Ok, so he looked over the history of all the official seals used in the past, and he chose one.

BFD.

Slow news week?

Posted by I.Publius on 2 May 02010 @ 12am

In the 1780 medal, is she supposed to be pregnant as well?

Posted by grs on 2 May 02010 @ 12am

Ok, so he looked over the history of all the official seals used in the past, and he chose one.

BFD.

He explicitly changed the state seal because he finds the current one sexually titillating, a la John Ashcroft. He didn’t choose an old one—which might have been cool, because the early 1900s one was great-looking—but he instead edited the existing one, using an old one as an excuse. The image of the state seal that he’s using is not, in fact, the state seal. When the attorney general edits the state seal because he finds it arousing, that’s definitely news. National news. Made-fun-of-on-late-night-TV news. Just watch.

Posted by Waldo Jaquith on 2 May 02010 @ 9am

Come on, Waldo. He said nothing about finding the current one sexually titilating. He did choose an old one – the one that was in use during the Civil War. Go check out some off the Civil War Virginia infantry regimental flags with the seal. They’re very similar.

It’s amazing how easy it is for Cuccinelli to troll you guys.

Posted by Brian W. Schoeneman on 2 May 02010 @ 9am

This guy has some strange sexual hang-ups it seems. I would not trust him around children.

Posted by Hank on 2 May 02010 @ 9am

What’s getting me about all this is that while John Ashcroft might have done something similar with the statues at DOJ, at least there wasn’t any law on the books about what those statues how those statues had to be displayed. The House of Representatives and the State Senate voted on this, several times, most recently in 1950 after we finally decided on the color scheme. (Code of Virginia § 1-500) And to avoid all the confusion about which permutation we’re supposed to be using and to prevent any unauthorized use, we designated the Secretary of the Commonwealth the keeper of the seals and required that the Secretary display at least three impressions of the official seal in the Library of Virginia for public inspection (§ 1-502), just to make sure everyone knows what it’s supposed to look like.

This is just one more example of how our Attorney General won’t let what’s actually written in the law interfere with what he wants to do.

Posted by Sam on 2 May 02010 @ 10am

Brian

Why in the world would Cooch want to “troll” people? What earthly good does it do him to get in the news this way? He doesn’t need to cement his base and instead he’s cementing an image of himself as a purse-lipped scolding Nanny who’s slightly off-the-rails. Do you suppose the McDonald Administration is enjoying being connected with this Pecksniffian AG?

Posted by bubberella on 2 May 02010 @ 10am

He said nothing about finding the current one sexually titilating.

He surely did:

Workers in attendance when the new design came up at a staff meeting said Cuccinelli joked that it converts a risque image into a PG one.

A spokesman for Cuccinelli said the attorney general has pointed out the “more modest attire”…

Like I said.

Go check out some off the Civil War Virginia infantry regimental flags with the seal. They’re very similar.

Cuccinelli’s version of the seal appears to be based on the 28th Infantry flag. Like all infantry flags, that flag was developed by the infantry, not the state—that was a soldier with an artistic bent reproducing the seal from memory. The only reason the 28th had a flag was because the CSA hadn’t sent them a confederate battle flag, so they had to make something up themselves. Note all of the differences in it, most obviously that Tyranny isn’t wearing a purple robe, which was selected by Jefferson et al to symbolize Caesar.

The fact that one dude once created a version of the seal that looked like this has no bearing on the state’s seal then or now.

Again, Cuccinelli’s version was never the state seal. This was the version of the state seal without nudity, which looks to me like it would have been created in the late Victorian era, but that’s just an educated guess based on the design style.

I have to wonder what the legality is of the AG’s office using a state seal that is not, in fact, the state seal. (“Legality” isn’t quite the right word, but I don’t have a better one. Propriety, maybe?) If a Democrat were governor, would the Secretary of the Commonwealth have anything to say about this? After all, the state seal is a government entity’s equivalent of a person’s signature.

I also wonder about the appropriateness of the AG using campaign funds for something like this within his governmental office. I’m not saying it’s wrong—I don’t have any idea—but it strikes me as a potential minefield.

Posted by Waldo Jaquith on 2 May 02010 @ 11am

Waldo

To use the state seal in an official capacity requires the permission of the Secretary of the Commonwealth. The permission is not hard to get for a state government entity.

Posted by bubberella on 2 May 02010 @ 2pm

My theory is that the Daily Show should just put Cooch on retainer now that he’s writing so much of their material.

Posted by Kris Amundson on 2 May 02010 @ 3pm

He’s vying with Arizona for the wackiest state award.

Posted by bubberella on 2 May 02010 @ 3pm

I have to wonder what the legality is of the AG’s office using a state seal that is not, in fact, the state seal. (“Legality” isn’t quite the right word, but I don’t have a better one. Propriety, maybe?) If a Democrat were governor, would the Secretary of the Commonwealth have anything to say about this? After all, the state seal is a government entity’s equivalent of a person’s signature.

Exactly what I was thinking. (I can’t believe I accidentally referred to the House of Delegates as the House of Representatives. Too much time reading about the insanity coming out of Arizona’s state legislature, I suppose).

Posted by Sam on 2 May 02010 @ 3pm

Waldo, did you miss the “jokingly” part in Cuccinelli’s statement? As for the rest of your comment, in a time period where funds are at a premium, had Cuccinelli spent state tax dollars on pins, he’d have been attacked – if not by you, then by some other Democratic bloggers. Either way, he was going to be attacked. I’d rather he spend his campaign funds than taxpayer dollars. As for the issues with the seal, if it’s not actually the seal of the Commonwealth, then I don’t see what the issue is. He can make up whatever pins he wants with whatever he wants on them without stepping on any toes.

Bubberella, the reason why he would want to troll is simply because he recognizes that he is going to be fighting Bill Bolling – also a solid social and fiscal conservative – for the Gubernatorial nomination in 2013. They share the same base. Thus, every bit of red meat he can throw to his base – and this type of story generates the kind of red meat he likes to generate because it drives liberals into frothing madness for whatever reason – is another thing that keeps his name in front of Republican convention attendees, while Bolling labors in relative obscurity.

Posted by Brian W. Schoeneman on 2 May 02010 @ 6pm

I don’t buy it. For every person in his base that Cooch invigorates with this goofy antic, he’s losing two who see this as another example of Cooch being a weenie.

Posted by bubberella on 2 May 02010 @ 6pm

Brian wrote, “and this type of story generates the kind of red meat he likes to generate because it drives liberals into frothing madness for whatever reason” (emphasis added).

Speaking as a liberal, I’m pretty sure what you meant to say was “spasms of laughter.” Because that’s what I’m doing.

Posted by Cecil on 2 May 02010 @ 6pm

Waldo, did you miss the “jokingly” part in Cuccinelli’s statement?

If it were just a joke, he would have just talked about it, not actually done it.

You tell me: What is the purpose of this? Is it because our AG is a Civil War buff, whose great-great grandaddy served in the 28th Infantry? Isn’t it significantly more likely that he finds nudity titillating and—just like John Ashcroft—decided to censor it, in this case by replacing the state seal pin with a faux state seal pin?

As for the rest of your comment, in a time period where funds are at a premium, had Cuccinelli spent state tax dollars on pins, he’d have been attacked – if not by you, then by some other Democratic bloggers.

Anybody who bitches about that kind of thing is a dope. If he had made honest-to-god state seal pins (and I don’t know why he would have them made especially—they’re a dime a dozen for state employees), who cares? That’s state employees showing that they’re state employees. What a foolish thing to complain about.

And nevermind that, anyhow. The fact that people might have complained if he spent state funds doesn’t make it appropriate to mingle campaign and state funding. Again, I’m not saying it’s inappropriate, either—I just don’t know—but I’d like to find out.

I’d rather he spend his campaign funds than taxpayer dollars. As for the issues with the seal, if it’s not actually the seal of the Commonwealth, then I don’t see what the issue is. He can make up whatever pins he wants with whatever he wants on them without stepping on any toes.

You’re right, that might negate the issue of whether the Secretary of the Commonwealth has any say over this, but I can’t see how that matters, anyhow, since she’s a Republican who serves at the pleasure of the governor. But your conclusion is absolutely incorrect. If our AG had pins printed up with a noose and a flaming cross on them, then clearly he would be stepping on toes. Likewise, the fact that our AG finds the state seal too arousing for his own staff is stepping on toes; Thomas Jefferson’s, among others.

Posted by Waldo Jaquith on 2 May 02010 @ 7pm

The door is now open to an altered Cooch portrait – with a Taliban beard and one of those scratchy wool caps! You know, in honor of his strict condemnation of “risque” female “attire”. Question: Should it read; “Death to Boobies!” or “Thus Always to TaTas”?

Posted by Bubby Hussein, Hillbilly Sheikh on 3 May 02010 @ 9am

Waldo, it was a joke he made after it was already done. I can’t get inside his head, but Cuccinelli seems to be the kind of guy who likes to do things his way and put his own personal stamp on things – this was a way of doing that. Using an historical version of the seal, rather than the current one. I don’t think it’s likely that he finds it titillating – nobody does. Do you honestly think anyone does? Are there teenage Virginians spending in ordinate amounts of time with the state flag in their bedrooms? I doubt it.

My point about the stepping on the toes was in response to some of the sea lawyers who were claiming he was violating Virginia law by fiddling with the seal. Jefferson’s toes deserve to be stepped on.

Posted by Brian W. Schoeneman on 3 May 02010 @ 9am

So the Cooch is dissing Thomas Jefferson?

Brian, you may want to quit digging and lay the shovel down.

Posted by Bubby Hussein, Hillbilly Sheikh on 3 May 02010 @ 9am

I don’t think Cuccinelli is dissing Thomas Jefferson. I am.

Posted by Brian W. Schoeneman on 3 May 02010 @ 10am

I’d rather he spend his campaign funds than taxpayer dollars. As for the issues with the seal, if it’s not actually the seal of the Commonwealth, then I don’t see what the issue is. He can make up whatever pins he wants with whatever he wants on them without stepping on any toes.

Oh come on, now, Brian. Should we also let highway patrolmen design their own badges? One of the reasons for having a standardized seal is so to help the public recognize official documents or employees of the commonwealth. As opposed to, say, fraudulent documents or individuals impersonating government employees.

If you’re going to be issuing an official-looking pin that reads “Office of the Attorney General” to government officials working for that office in the executive branch of the state government, you should be using the official state seal. There’s no good reason not to.

Posted by Sam on 3 May 02010 @ 10am

This pin is just for the Cuccinelli Taliban Rangers Sam. It is a perfect compliment to the pious black vestments and burquas.

Posted by Bubby Hussein, Hillbilly Sheikh on 3 May 02010 @ 11am

Has anyone made a comment relating this to Daniele “Il Braghettone” da Volterra?

Posted by Michael on 3 May 02010 @ 11am

Sam, nobody is going to assume that folks who wear that pin are government officials working for that office – I’ve got dozens of lapel pins that have been given to me by folks, including law enforcement, if I choose to wear it, I’m not using it as some kind of identification document. It’s not the equivalent of a badge – which is a form of identification.

I’m not going to take someone’s word that they work for the government because they’ve got a lapel pin on. Do you?

Posted by Brian W. Schoeneman on 3 May 02010 @ 11am