Ken Cuccinelli’s delusions of grandeur, persecution

Today brought a surprise in the mail: a fundraising appeal from Ken Cuccinelli, II.

I’m not sure, however, whether the appeal is a hilarious, if unintentional, parody of the hyperbole that is the staple of these mailings, or whether Mr. Cuccinelli really suffers from the paranoid delusions of persecution evident in the letter.

In the letter, Mr. Cuccinelli claims the lawsuit he filed challenging healthcare reform is the one that President Obama “fears the most.” Mr. Cuccinelli says the suit has made him Obama’s “number one target,” and that Obama and the administration doesn’t just want to defeat him, “they intend to destroy” him.

Mr. Cuccinelli further claims his “success in the courts drives the Left nuts.”

Success in the courts? Wow.

Now, obviously, this is all completely untethered from reality.

(more on the flip)

In fact, the lawsuit Mr. Cuccinelli claims is so feared was dismissed by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals because it failed to establish the necessary jurisdiction for the Federal courts to even hear the case, much less rule on the merits. And any fair reading of that decision shows it was not even a close call, so while the Supreme Court has agreed to hear appeals of several healthcare reform cases in what promises to be a historic ruling, Mr. Cuccinelli’s case is not among them.

As a result of this state of affairs, for all intents and purposes the Cuccinelli lawsuit is dead – facts, incidentally, omitted entirely from the fundraising appeal.

In the real world, far from fearing Cuccinelli’s lawsuit I suspect that no one in the White house or the Justice Department is even spending a significant amount of time thinking about it, beyond responding to the mop up operations that Mr. Cuccinelli’s pointless appeals and inevitable motions for reconsideration will require.

Also both hilarious and disturbing in the fundraising letter, however, is Cuccinelli’s apparent belief that President Obama, his administration and Progressives, generally, are all personally fearful of him because of his intellectual and legal prowess and his moral and ideological virtue, and are therefore all intent on his destruction.

In fact, there is not a shred of evidence that President Obama even knows who Ken Cuccinelli is, much less that he cares one whit what legal theories he is cooking up. (Google “cuccinelli + obama” and you will find not a single mention of Ken Cuccinelli’s name by President Obama or any key member of his administration. Oh, the search returns plenty of results, but they are all instances of Ken Cuccinelli talking about the President, but not any indication the President ever took note).

Of course, Progressives and Democrats oppose Mr. Cuccinelli. Every politician has his/her supporters and opponents. Mr. Cuccinelli, however, claims he is the “Left’s prime target for defeat,” — apparently unaware of the upcoming presidential and senatorial elections that promise to consume Virginia for the next year, not to mention a host of political opponents both in Virginia and outside the Commonwealth in more powerful positions and who have proven much more effective in advancing an extremist Conservative agenda.

Anyway, you be the judge of whether this letter is just a case of political rhetoric getting out of hand, or whether there is something more serious at work here in the psyche of our attorney general. Here are some excerpts from the letter, which ran in total two and one-half double spaced pages. And in reading this, remember, as the humorist Dave Barry says, I am not making this up — the following is selected text from a real fundraising letter from Mr. Cuccinelli:

Dear Friend,

I need your help.

Sorry to be blunt, but my legal challenge to President Obama’s takeover of America’s health insurance has made me the number one target of the White house and their powerful allies on the left.

*     *     *

In fact, they want to do more than defeat me, they intend to destroy me.

Because of my opposition in the courts to the individual mandate, and because I have challenged the power of the Federal Government every time it tried to go beyond its legitimate, enumerated powers, they loathe me.

*     *     *

Why does the Obama Administration fear my lawsuit the most?

My lawsuit is linked to Virginia’s Health Care Freedom Act[.] … Passage of this law in Virginia set up my direct challenge to President Obama’s healthcare bill because that bill mandates that individuals must purchase healthcare insurance. … Judicial history and the United States Constitution are on our side. That’s why Eric Holder’s Justice Department and President Obama so greatly fear my lawsuit.

Any honest reading of the Constitution and the original supporting arguments and documents upholds my lawsuit.

But that doesn’t make any difference to the Obama Administration.

I’ve been called “crazy,” “lunatic” and other names because I have stood up for the citizens of Virginia and the US Constitution.

My success in the courts drives the left nuts.

That’s why they have me in their “crosshairs.”

*         *        *

There’s no doubt about it. The billion dollar Obama political machine wants to defeat and destroy me.

*        *        *

Make no mistake about it. I will be the Left’s prime target for defeat.

And last but not least, as if to underscore the urgency of the danger, the return envelope for the contribution has the work “RUSH!” stamped on it in large red letters.