Wow, this is slimy as it gets, although sadly not surprising coming from Republicans. As many of us have suspected all along, this whole Benghazi “scandal” has been ginned up by Republicans and their media echo chamber(s). Yet, in the end, as with most things Republican-related, there’s simply “no there there.” Nor, according to Ezra Klein, is there apparently any “there there” – at least with regard to the White House or high-level Obama administration officials – on the AP and IRS “scandals.” So what on earth is going on here? The #1 rated comment on the Ezra Klein story pretty much sums it all up:

The Republican Dream: an Obama scandal.

They are so convinced that Obama is the most corrupt President in US history, well, because he just is, that they know there is a Watergate-sized scandal hiding somewhere. Truth is: this is one of the most scandal free administrations in US history.

Exactly, and one we should all be very proud of. Now, if only the nihilistic Teapublicans would stop with the McCarthyist garbage and allow the adults (aka, the Democrats) to get back to the important business of our great nation.

Ken Cuccinelli just rolled out his energy “plan” (using the word “plan” very loosely), and you could take time examining it if you want. Except that really, all you need to know is where his money comes from: $386,534 from coal mining/processing (including $10,000 from Don Blankenship’s now-defunct Massey Coal and $70,875 from Massey’s successor company, Alpha Natural Resources – for more on these companies, see Laurence Leamer on Coal Baron Donald Blankenship’s Downfall); $263,230 from electric utilities (overwhelmingly nuclear and coal-fired companies like Dominion); $91,160 from natural gas (including $44,750 from Cuccinelli’s buddies at Koch Industries); etc.

Given that torrent of money from the absolute dregs of the U.S. energy industry, combined with the fact that Ken Cuccinelli is a climate science denier (that alone should disqualify him from ever holding public office; not to mention his persecution of climate scientist Michael Mann!), you wouldn’t expect much from him on energy. And you’d be right. This plan is utterly godawful: “reduce excessive regulation” (translated as “let fossil fuel companies run amok, trashing the environment and endangering public health”), “responsibly explore our abundant offshore energy resources” (“drill baby drill!”); “prevent the government from picking winners and losers” (except for the “winners and losers” favored by Cuccinelli, the Koch brothers, the coal and oil companies, etc.); etc. Actually, I do agree with Cuccinelli on one thing: we should “move away from the wasteful and harmful use of ethanol.” Other than that, though…this is not just worthless, but actively and intentionally harmful.

Other than the disastrous environmental and public health consequences (see here for more on that subject) to Cuccinelli’s “never left the 1950s” energy policy, it also would be a disaster economically for Virginia. The fact is, Virginia’s comparative advantages economically speaking are not in fossil fuels, but in energy efficiency, offshore wind power, and advanced R&D into advanced forms of low-carbon/no-carbon energy sources. As Tim Kaine explained a few months ago, even for those (like Ken Cuccinelli) who don’t “believe” in climate science (and 97% of peer-reviewed scientific papers say it’s happening, it’s still common sense to move ahead aggressively with energy efficiency and clean energy. Unless, of course, opponents of clean energy prefer to ensure that our state and our country lose the race for the burgeoning, multi-trillion-dollar, world market for clean energy in the 21st century. That, apparently, is what Ken Cuccinelli prefers, while burning up the planet in the process. As for the rest of us, we’d be literally insane to go along with that.

Thanks to AFSCME for explaining something that a lot of people in politics and the media don’t seem to understand: “why the spending vs. taxes debate is largely meaningless and how the real runaway spending is not in programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security – but in a tax code that disproportionately benefits corporations and the super rich.” Is this really hard to understand? Only if you have some sort of interest in NOT understanding it. As the video points out, “Imagine what we could do with the $583 billion that we spend every decade on tax breaks for U.S. corporations that keep their profits overseas.” Of course, we could do a great deal with that money to help make our country stronger, but then the super-rich and big corporations might lose some of their precious tax breaks. And they wouldn’t possibly stand for that, now would they?

Here are a few Virginia (and national) news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, May 16. Also check out “A Conversation With Climate Scientist Michael Mann” – the guy’s a true hero, persecuted by our climate-science-denying freakazoid of an Attorney General, defended by people like Sen. Mark Herring (who Mann endorsed for AG the other day).

*The false god of ‘narrative’ (“Scandalmania is distorting our discussion of three different issues, sweeping them into one big narrative – everything is a ‘narrative’ these days – about the beleaguered second-term presidency of Barack Obama. What’s being buried under a story line?”)

*Administration releases e-mails detailing agencies’ debate on Benghazi (“White House did not interfere in exchange between CIA and State Department, messages indicate.” So much for THAT “scandal”. Whatever.)

*U.S. Senate confirms ex-Va. official to head Medicare, Medicaid agencies (Congratulations!)

*How New York Times, NPR And Wall Street Journal Print Fossil Fuel Talking Points Without Full Disclosure (Inexcusable.)

*White House Revives ‘Media Shield’ Bill To Protect Journalists

*Burying Tamerlan Tsarnaev in Virginia (“…a handful of public officials and private citizens in Virginia deserve credit for ending the circus, both by providing a burial spot for Mr. Tsarnaev in a small Muslim cemetery north of Richmond and by tempering their public comments on an issue that could easily have become inflamed”)

*Virginia AG hires law firm for McDonnell in chef case (“Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has further removed himself from the embezzlement case of Gov. Bob McDonnell’s former chef by assigning a team of private attorneys to represent McDonnell in the matter.”)

*GOP race for lieutenant governor is wide open (“‘With seven candidates seeking that office, it’s totally unpredictable. It should be a spectacle,’ said Bolling, who won’t be there to witness it Saturday.”)

*Cuccinelli’s Party (“But while the goal is to give voice to a diverse electorate, the gathering represents a growing divide within the state party”)

*McAuliffe: Cuccinelli Has ‘Idealogical Agenda’ (Yes, the Patch spelled “ideological” wrong.)

*EDITORIAL: Tea Party takeover (“Conservatives likely to sweep Republican nominations in Virginia”)

*Planned Parenthood group to rally at Va. GOP convention

*Va. Dems’ robocall hits Cuccinelli on abortion

*Bolling forms ‘mainstream’ Republican political action committee

*Gun rights group endorses Obenshain for AG

*Tea party groups squabbling (“Stewart ‘endorsement’ raises concern about record, candidacy”)

*Wilson Bridge trail a big step for bike commuting in Washington area

*Ex-lobbyist for governor says former girlfriend hit and bit him

*Region to get nearly $1 billion for transportation projects (“The Richmond region will receive nearly $1 billion for highway and rail improvements over the next six years under the state’s new transportation funding package.”)

*Frank Wolf joins opposition to North-South highway through Loudoun, Prince William (Good for Frank Wolf for once!)

*Steger’s  legacy (“Through triumph and tragedy, Charles Steger kept Tech  pointed toward excellence.”)

*Va. Beach elementary schools phase out letter grades

*Nationals miss chance to catch Braves for first, fall 3-1 to Greinke, Dodgers