A common denominator? What is Star Scientific?

MoonHowler
Tres Amigos?
Tres Amigos?

The name Star Scientific keeps popping up in the news and it always is attached, in some way, to both the current governor, Bob McDonnell, or the wannabe governor, Ken Cuccinelli.  This association is usually surrounded by the oft-unspoken words, OOOPS or I forgot.

The Governor attracted some attention by not declaring that the CEO of this company, one Jonnie Williams, paid $15k for his daughter’s wedding reception.  McDonnell said he didn’t declare it because the gift was to his daughter.  Well, so much for traditional values where the parents of the bride pay for the wedding.  Sorry Bob, but do you think Jonnie would have sprung for the bill if you weren’t the Guv of VA?

Ken Cuccinelli also has gotten into political hot water over this same company.  The latest is the fact that he failed to report some gifts, namely an almost $5000 vacation to William’s Smith Mountain  Lake vacation home and a catered turkey dinner.   Cuccinelli also admitted to forgetting to report a plane trip to NYC financed by Williams.  In all, Cuccinelli has received about $18,000 in gifts from the CEO of Star Scientific in the past 4 years.

$18,000 might not seem much to a high roller.  To put this amount in perspective, many seniors don’t even get $18,000 a year in social security benefits.  I guess it pays to be a Virginia high roller.  Cuccinelli also owned stock in Star Scientific.  This sure seems like a cozy relationship.  Star Scientific used to be named Star Tobacco.  It appears they make supplemental products, as in supplemental vitamins of a sort.

So the question still remains, what is this company and what does it want?  No one gives away this much money to politicians without wanting something, do they?  Meanwhile, will both Cuccinelli and McDonnell continue to reap the benefits of their respective high profile positions?

What is Star Scientific?

Further reading:

Richmond Times Dispatch

Washington Post

Cuccinelli attempts to violate the Rule of Law principle

MoonHowler

Scales-of-Justice

Once the Supreme Court decides a case, we are stuck with the laws involved, whether we like the law or not, unless you are Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.

Mother Jones:

Last month, three judges on the US Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit deemed a Virginia anti-sodomy law unconstitutional. The provision, part of the state’s “Crimes Against Nature” law, has been moot since the 2003 US Supreme Court decision overruled state laws barring consensual gay sex, but Virginia has kept the prohibition on the books.

Now Virginia attorney general and Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli is asking the full 4th Circuit to reconsider the case. Cuccinelli wants the court to revive the prohibition on consensual anal and oral sex, for both gay and straight people. (The case at hand involves consensual, heterosexual oral sex, but, as the New York Times explained in 2011, it’s “icky”: The sex was between a 47-year-old man and two teenagers above Virginia’s age of consent.)*

Why?  Why?  Why?  Cuccinelli needs to just give it up.  What adults do in their own homes–in their own bedrooms is really no one’s business, especially the government’s business.   The Supreme Court decision Lawrence v. Texas pretty much decided this one in 2003.  In striking down the Texas law, the “anti-sodomy” laws of many  other states  were invalidated.  Virginia is one of those states.

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Morning Joe mocks the Cooch

MoonHowler

 

Morning Joe Scarborough mocks Ken Cuccinelli over his radically extreme positions.  He particularly poked fun at Cooch who supposedly questioned getting his youngest child a social security number because “that’s how they track you down.”

Good grief!  That is extremist.  Fundamentalist LDS members out in the desert (remember Juniper Creek on big Love) believe tin foil hat stuff like that.

This is who wants to be our next governor?

 

Ken Cuccinelli, the Quintessenial Bully of Women

Elena

I am unsure how the women in Virginia will now have access to legal and safe abortion. The reversal of  a previous ruling by the Virginia Board of Health, due to the bullying tactics our Attorney General, Ken Cuccinelli,  puts all LEGAL abortion clinics in an untenable position to operate.  Naral Virginia explains the consequences of the Boards actions.

On Friday, September 14, the Virginia Board of Health defied the recommendations  of legal and medical experts in voting 13-2 to subject existing women’s health  centers to burdensome buildings regulations. After months of pressure tactics by  Attorney General Cuccinelli, the Board reversed its earlier decision to  grandfather in existing clinics and exempt them from the medically unnecessary  regulations. If signed into law, these regulations will force up to twenty  women’s health centers in Virginia to shut down.

“We are stunned by today’s vote, and extremely disappointed in the thirteen  Board of Health members who decided to put political ideology before  evidence-based scientific fact,” said Tarina Keene, Executive Director of NARAL  Pro-Choice Virginia. “Hundreds of voices were silenced today.”

Leesburg Courthouse and the General….Attorney General that is

MoonHowler

 

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and his sidekick, Sideshow Bob (Marshall) have quite a dog and pony show going.  Marshall asks a question of a controversial nature and AG answers it, thus setting the Old Dominion on a collision course with civil liberties each and every time.  Does anyone notice a pattern? 

The Loudoun Times:

Loudoun County’s controversial debate over public displays on the courthouse lawn now has the ear of Virginia’s top attorney.

State Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli on Aug. 24 issued an opinion saying Loudoun County can erect holiday Christmas displays on public property as long as the displays represent other faiths and beliefs.

The opinion came at the request of state Del. Bob Marshall (R-south-central Loudoun).

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Cuccinelli Refuses to Release Murderer Soering Without a Court Order

MoonHowler

This may be the one and only time I agree with the AG.  Someone must have taken leave of their senses. 

Jens Soering
Jens Soering

Jens Soering was convicted of  the 1985 murder of Bedford couple Derek and Nancy Haysom in their Bedford County home.  Soering’s girlfriend Elizabeth Haysom is currently in prison for her role in the murder of her parents.  Soering, a German citizen, is currently serving 2 life sentences.   Background information from the Roanoke Times:

RICHMOND — Gov. Tim Kaine has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to approve the transfer of Jens Soering — who is serving two life sentences for the 1985 murders of a Bedford County couple — to a prison in his native Germany.

Kaine, who leaves office Saturday, approved the transfer request by Soering’s attorney this week after earlier denying a clemency petition from the former University of Virginia honor student. Soering, the son of a retired German diplomat, received consecutive life sentences for the stabbing deaths of his girlfriend’s parents in their Boonsboro home. The case attracted international media attention and Soering has maintained his innocence nearly a quarter century after the murders.

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