘stimulus’ money
No, they’re too busy carrying 0bama’s water on the lies his campaign is telling about Romney’s great work as a highly successful job creator and businessman.
one thing for sure, The Brain of Bain can not sing.
I would like to hear more about the student Romney and company held down and cut his hair. Pranks are one thing, but if that is not a case of assault I don’t know what would be. Why was he not expelled from the private school? How much was the payoff?
Was that Ole Dan throwing rose pedals in front of the Big Commie’s limo Sat ??
#26 Somebody upset the rock you live under, Peppers?
I will freely stipulate Suzie has expertise in being worthless but you also happen to be an anonymous venom filled blogger and he is President of the United States. So the loser still in loserville it quite obviously you…and Romney is proving every day, just as you do, what money cannot buy.
@22
And, the really smart thing about Obama’s grade transcript strategy is that you can get the other side to do all the heavy lifting, just as you have done. Going back to the poker hand analogy, you just raised the bet because you are sure you have the winning hand, but it’s not time to call yet. The whole needs the focus of the entire nation, not just a minor news cycle.
most ill-informed @23 continues her lying and factless posts… all the “points” have been disproved with actual FACTS, time and time again by many bloggers. Every week and every month posting the same baseless allegations. You are either a pathological liar or simply unteachable – which is it?
And calling others what you practice day to day, is called “projection” – projecting onto others the aspects of your own behavior, thoughts, and attitudes or characteristics you view with self loathing It is a mental disorder, with time and serious counseling, it can be lessened. Get help.
Hate the poor? – usually self hate from prior poverty. Denigrate others’ achievements” – usually someone questioning their own. Call others liars, usually reflecting their own behavior. Question another person’s educational success, often disappointment with your own..you get the idea.
Just to back up Suzie’s remarks regarding Harvard, a school which is obviously held in low regard:
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities
http://www.forbes.com/top-colleges/
http://www.thebestcolleges.org/rankings/top-50/
http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/law-rankings
http://www.top-law-schools.com/rankings.html
poor poor most ill-informed @22 with her pretend “engineer” designation from more than likely, a correspondence school.
Oh yes, Harvard must be easy to get into, that is the only explanation for how GW Bush received his MBA there. You guys are just brilliant! Knocking your own…shooting yourself in the foot.
Hahahahaha
And where did the low life Rush Limbaugh earn his degree…?
“Because of his parents’ desire to see him attend college, he enrolled in Southeast Missouri State University but left the school after two semesters and one summer. According to his mother, “he flunked everything”, and “he just didn’t seem interested in anything except radio.”
This information from most ill-informed favorite website:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rush_Limbaugh#Education_and_Vietnam_draft
and Of COURSE most ill-informed worships him, he is just as uneducated, racist, and as hate filled …a match made in heaven.
Yeah…Harvard. Who’d want to go there anyway. Oh right…Rmoney went there. Doh!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/17/john-mccain-sarah-palin-mitt-romney_n_1680089.html
“Oh, come on, because we thought that Sarah Palin was the better candidate,” he said of why he chose her over Romney. “Why did we not take [then-Minnesota Gov. Tim] Pawlenty? Why did we not take any of the other 10 other people? Why didn’t I? Because we had a better candidate, the same way with all the others. … Come on, why? That’s a stupid question.”
Hilarious. I guess the McCains and Romneys won’t be exchanging Xmas cards.
Romney should choose Palin (if the Repubs keep him as the candidate, I mean). That would finish his candidacy once and for all. It surely killed McCains. The highwater mark for McCain in the polls was the day she gave her acceptance speech. It was all downhill from there.
She was a game-changer all right.
I have to wonder why he’s not ASKING HIMSELF why he didn’t pick Pawlenty or one of the other 10 people they were considering. McCain is an addled old geezer anymore…thank goodness he didn’t get anywhere near the White House. If he can’t see the irony of his own words here, he’s beyond hope.
Mike S,
You might be right, but I doubt that they will release anything.
However, if your analysis is correct, it only exemplifies that the Obama administration looks at government as a “game”, and ultimately we (taxpayers) are losers.
We need someone who has a sincere belief in what America is all about, someone who has (at least) held a real job outside of government. Someone who has risked their own finances to create something better (win or lose). Someone who has had to meet a payroll without the taxpayer dime. Someone who does not say that a person is successful because “someone else” has made them successful. We are seeing our cities going bankrupt, welfare increasing, government dependence run amok. Is that what this country is about? We are only a step away from Greece.
If that is what Americans want it is OK.
It is also OK if Obama wants to be a socialist, and it is OK if people want to support socialism as a goal for America; but those beliefs should be put forth honestly to the American people and be judged for what they are, not hidden to win elections then sprung upon a people after the election.
“Change” should not be a hidden theme. If you believe in your goals, state them forthrightly, speak and support them, but don’t hide them behind a veil of secrecy until you gain power, and then surprise the people with your “enlightened” goal.
mike o – Romney called President Obama a “crony capitalist”…so he USE to be a socialist, commie, nazi, Kenyan, according to the RW noice machine, but NOW he is a “capitalist”. Please keep up with the RW name calling…
Speaking of McCain – his Romney vetting document was released by someone because it is online. Romney was for lots of stuff before he was against it, and then for it again, and…
http://www.scribd.com/doc/78582788/McCain-2008-Oppo-File
MikeO, unless you spent Obama’s last campaign under a rock, “Change” was hardly a HIDDEN THEME. It was the CENTERPIECE OF HIS CAMPAIGN.
Mike O, no chance you might be right.
Willard Romney has been running for President for a very, very long time, yet only President Obama “looks at government as a “game”, and ultimately we (taxpayers) are losers”? That is too rich. Willard Romney was a Wall Street vulture during the very years the Wall Street vulture culture was ruining the economy of this nation and paying for legislation to let them.
Willard Romney has no “sincere belief in what America is all about”, he has no clue what America is all about. He lives in a world that 99% of us do not. His “real job outside of government” was as a vulture, making money on the pain of other businesses. Seriously, he did NOT ever risk his own money! The Bain deals were structured so that someone else always held the bag when the music stopped. Do you even have a clue what he actually did?
He had no trouble doing as he pleased in a rigged damn game, who would? Someone else was ALWAYS paying the payroll and stupid facts…he DID get some “taxpayer dime”.
You are among those who whine when Willard is taken out of context then turn and do it to something Obama said. Classy.
Willard got “successful” because of “someone else” his whole damned life! Can you be that uninformed?
We are indeed seeing our cities going bankrupt, welfare increasing, and lies “run amok” after the 30 years of bad governance BEFORE Obama!
Why would anyone be honest with you? You do not appear to understand the meaning of the word! Same for “Socialism” you are so scared of.
Maybe you need to tell Romney to tell the truth for a change! If you believe in his goals, and support his clear Plutocracy, stand up and say so. Stop lying about Obama!
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/01/27/as_bain_slashed_jobs_romney_stayed_to_side/
“But in almost all cases Bain Capital made money. In fact, the firm earned substantially more from Ampad than Staples. Staples returned about $13 million on a $2 million investment; Ampad yielded more than $100 million on $5 million, according to reports to investors.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-20/romney-as-job-creator-clashes-with-bain-record-of-job-cuts.html
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/58952.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/13/us/politics/after-mitt-romney-deal-company-showed-profits-and-then-layoffs.html
More Romney “truth”:
http://www.romneygekko.com/mitt/
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2011/09/mitt-romney-bain-capital-debate
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/ad_mitt_mistakes_jRmd2LHaPIb0bbNn1ZkgaJ
http://politicalcorrection.org/factcheck/201106020002
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-romney-bain-20111204,0,343872.story
http://thehill.com/video/campaign/237925-new-obama-campaign-ad-ridicules-romney-for-asking-for-apology
Unlike Sandi, I do not believe that “Romney has no sincere belief in what America is all about.” I believe Romney does have a sincere belief in what America is all about.
That’s part of the problem, though, because 1) that “belief” has been informed by a life that’s very different than “what America is all about,” and 2) it’s been overwhelmed by his desire to be president.
If Mitt had ever had a paper route, or shined shoes for change, or humped cokes at football games, or spent a summer working in a foundry, I’d probably feel differently about that. But he didn’t do any of those things. He had a privileged upbringing that allowed him to easily slip the blinders on. You don’t encounter much of the riff-raff in Grosse Pointe.
Unfortunately for him, he decided a long, long time ago that he wanted to be president of this country. He knew enough to realize that some sort of political resume was required. So he went through all the motions, and adopted positions — as a fully grown and sentient adult male American politicians — that favored abortion rights, cap n trade, same-sex marriage, health insurance reform w/an individual mandate, gun control, etc.
He flipped on all those things, and more, since he was governor of Massachusetts, which IS is political resume. He has NO chance of winning his own home state, where he won before.
That says something about a politician. It says he has no soul, no core set of beliefs, no values that cannot be overcome by the next poll.
The fact is, he was the least objectionable of a bad lot in the GOP primaries this year. But least crazy is not attribute.
For that reason, I agree with Sandi that Romney has no clue regarding what American is all about.
Rmoney deeply feels and believes in an America that he can use to make himself and his friends rich. The rest of the people….pppphfew. Who cares?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-HqHSkYG-Y&feature=related
I’ll bet this won’t get posted
And where did the low life Rush Limbaugh earn his degree…?
Rush makes $50 mil. He can buy and sell all the professors at Harvard.
Great post Dan #43… Except….
Obomba extended the Bush Tax Cuts for the wealthy, there have been no Wall Street prosecutions, Guantanamo Bay is permanent now, he expanded the war in Afghanistan, we didn’t really leave Iraq (50,000 mercenaries/private soldiers still there), we expanded covert wars against a dozen Muslim nations, he quintupled drone attacks (even in civilian areas), he extended the Patriot//Police State Act, and now the President has the authority to order the assassination of anyone deemed a “security” threat, including American citizens, without due process – an option Obomba has already exercised…
The whole world has been enslaved to billionaires and our political parties in the United States (on the national level) are simply the mouthpieces of our slave masters.
Watch the brilliant George Carlin tell the truth in of the best videos I have even seen! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SC_wjQtfhZQ
“Suzie says:
Rush makes $50 mil. He can buy and sell all the professors at Harvard.
Posted on July 17th, 2012″
I’m going to sort of take up Mr. Wilburn’s cause here and ask Miss Suzie: Will that earn Mr. Limbaugh a place in Heaven? Will his multiple divorces earn him a place in Heaven? Will the fact that he does not attend a church of any denomination earn him a place in Heaven?
#45: That video, which says Obama “allegedly” attended Harvard, is accompanied by sidebar videos that claim Breitbart was assassinated, people can be fined $25,000 for anti-Obama bumper stickers, Obama is plotting to cancel the 2012 elections, and several different videos claiming to be “the video that Obabma doesn’t want you to see”.
None of which can be true if Obama is indeed a space alien from the galaxy Zaxar, as sources have indicated he might be. Why won’t Obama prove he’s not an alien from the galaxy Zaxar? Whta’s he hiding about his true space alien agenda?
I’m going to sort of take up Mr. Wilburn’s cause here and ask Miss Suzie: Will that earn Mr. Limbaugh a place in Heaven? Will his multiple divorces earn him a place in Heaven? Will the fact that he does not attend a church of any denomination earn him a place in Heaven?
My guess is Rush will get to heaven before the godless atheist college professors will.
45
Very interesting video, Pammala. It’s incredible a guy with this radical a past could have been elected dogcatcher. The media protected him in 2008 just as they are protecting him now by ignoring his unprecedently hideous performance as he takes America into socialism.
I also didn’t know 0bama was illegitimate. Surprise. Surprise. I guess the leftwingers in here have to shut up whenever I call him a “bastard” from now on.
#50 most ill-informed, “My guess is Rush will get to heaven before the godless atheist college professors will.”
Yes as long as if what you mean by “heaven” is the same hell you will be going to…along with the pedophile priests….you all belong in one hot place. FYI – liars don’t go anywhere near heaven…pack your Sandra Dee bikini “toots”.
Sandi – great informative links in your posts @41 and 42. Unfortunately the RWers on this blog will refuse to read or believe any link, at any time, on any subject if it doesn’t come from faux news or out of the mouth of Hannity, Limbaugh et al. Minions are unable to use critical thinking all by themselves, bless their black hearts.
Oh pammala, I waste enough seconds of my life trying to read your encrypted posts; I refuse to watch the trash that has caused your instability, although I can readily see that Suzie is more than willing to lap it up and repeat the trash and lies. You two are such sad excuses.
#51 Note that this video is so nuts that suzie feels she has to step in and prop pammala up.
God does not care how much money you have and neither FlimFlambaugh nor Suzie will be able to buy their way into it. Do you believe he does not see your posts and know your heart? FlimFlambaugh is as careless with his eternity as he is with the truth. He has no grasp on either.
“I also didn’t know 0bama was illegitimate. Surprise. Surprise. I guess the leftwingers in here have to shut up whenever I call him a “bastard” from now on.”
And you can continue your ‘catholic’ hypocrisy by supporting Sarah Palin, the unfit mother who raised a slut who has a bastard child.