Well it looks like Virginia's new Governor and his right wing Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli are turning out to be everything we expected of them. As if McDonnell's race baiting Confederate History Month proclamation wasn't bad enough, he's also decided that felons have to take a quasi-literacy test. Someone please tell me there's going to be a suit over this for violating the Voting Rights Act.
Bob McDonnell's Next Target: Felon Voting Rights:
You can learn a lot about a political culture by how it approaches problems that don’t actually exist. For instance, while there's little evidence to suggest that rehabilitated felons exert an undue influence on our political process, many states have made registering to vote into the rough equivalent of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. If you're a former felon living in Mississippi, for example, you have to convince both houses of the state legislature to pass a bill specifically granting you the right to vote in state and local elections. Or, more likely, you won't even try—which is kind of the point. In Virginia, felons can vote only with the approval of the governor. But don't worry, Virginia, because new Gov. Bob McDonnell is on the case. From the Washington Post:
McDonnell (R) will require the offenders to submit an essay outlining their contributions to society since their release, turning a nearly automatic process into a subjective one that some say may prevent poor, less-educated or minority residents from being allowed to vote.
And his Attorney General who's suing over the Constitutionality of the health care bill is also going to be attending this little soiree at Liberty University.
Cuccinelli Confirmed For Freedom Federation's "Awakening" Conference:
Today, Liberty Counsel put out a release confirming that "Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is scheduled to speak at 'The Awakening 2010' on Thursday evening, April 15 at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA."
Cuccinelli will be joining a who's who of Religious Right leaders, including Andrea Lafferty, Wendy Wright, Richard Land, Tony Perkins, Kelly Shackelford, Ken Blackwell, Mat Staver, Rick Scarborough, Harry Jackson, Lou Engle, and even Cindy Jacobs.
Who is Cindy Jacobs, you ask? This is Cindy Jacobs:
That has to be one of the creepiest things I've watched in a long time. Rachel wrapped up her segment with this.
Maddow: So I don't know if the band is going to be there, but the Attorney General of the state of Virginia is going to be appearing with her on Thursday. A lot of conservative politicians admit they want to repeal health reform, but it takes a brave new Virginia style conservative politician to say they want to repeal health reform while appearing at an event with a faith healer -- repeal and replace indeed.
