Virginia's Cuccinelli Shows the Danger of the Tea Party in Power

Virginia has a way-off-year election cycle, so the commonwealth elected its state officials last November, and offers us a glimpse of how Tea Party Republicans would act in power. And if Virginia Attorney General Kenneth "King Kook" Cuccinelli II is an example of what we all could be in for, I plan on voting Democratic--twice or more if I can--in November.

Though he has already wasted tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars, and been rebuffed by a federal judge, Cuccinelli has decided that the best use of his time and personnel is to revive and pursue an ideological witch hunt that will damage the national reputation of Virginia's public colleges and universities.

That's right. No need to worry about banks or insurance companies that cheat us, or crooks that terrorize our families, or polluters that despoil our natural resources. What is really important to Cuccinelli is to do the bidding of the oil and energy industry, and harass some poor little climate researcher who doesn't even work in Virginia anymore, even if it costs his constituents money and jobs.

[Read more about unemployment.]

Cuccinelli is demanding what papers and E-mail the University of Virginia may still have from its long-gone employee Michael Mann, and any of his correspondence with fellow scientists. Misusing a statute that was passed by the legislature to keep state employees from stealing, Cuccinelli is hounding the climate researcher because Mann reached a scientific conclusion that doesn't fit with the attorney general's political ideology.

Now what high-class scientist will want to come and work in Virginia if he or she thinks that, should their findings not jive with the political or religious beliefs of a politician, they are going to face criminal prosecution?

For that matter, what smart person wants to work in a state that seems intent on cannibalizing its prized institutions? This is pure folly. In these days of economic competition, folks, there are dozens of states in the U.S. of A and quite a few foreign countries who would die to have job-generating blue-ribbon institutions like Virginia's universities, and are now chortling at Virginia's self-destructive behavior. The university has already raised and spent $350,000 to defend academic and intellectual freedom from political meddling.

I am with the Washington Post on this one. It calls Cuccinelli's performance "a farce" and warns Virginia voters that "the damage to Virginia's reputation, and to its universities' ability to attract and retain top-notch faculty and students, will not be easily undone."

There is a bright side, I guess. If Cuccinelli's antics put a real hurt on the northern Virginia high-tech community, whose investors and entrepreneurs may now look to more enlightened states to build their industry, the roads won't be so clogged with traffic.

• Check out our roundup of editorial cartoons on global warming.
  
• See which members of Congress get the most campaign donations from the oil industry.
  
• See a slide show of a reality check on U.S. energy sources.