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Stories like this one aren't going to help the Republicans much with their so-called "rebranding' effort: Virginia is for lovers of their own currency:

Virginia sure has been a hotbed of activity on issues with national implications, hasn't it? Republicans in the commonwealth pushed a scheme to rig the electoral college (which failed soon after), launched an ugly redistricting scheme (which now appears doomed), and crafted absurd voter-ID bill (which seems likely to become law).

And while all of those are clearly important, this is the one that amazes me.

Virginia Del. Robert G. Marshall fears that a financial apocalypse is coming and only one thing can save the Commonwealth: its own currency.

The idea that Virginia should consider issuing its own money was dismissed as just another quixotic quest by one of the most conservative members of the state legislature when Marshall introduced it three years ago. But it has since gained traction not only in Virginia, but also in states across the country as Americans have grown increasingly suspicious of the institutions entrusted with safeguarding the economy.

Marshall's proposal sailed through the House of Delegates this week, passing by a two-to-one majority.

No, seriously.

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Lowell Field at Blue Virginia caught this interesting tidbit from Joe Scarborough this morning. It looks increasingly like we'll continue to see GOP battles between the extremist Tea Party and their followers and the pragmatists like Scarborough who want electoral wins.

Ken Cucchinelli is running against Democrat Terry McAuliffe for Governor of Virginia.

JOE SCARBOROUGH: Cuccinelli, right, so here's a guy - Tea Party favorite in Virginia - the guy is certifiable when it comes to mainstream political thought. This is a guy who attacks Medicare, he attacks Medicaid, he attacks Social Security, this is a guy who said he was thinking about not having his children get Social Security numbers because, quote, "that's how they track you." This is a guy that has said more things that will offend the voters that swing elections than is humanly possible.

Here's what Blue Virginia had to say on the matter:

Thank you, Republican Joe Scarborough, for echoing what Democrats, progressives, liberals, environmentalists, etc. have been saying for years: Ken Kookinelli is straightjacket/men-in-white-coats-level loony tunes. The scary thing is, Scarborough's list was a short one for Cuckoo: add to it climate science denial, which in and of itself puts you into the tinfoil hat camp of flat earthers and "the moonshot was faked" folks; dabbling in "birtherism;" vicious anti-LGBT attitudes; support for a "personhood" amendment, which would make abortion providers murderers and also make several popular forms of contraception (as well as embryonic stem cell research) akin to murder as well. There's a lot more than that, too, but we'll just leave it there for now. The fact that the Republican Party could nominate a total nutjob like this, and that it's not an isolated incident - see Todd Akin, Christine O'Donnell, Richard Mourdoch, and many others the past few years - really says it all about that party. Why would anyone in their right mind vote Republican at this point is truly beyond me.

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The U.S. Marshal Service announced Tuesday that it had captured one of America’s Most Wanted fugitives who is accused of creating a fake charity for Navy veterans that funneled some of the $100 million collected to Republican candidates.

Between the early 2000s and 2010, a man using the alias "Bobby Thompson" collected millions from unsuspecting donors for the charity U.S. Navy Veterans Association (USNVA), which claimed to provide support for members of the U.S. Armed Forces. Officials believe that very little, if any, of the money was ever used as intended, according to the U.S. Marshal Service.

To help legitimize his charity, Thompson allegedly donated part of the ill-gotten funds to Republican candidates like former President George W. Bush, former Republican presidential candidate John McCain and House Speaker John Boehner.

Republican Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli reportedly personally pleaded with Thompson for donations and received $55,000 for his effort, making Thompson Cuccinelli's second-largest donor. Cuccinelli was eventually forced to turn over the tainted money to veterans support groups.

Over the years, Thompson also attended the 2008 Republican National Convention and numerous fundraisers. The Roanoke Times obtained photos of Thompson posing with Bush, Boehner and McCain -- as well as Rep. Adam Putnam (R-FL), former Bush adviser Karl Rove and former Republican New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Thompson fled in 2010 after learning of a criminal investigation in several states. He was later charged with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, identity theft, fraud and money laundering.

A team of Deputy U.S. Marshals captured the fugitive in Portland, Oregon at approximately 10:30 p.m. Monday night. Authorities were still unaware of Thompson's real name and he refused to make a statement.

"This was one of our most challenging fugitive investigations to date," U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott said in a press advisory. "Our investigators followed up leads all over the nation. Their diligence and dedication directly led to the arrest in Portland. I am proud of everyone that worked on this investigation and their efforts have brought this scam artist to justice."

Thompson is now being held in Multnomah County Jail while he waits to be extradited to Northern Ohio.

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John King talked to Virginia's wingnut birther Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli about today's ruling by Judge Henry Hudson that the individual mandate in the health care law is unconstitutional. Cuccinelli dismissed concerns that this might create uncertainty for employers in Virginia and said he hoped that would make it harder for the Supreme Court to turn down hearing the case.

Cuccinelli also defended immediately raising campaign funds from the ruling, painting himself as the victim who's going to have powerful interests coming after him, rather than the fact that he's been using the issue for political gain from day one.

Par for the course, ignored in this conversation... Judge Hudson's conflict of interests. Also ignored, whether or not conservatives getting their wish if the Supreme Court does take the case and rules against it, that potentially opening the door back up to a public option.

CNN Transcript:

KING: Dan Lothian at the White House -- Dan pointing out a legal ruling that reignites the political debate. Now let's get the perspective of the man who challenged the law and won, at least this first round. Republican Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli of Virginia joins us from Richmond tonight. Sir, I'm holding the decision here from Judge Hudson. You win the case on this round. You just heard Dan Lothian note there are two other cases upholding the law. One of them in Virginia --

CUCCINELLI: Right.

KING: What do you think makes this decision better than the other two?

CUCCINELLI: Well, whenever you have a state as a party with the federal government, you're in sort of a different category. And the next one of these is coming up Thursday in Florida when they have their merits hearing down in Florida. Probably get a ruling in January or February time frame in that case. There are 25 total cases running across the country.

Certainly you're going to see a series of rulings, but even in the two we've seen so far that went the federal government's way on the individual mandate; the federal government was ruled against in both cases on their tax argument. And there are two arguments in this case. The individual mandate, whether or not it's constitutional, and whether or not the penalty, if you disobey the government instruction that you must buy their government-approved insurance is a tax.

And the federal government lost again on the tax argument in addition to the individual mandate today. This is obviously a very important ruling. But as you've pointed out here on this show, this one is probably going to the Supreme Court. We hope it gets there soon because it certainly introduces an amazing amount of uncertainty for our whole economy.

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Keith's Worst Persons segment with winner Rush Limbaugh for this bit of hackery.

Uninformed Limbaugh Wonders ‘Where Was The Union’ At Non-Union Mine Disaster:

Last Friday, Rush Limbaugh asked why a coal miner union didn’t protect the 29 miners who were killed when Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch Mine in Montcoal, WV, exploded under unsafe conditions:

Was there no union responsibility for improving mine safety? Where was the union here? Where was the union? The union is generally holding these companies up demanding all kinds of safety. Why were these miners continuing to work in what apparently was an unsafe atmosphere?

There’s a simple reason the union didn’t protect the miners: the Upper Big Branch Mine, like nearly all of the mines under Massey CEO Don Blankenship’s control, is non-union. In fact, the United Mine Workers of America (UMW) “tried three times to organize the Upper Big Branch mine, but even with getting nearly 70 percent of workers to sign cards saying they wanted to vote for a union, Blankenship personally met with workers to threaten them with closing down the mine and losing their jobs if they voted for a union.” Read on...

Jebus, they pay this guy how much a year to spout this crap? I'd like to see Limbaugh try to last one day working in one of those mines. He'd never make it.

Runners up were Bill-O for sicking his stalker producer Jesse on Al Gore and Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli for suing the EPA.

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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.

Bob McDonnell issues an executive order allowing gay people to be fired, and Ken Cuccinelli says you can't be gay in college.

Virginia gets its first taste of what kind of government they've just elected.

From the March 9, 2010 edition of The Daily Show.