Bill Cooper, Richmond Police Department, Dominion Virginia Power

Because Sen. Jim Webb said he'll campaign with fellow Democrat former Gov. Tim Kaine for his Senate bid but isn't sure if he'll campaign with President Obama, here are today's nominees for Worst Virginians in the World!

First up is Fairfax County Republican sheriff's candidate Bill Cooper, who is running against Democratic incumbent Sheriff Stan Berry.

Cooper ran Connection newspaper ads saying his candidacy is "Supported by Deputies, Police Officers and Firefighters," The Washington Post's "The State of Nova" blog reported Sunday. But there's one small problem: He has not been endorsed by any deputies, officers, or firefighters unions.

Although Cooper, a 23-year deputy and retired second lieutenant, said he isn't claiming any endorsements, public-safety groups are not happy. The International Association of Fire Fighters called the ad "extremely misleading and false," the the Fairfax local of the Coalition of Police called the ad "misleading and disingenuous," and the Fairfax deputies coalition said it was "very disturbed by Mr. Cooper's willful misrepresentation." Meanwhile, Barry has the support of six public-safety unions or associations.

But Cooper's defense may be groundbreaking in American politicking: "What we are saying is we have support from members of those agencies. That ad is true. I didn't even put Fairfax. It could be police officers from L.A. County for all he [Barry] knows." The Cooper Rule dictates that you can claim "support" of broadly defined groups if at least one member of that group supports you.

Following the Cooper Rule, candidates can claim they have the support of the healthcare industry if a doctor supports them, claim support of the business industry if a cashier supports them, or claim union support if a teacher supports them. Unfortunately for Cooper, however, Los Angeles County cops can't vote in Virginia.

Our runner-up is the Richmond Police Department for arresting a magazine photographer during an Occupy Richmond raid for the heinous crime of using a public crosswalk to photograph police.

Ian Graham, co-owner of RVA Magazine, was among nine people arrested at an Occupy site on Halloween for trespassing when police dispersed the protest and told everyone to leave. The ACLU of Virginia announced that it will represent Graham in court to defend his First Amendment rights, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Saturday. According to an ACLU statement, Graham was ordered to a designated area to photograph the activity, but he couldn't see the site very well so he questioned the police's authority to confine him there, and Graham was arrested on a crosswalk. He was detained for 30 minutes before being released with a summons to appear in court on Nov. 18.

"We as the press have the right and responsibility to cover the police doing whatever they are doing on public property," Graham said. The state ACLU's executive director said, "Not only was this a member of press operating under the protection of the First Amendment, but we still can't fathom how anyone could be arrested for trespassing in a public street."

Occupy Richmond Police Department has a nice ring to it.

But our winner is our good friends at Dominion Virginia Power, caught with their pants down over the North Anna Power Station nuclear reactor in Mineral that was damaged in August's earthquake.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Sunday that Dominion and federal regulators in 1973 covered up knowledge of geologic faulting at North Anna. A 1977 Justice Department memo stated that Dominion's predecessor Virginia Electric and Power Company told the Atomic Energy Commission in June 1973 that "faulting of rock at the site is neither known nor suspected," even though Vepco knew there was faulting at the site.

Justice attorney Bradford Whitman wrote in the memo that regulators were complicit with hiding the truth and didn't stop the plant's construction or opening. Vepco could not be prosecuted for lying to regulators, Whitman said, because regulars also tried to keep the issue quiet. Vepco was fined $32,500 for making false statements, however.

Construction contractors told Vepco in 1973 about the fault, and by then all geologists involved concluded that a fault was there. Justice investigators found that Vepco deleted all references to the fault from safety analyses before filing a report to the commission with a statement that no fault was known at the site.

Both Dominion and NRC officials say this is a non-issue that has been in the public record for some time. Yet, important events lead to important questions. This was the most powerful earthquake in Virginia in a century, and no U.S. nuclear-power station had been tripped offline by an earthquake before. Subsequently, Dominion still wants to build a third unit for North Anna but on a different site from the original one proposed in the 1970s.

As Whitman wrote in the memo, "I deeply regret that criminal sanctions may not be brought against VEPCO for misconduct in an area of such major public importance as the civil construction of nuclear reactors."

That's Dominion Virginia Power, because you can lie to the feds but can't lie to Mother Nature, today's Worst Virginian in the World!

Don't forget to vote today, Virginians! Worst Virginians will be taking an extended break until further notice.

Miller Baker, Nikki Poteet, Terry Beatley

Because Corey Stewart, the Republican chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, called George Allen "a terrible candidate" for Senate in January before officially endorsing him on Tuesday, here are today's nominees for Worst Virginians in the World!

First up is Republican state Senate nominee Miller Baker of the 39th District in Northern Virginia.

The Blue Virginia blog posted a video Thursday of Baker at a debate last month where he said, "Obamacare was a serious mistake, it was a serious mistake, it was the domestic equivalent of the Iraq war." Over groans and hissing from the audience, he continued, "It was very much overreach. Obamacare was a terrible mistake."

Baker defended his analogy to The Washington Post, "As a matter of domestic policy, it's overreach." He did note, however, that Iraq is not a "moral equivalent" to healthcare reform, just a "domestic equivalent."

The Iraq War killed 4,500 American soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis, whereas the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that healthcare reform will insure 32 million more non-elderly Americans in 2016. The eight-year Iraq War cost $800 billion, while healthcare reform will trim $210 billion from the budget deficit over 10 years.

But aside from all that, is Baker too clueless or incompetent to come up with a better analogy – even just comparing healthcare reform to another Obama administration policy – than comparing a healthcare bill to a tragic war that devastated American lives, families, and veterans, and that ripped the nation apart?

Baker has written on his website, "As the Declaration of Independence recognizes, the right to life is unalienable and is the first of all rights. Miller will defend life at all stages." Since he doesn't support expanding health insurance and treats a war as political fodder, Baker should retract that statement.

Our runner-up is Nikki Poteet of Richmond, 2011's Miss Virginia USA and the commonwealth's most famous homophobe not named Bob Marshall or Ken Cuccinelli.

ThinkProgress.org of the Center for American Progress reported Tuesday that Poteet's gay roommate Derek Powell told the blog that she went on a drunken, violent, slur-filled rant one night at their group house, calling him and his boyfriend "faggots" and "cocksuckers." Powell said she was upset that his friends were over, and Poteet didn't have the place to herself. ThinkProgress reported, "She responded by lashing out at Powell, his boyfriend Chris, and their friends, swinging her shoes at the group, pushing people, and claiming that her male companion would 'beat' their ass. Poteet kneed another person, ripped the door off of a family heirloom [a dresser], and 'downgraded people based on their physical appearance and economic status.'" Two other attendees confirmed the story.

Poteet denied the accusations and told ThinkProgress she has no problem with gay people. She denied breaking the heirloom, but she ended the conversation when the blog shared her text message conversation and an accompanying photo with Powell about the damage.

The Miss Universe Organization has not responded yet to criticism over Poteet. Powell told ThinkProgress: "Her comments have outraged and insulted the gay people of Richmond and the community is upset that someone like her would represent the Commonwealth of Virginia. Many young girls look up to your organization and look at these title holders as role models. This is not the kind of person that you want representing your honorable organization."

This weekend she will crown the 2012 Miss Virginia USA. Now the commonwealth of Virginia, city of Richmond, and her alma mater Virginia Commonwealth University can disown her, too.

But our winner, actually topping that, is former financial consultant Terry Beatley, president and founder of something called No Excuse Ministry PAC. (Not to be confused with real religions, faiths, and ministries).

The organization was apparently created in September with the help of a $10,000 donation from House Speaker Bill Howell, R-28th. With a slogan of "Preserving America's Republic by Advancing the Christian Worldview in Politics," the PAC's "primary objective is to defeat any incumbent who has voted to advance or inflict the abortion industry’s agenda on minorities and children, undermine or usurp parental rights, redefine marriage, or prevent school choice." Besides the usual conservative causes on abortion, marriage, and education, No Excuse Ministry wants to push a radical agenda on race politics.

Beatley has fully embraced the right-wing conspiracy theory that legal abortions are actually a plot to kill black children. The Washington Post reported Tuesday that she distributed flyers in the Fredericksburg area attacking state Sen. Edd Houck's record. Beatley claims that Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger was a racist and supporter of eugenics, and because of that a majority of abortion providers in America today are in black urban neighborhoods.

This is another shameful ploy by anti-abortion radicals who, rather than debating the issue on policy, science, or even morality, choose to slander and demean those who perform or obtain abortions. (Worst Virginians called out Jeff Caruso of the Virginia Catholic Conference two months ago for saying that health exceptions for abortions are a farce.) A 2005 survey found, "The decision to have an abortion is typically motivated by multiple, diverse and interrelated reasons." Additionally, Planned Parenthood said that about three-fourths of its clinics are in rural areas.

A Washington Post fact check on Tuesday over Herman Cain's similar comments found that eugenics was not an uncommon belief in the early 20th century. Planned Parenthood said in a statement, "For all her positive work, Margaret Sanger made statements some 80 years ago that were wrong then and are wrong now. Those statements have no bearing on the high quality health care Planned Parenthood provides today." Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. himself lauded Planned Parenthood's founder in 1966 upon receiving its Margaret Sanger Award: "There is a striking kinship between our movement and Margaret Sanger's early efforts. She, like we, saw the horrifying conditions of ghetto life. Like we, she knew that all of society is poisoned by cancerous slums. Like we, she was a direct actionist – a nonviolent resister. She was willing to accept scorn and abuse until the truth she saw was revealed to the millions."

But aside from all of that is one big point: Sanger was an avid advocate for birth control, not abortion. Before Roe v. Wade and a public emphasis on abortion as women's reproductive rights, abortions were generally criminalized and dangerous, and Sanger believed birth control was the best way to prevent deadly illegal abortions and infant deaths. (Indeed, the Supreme Court held in Roe that America's modern anti-abortion laws were rooted in health-risk concerns.) She wrote in 1932, "In preventing conception, one does not destroy life; one does not interfere with the development of life; no life has been conceived to destroy." Sanger explained in 1921 her vision of what would become Planned Parenthood: 

"Why continue to send home women to whom pregnancy is a grave danger, with the futile advice 'Now don't get this way again!' ... Consultation rooms in charge of reputable physicians who have specialized in contraception, assisted by registered nurses – in a word CLINICS designed for this specialty – would meet this crying need. Such clinics should deal with each woman individually, taking into account her particular disease, her temperament, her mentality, and her condition, both physical and economic. Its sole function would be to prevent pregnancy. In the accomplishment of this a higher standard of hygiene is attained."

If radical abortion critics understood the real Margaret Sanger, they may instead adopt her belief that preventing unwanted pregnancies should be a top priority. Although said under different social circumstances in her day, these critics would fully embrace Sanger's sentiment in 1916: "A few simple words of advice would avoid the horrible slaughter of abortion going on in this country today."

That's Terry "Henry Ford was an anti-Semite, so Ford owners are anti-Semites, too!" Beatley, today's Worst Virginian in the World!

Loudoun County Republican Committee, Eric Cantor, Fort Monroe Authority

Because state Senate candidate Caren Merrick won't release her National Rifle Association questionnaire despite touting her "A-" NRA rating, here are today's nominees for Worst Virginians in the World!

The bronze goes to the Loudoun County Republican Committee and its disturbing sense of humor. The Too Conservative blog reported (and condemned) Monday that an LCRC email to supporters titled "Halloween 2011" had a cartoon montage of zombie Democrats, including a zombie Barack Obama with a bullet hole in his head. (See image at right.)

The email stated, "LCRC members and Republican candidates: We are going to vanquish the zombies with clear thinking conservative principles and a truckload of Republican candy...It's fun and a great way to represent our candidates to a ton of voters (and their kids) just before the election."

This imagery is beyond repulsive. Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was shot in the head earlier this year, and there is an entire Wikipedia page dedicated to "Barack Obama assassination threats." Gov. Bob McDonnell called the cartoon "shameful and offensive," and state GOP Chairman Pat Mullins said, "The disgusting image used today on a mass e-mail has no place in our politics. Ever."

LCRC Chairman Mark Sell issued a non-apology apology statement in response:

"The Loudoun County Republican Committee yesterday sent an email to its members that represented a light-hearted attempt to inject satire humor into the Halloween holiday. Apparently, some individuals have interpreted an image of Barack Obama that appeared within the email as intending to portray the president as a victim of a violent crime. Nothing could be further from the truth, and we deeply and sincerely apologize to the president and anyone who viewed the image if that was the impression that was left. The LCRC deplores any effort to display, suggest or promote violence against the president or any other political figure."

"I'm sorry if" or blaming the recipient for not having a sense of humor is not an apology. We'll see if Sell finds it funny when he's thrown out with the garbage on the next trash day.

The silver goes to U.S. Majority Leader Eric Cantor – stimulus hypocrite. He has lied repeatedly that the 2009 stimulus didn't work or create jobs, being called out by PolitiFact in May for his claim.

Well, as Ronald Reagan once slipped, "Facts are stupid things." Newsweek revealed Sunday that the Virginia delegation, including Cantor, R-7th, petitioned the Department of Transportation for subsidies for a high-speed rail service through central Virginia. For example, Cantor and Rep. Bobby Scott, D-3rd, wrote Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on April 29, 2009: "High-speed rail provides a sensible and viable solution to our region's transportation challenges. ... Providing a high-speed rail service from Washington, D.C. to Richmond will drive economic development throughout our region for many years to come. ... We believe it is truly an investment in our economic future." What they're referring to is the Federal Railroad Administration's High-Speed Rail Strategic Plan, an $8 billion program launched that month with stimulus funding.

LaHood wrote to Cantor and his colleagues that November, "I look forward to working with you as we begin to realize the Obama Administration's far-reaching vision of building a national passenger rail network."

We have a twofer for Cantor: He apparently thought Ann Arbor, Michigan, was an ideal place on Monday to redeliver his speech on how taxing the rich is not very nice, and he was challenged by Occupy protesters. Cantor said protesters' "ire and hatred toward certain people is not something that is constructive and I don't think it's reflective of the majority of America." Worst Virginians has already called out Cantor's hypocrisy on criticizing Occupy Wall Street while embracing the tea party with divisive and derisive rhetoric.

Mr. Cantor, do you feel lighter on your feet because you aren't weighed down by any principles?

But chalk up one more for government incompetence on the Peninsula, our winner is the Fort Monroe Authority.

The Daily Press of Newport News did some in-depth reporting and revealed Saturday that military family apartments at Fort Monroe outside Hampton (so-called Wherry houses) are in dilapidated condition. Before many tenants were told to move because of Hurricane Irene damage, families and officials discovered asbestos, cracked foundations, peeling lead paint, mold, and severe leaks.

A house occupied by a wounded warrior was found to be structurally unsound and unsafe, and is slated for demolition. One vacated mother left the houses with her family entirely because of her children's health conditions and age; her rent is now more than double it was at Fort Monroe. "They [the Fort Monroe Authority] should not have ever rented out these apartments. They already knew the problems. They had a full year ahead of them," she said. Another woman said her husband has suffered respiratory problems since moving into Fort Monroe.

In an email obtained by the Daily Press, Cmd. Sgt. Maj. John R. Calpena wrote, "You can see in the pictures the bricks separating and the windows coming apart. This is a media nightmare waiting to happen." Well, it happened. The Fort Monroe Authority executive director, who took over last month, said, "I had not been in the job 24 hours before I had to close them down" and cited "years and years of neglect" at the apartments.

Because the Fort Monroe Authority took responsibility of the apartments from the Army in August of last year and it allocates funds for maintenance and repairs, this is ultimately the authority's responsibility. Now under new leadership, hopefully the authority can set things right.

Virginia's troops and their families sacrifice plenty already, and they absolutely deserve better.

That's the Fort Monroe Authority, "What do you mean you don't want fungus growing in your walls?," today's Worst Virginian in the World!

Pat Robertson, PETA, Philip Van Cleave

Because a current House of Delegates race in Appomattox County is pitting a "former" lesbian who had a sexual relationship with a female student of hers 40 years ago against a businessman with a history of arrests and a restraining order, here are today's nominees for Worst Virginians in the World! 

Our first up is Virginia Beach-based televangelist Pat Robertson (real first name Marion), who made headlines this week for a stroke of uncanny criticism: The GOP presidential field is too "extreme."

Right Wing Watch reported with a video Monday that Marion said on "The 700 Club" that day:

"I believe it was Lyndon Johnson that said, 'Don't these people realize if they push me over to an extreme position I'll lose the election? And I'm the one who will be supporting what they want but they're going to make it so I can't win.' Those people in the Republican primary have got to lay off of this stuff. They're forcing their leaders, the frontrunners, into positions that will mean they lose the general election. ... You appeal to the narrow base and they'll applaud the daylights out of what you're saying and then you hit the general election and they say 'no way' and then the Democrat, whoever it is, is going to just play these statements to the hilt. They've got to stop this! It's just so counterproductive!"

If anyone understands extreme statements on the campaign trail it's Marion, who himself ran for president in 1988. During the campaign he claimed that Cuba had Soviet nukes; said about a strong showing in the Michigan caucuses, "The Christians have won. What a victory for the Kingdom"; was rebuked by President Reagan himself when Marion said that his Christian Broadcasting Network knew the whereabouts of American hostages in Lebanon; proposed selling the Post Office to its employees; and sued a former congressman for libel.

Yet, Jon Stewart pointed out on The Daily Show on Tuesday that the issue with Marion's comments isn't that what the candidates are saying is wrong or ridiculous: Michele Bachmann's moronic statements on everything from Yemen and vaccinations to the United Nations and taxes? Herman Cain's Islamophobia and "a joke" about an electrified border fence? Rick Perry's gun fetish and brush with birtherism? Newt Gingrich comparing Obama's policies to Nazism and Soviet Communism? Rick Santorum's homophobia? Oh no, it's that these policy positions and comments will hurt Republicans' chances on Election Day.

"What he's telling the GOP field is this, if you tell people what you honestly believe, an electoral majority of those people will freak the f--- out," Stewart observed. "He's saying the first rule of Right Club – don't talk about Right Club."

Our runner-up: PETA, and a lawsuit that could prove groundbreaking in American legal history – that animals have constitutional rights. The Norfolk-based animal rights group has filed suit in federal court in San Diego against SeaWorld, arguing that five orca whales' confinement violates the Thirteenth Amendment's prohibition against slavery, PETA announced Tuesday.

The lawsuit (which is actually titled Tilikum, Katina, Corky, Kasatka, and Ulises, five orcas v. SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment) took a five-member legal team 18 months to research, The Associated Press reported Wednesday. "By any definition, these orcas are slaves — kidnapped from their homes, kept confined, denied everything that's natural to them and forced to perform tricks for SeaWorld's profit," said PETA's general counsel.

Did 620,000 Americans really perish in a four-year Civil War to free the whales?

SeaWorld, having suddenly found itself compared to Simon Legree, listed in a statement the many laws and regulations it must obey, from having to offer public education/conservation programs to endangered species laws.

Animal rights activists point to ocras' communication skills, problem-solving talent, and cognitive abilities of a young child. In fact, a law professor who has proposed that legal standing be expanded to chimps said that although he thinks PETA will lose, he nonetheless supports the lawsuit.

Maybe PETA is on to something. After all, the Thirteenth Amendment doesn't explicitly protect people. And Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas argued in 1972 that nature and inanimate objects should have legal standing.

Yet, one of the orca plaintiffs, Tilikum, killed her trainer during a performance last year when it dragged her underwater. If the whales have a legal status under federal law and the Constitution, then Tilikum should be arrested and prosecuted — with full due process rights protected, of course.

On the other end of the political spectrum, our winner is Philip Van Cleave, president of the woeful Virginia Citizens Defense League, which makes the National Rifle Association look like vegan pacifists. The VCDL opposes pretty much all gun control and supports forcing guns into government buildings, school zones, parks, and libraries.

Van Cleave said his organization is planning demonstrations at Virginia colleges to protest campus firearm bans, in response to Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's opinion that the University of Virginia can only ban concealed weapons by regulation rather than by policy. The Roanoke Times reported Wednesday that the VCDL is planning a protest at the worst location imaginable on Nov. 17: Virginia Tech, the scene of the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Extremists like Van Cleave would argue that if just one student or teacher was armed that day, the gunman might have been stopped or deterred. Of course that suggests that at all the victims in the classroom building wanted to be armed. One student told the Times last week, "A lot of students are still shaky and paranoid about guns controlled by people who weren't authorized to use them. It's still a really, really sensitive subject here."

College campuses are exceptionally safe: The violent crime rate for campuses is nearly one-tenth the national average; students at urban colleges are safer on campus than off; college suicide rates are half the national average; and most campus homicides are disputes among acquaintances or drug deals gone bad. One criminologist observed, "The chances of being murdered on campus are about as likely as being fatally struck by lightning." Even Van Cleave was even forced to concede, "Crimes, from murder, rape, robbery, to violent assaults happen in and around campuses. Though the risk is generally low, there is still some real risk."

The problem is a lack of imagination: If the issue is on-to-off-campus safety, then students and colleges should consider options like mass transit, carpools, or police escorts so they won't come face to face with a possible assailant to begin with. Van Cleave has remarked that a university "is nothing more than a bunch of buildings on a hill" and "just buildings with people in them," which further demonstrates his level of respect for institutions of higher learning and their communities.

But there's more. Van Cleave may have slipped when he said that the Virginia Tech gunman "followed all the Virginia laws to get his guns": The state didn't submit the gunman's mental health record to the federal background check database, and, without any additional required vetting or licensing, he bought his weapons from two gun dealers with ease; he didn't steal them or get them from a trafficker. Van Cleave's solution? No licensing for people to carry weapons in public. Because it worked so well in Arizona to prevent a madman from shooting a congresswoman and killing six this year.

If a mentally ill, suicidal madman has such easy access to gratuitously deadly firepower and opens fire on innocent people, even if he is taken down, then we have already lost.

That's Philip "Guns are people, too!" Van Cleave, today's Worst Virginian in the World!

Bryce Reeves, Ernest Grubbs, Eric Cantor

Because Virginia Military Institute Keydets' football mascot is Moe the Kangaroo (for some reason), here are today's nominees for Worst Virginians in the World!

Our first nominee is Bryce Reeves, Republican candidate for the 17th Senate District against Edd Houck in one of the key elections to determine control of the chamber.

Reeves, a small-business owner, is running on common GOP themes of low taxes and deregulation, touting his experience as a businessman who has balanced budgets. The Washington Post profiled the race on Sunday and reported, "Reeves rails against government red tape that stifles small businesses, particularly startups. Asked to name three burdensome state regulations that should be rescinded, however, he drew a blank, saying that's what the expertise of legislative committees is for." Swing and a miss. Reeves then said, "You have to look at all of them. I haven't been approached about what committees they'd like me to serve on. I'm kind of at a loss for specific legislation off the top of my head right now."

Reeves has said that his first political memory was Schoolhouse Rock's "I'm Just a Bill." Maybe that's the extent of his political know-how.

Our runner-up is Ernest Grubbs, a now-former Bedford County sheriff's deputy and high school resource officer. The Roanoke Times reported Saturday that Grubbs was charged with 12 counts of taking indecent liberties with a child by a person in a custodial relationship – he had a relationship with a 16-year-old female student.

Among items police seized included a 2XL shirt and notes that the girl's mother found in her room. The student told authorities that she had had sexual intercourse with Grubbs at several locations. Additionally, police found a box in Grubbs' office with drug paraphernalia.

Had he given her hush money, Grubbs would've attained the slimeball trifecta.

But our winner is our good friend U.S. Majority Leader Eric Cantor – coward. He was scheduled to deliver a speech at the University of Pennsylvania's business school Friday about the economy and wealth but backed off when he learned it would be open to the public and protestors would be allowed on campus, although not inside for the event.

Cantor's office said it had to cancel because UPenn "was unable to ensure that the attendance policy previously agreed to could be met." UPenn responded by saying that events such as this are always open to the public and that's how Cantor's speech was billed.

The written speech itself was less than inspiring. Cantor, R-7th, talks about how his immigrant grandmother worked hard for a better life for her family, and he touted a "Steve Jobs Plan": "Those who are successful not only create good jobs and services that make our lives better, they also give back and help everyone move just a little bit further up the ladder and everybody wins." (The Huffington Post's Jason Linkins pointed out that an Ivy League school was a strange stage for a speech on "a fair shot at the American dream," since few of those students, professors, and alumni face the same challenges as most Americans.)

If only entrepreneurship and philanthropy alone could re-balance incomes and help the needy. Former Rep. Alan Grayson correctly observed this month that 24 million people in America "can't find a full-time job," 50 million "can't see a doctor when they're sick," 47 million people need government help to feed themselves, and 15 million families owe more than the value of their home. The Fed reported last week that outstanding student loans will top $1 trillion this year; a finance grad student observed, "It's going to create a generation of wage slavery." Since the early 1990s, incomes for the top 1% have soared, while middle class incomes have collapsed. Working hard, playing by the rules, and budgeting personal finances is not enough anymore to guarantee success or even an equal shot at success.

To quote Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., "It's all right to tell a man to lift himself by his own bootstraps, but it is a cruel jest to say to a bootless man that he ought to lift himself by his own bootstraps."

That's Eric "Let them eat bootstraps" Cantor, C (for chicken)-7th, today's Worst Virginian in the World!

Eric Cantor, Giles County School Board, Ann Marie McKenzie

Because it took a 1967 Supreme Court case to invalidate Virginia's ban against interracial marriages, here are today's nominees for Worst Virginians in the World!

First up is U.S. Majority Leader Eric Cantor, who is taking on President Obama's latest jobs bill by ... lying like a rug.

He told a jobs roundtable in Richmond this week, "We don't agree on more stimulus money," the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Thursday. "We don't believe the stimulus worked last time. We don't believe we ought to incur hundreds of billions of dollars of additional debt now again to get the same result."

The initial Obama plan would actually be funded with a half-percent surtax on incomes topping $1 million, starting in January 2013, to cover $35 billion to help states rehire teachers and first responders. If Cantor, R-7th, opposes the plan because it raises taxes, he should just say so.

But on a broader point, Cantor has parroted one of the biggest lies about the Obama presidency: that the original Recovery Act stimulus "failed" or didn't create any jobs. In fact, Cantor in May said the stimulus "failed to get people back to work," a statement PolitiFact found False. A handful of independent analyses found that the stimulus created or saved millions of jobs, with the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office finding that the plan is responsible for up to 3.6 million jobs.

If the majority leader thinks that the public will start to believe a blatant lie if it is repeated often enough, Democrats can do their part by telling voters that Mr. Cantor's head is made of green cheese.

Our runner-up is another public school entity, this time the Giles County School Board. The board voted to allow Ten Commandments displays to be set up in schools with other historical documents. A student and parent have sued, citing First Amendment infringement.

Trying to mask the obvious and inherent religiosity of Scripture by associating it with legal or historical documents such as the Declaration of Independence or Constitution in a government-sponsored forum is nothing new. However, The Roanoke Times reported Wednesday that Giles came up with a new legal strategy: A private citizen was intended to erect the display, and no public funds or employees were designated for it.

The Supreme Court would not be amused. The court ruled in 1980 in a similar case, 

"The pre-eminent purpose of posting the Ten Commandments, which do not confine themselves to arguably secular matters, is plainly religious in nature, and the posting serves no constitutional educational function. That the posted copies are financed by voluntary private contributions is immaterial, for the mere posting under the auspices of the legislature provides the official support of the state government that the Establishment Clause prohibits."

The Giles board also tried this month to unmask the anonymous plaintiffs in the case. The plaintiffs sought anonymity because of the heated acrimony over the case in the community and attacks on the civil liberties groups who helped bring the case to court. The chairman of the county Board of Supervisors himself said, "We won't let an anonymous coward tell us how to run our business."

The fact that this lawsuit has brought out the worst in people demonstrates why the Constitution forbids government-sponsored religion. If they had any sense, the school board members would do away with its Ten Commandment policy and instead consider implementing a world religions elective class in high schools for students to objectively learn about religious philosophies and ideas. But that "if" may be asking for too much.

But our winner is Ann Marie McKenzie, chair of the University of Virginia's Honor Committee, for a battle against UVa's student newspaper, The Cavalier Daily.

UVa's honor code and enforcement are among the strictest in the nation: Any students accused of academic dishonesty face expulsion after a trial by their peers. The Daily told its readers in an editorial on Sept. 12 that an unidentified Daily writer was exposed as a plagiarist, using entire copy from other media sources verbatim without attribution.

However, revealing the plagiarism and saying that the matter had been referred to the Honor Committee got the top managers in trouble. A week later, five top Daily student officials were charged by McKenzie, a Centreville native, with violating UVa's Standards of Conduct procedural confidentiality rules. Soon thereafter, the charges against all the managers but Editor-in-Chief Jason Ally were dropped. Ally's charges were dismissed on Tuesday when the University Judiciary Committee found that it had no jurisdiction to decide the case, citing a clause in the body's constitution that says it "shall not have jurisdiction over the exercise of journalistic and editorial functions by student groups." The Executive Committee, however, would not dismiss the charges.

The very idea that independent student media – or any independent journalistic entity for that matter – can face serious retribution from governing bodies or their executives for reporting the truth chills the whole notion of freedom of the press. The Student Press Law Center and ACLU said McKenzie's actions smack of censorship. Additionally, an SPLC attorney argued that the the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, upon which the Honor Committee's confidentiality policy is founded, does not apply to student media. The Cavalier Daily defended its decision in a Tuesday editorial: "It was necessary for the managing board to publish the editorial about recently uncovered plagiarism incidents because the paper strives to remain accountable to readers for the accuracy and authenticity of the content that appears in its pages." Indeed, any newspaper's subscribers or advertisers would value the honesty and accountability of its production and product. Editorial decisions are also often business decisions.

Subsequently, the Daily is worried about how this case will hurt student organizations' relationship with enforcement bodies. In a Thursday editorial, editors expressed concern about the jurisdiction and bureaucracy:

"The policy that the UJC embraced in the case against The Cavalier Daily allows for any future jurisdiction questions to be settled in trial. If the administration cannot clarify jurisdiction matters prior to that stage, however, then limitations provided in the constitution are effectively meaningless since they can be altered by any trial panel. This wrests the constitutional amendment process from the student body, doing grave harm to the principle of student self-governance."

Hopefully, McKenzie has not set a worrisome precedence and damaged what UVa calls its "community of trust." UVa founder Thomas Jefferson said it best in 1787, "Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter."

That's Ann Marie McKenzie, her favorite dish being sacrificial lamb with mint, today's Worst Virginian in the World!

Bill Stanley, Bill Bolling/Ken Cuccinelli, Ward Armstrong

Because Virginia is the only state where governors cannot serve consecutive terms, here are today's nominees for Worst Virginians in the World! (An all-politics edition)

First up is state Sen. Bill Stanley. Stanley, R-19th (Campbell, Franklin, and Pittsylvania counties, and Danville), is actually facing Democratic Sen. Roscoe Reynolds in the 20th District (Carroll, Floyd, Grayson, Henry, Patrick, and Wythe counties, Galax and Martinsville), and independent conservative Jeff Evans, since redistricting moved Stanley into the 20th.

During a debate at the Danville-Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce on Friday, the Danville Register & Bee reported, Stanley used the wrong page from the Reagan playbook. He said he hopes to make the region great again and "encouraged people to ask if the region is better now than it was 14 years ago when Reynolds was elected."

That would be two recessions, three presidents, four governors, and seven General Assemblies ago. Stanley wasn't even living in the area then.

If Reynolds has that much power and influence in a state Senate district in rural Virginia, and for such a long period of time, then it's more like the 20th Fiefdom.

Staying in the 20th District, our runners-up are Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. The Washington Post reported Friday that this dynamic duo are asking independent Jeff Evans to drop out to prevent him from splitting the GOP vote. Republicans need just two seats to win back the Senate and complete a party monopoly on the state government.

Evans told the Post that Cooch has contacted him several times and Bolling once before the deadline to ask him to rescind his candidacy against the major-party nominees. "I have a right to run," Evans said. "It comes down to principle. I will not be run off."

Evans is a preacher, longtime GOP activist, and former Carroll County supervisor and state trooper. He told the Post that he's been told that if he drops out and Republicans win the Senate, he can help choose committee assignments, which would be a very generous reward for someone who is not an elected public servant or party official. Bolling's and Cooch's staffs did not comment on the matter.

Ironically, the Post also reported Friday that Bolling, Cooch, U.S. Majority Leader Eric Cantor, House Speaker Bill Howell, and others have been automatically removed from their local party committees for endorsing an independent in a Henrico County Commonwealth's Attorney race.

Not for the Democrats to be left out, our winner is Del. Ward Armstrong. PolitiFact Virginia has been cranking out plenty of rankings lately, and Armstrong, D-9th (Franklin, Henry, and Patrick counties), won his first Pants On Fire rating on Friday for his continual fight against power companies.

Armstrong has criticized Appalachian Power Co. for raising its rates on his constituents nine times in the past four years. In TV ads, he claims that Apco is making "record profits" and lays out online a list of figures to defend that claim, but there's a problem with each: Armstrong cites 2010 total revenues, which is not profit; cites the net income for 2010, even though they were $136.7 million compared to a record $280 million profits in 2003; and that parent company American Electric Power made billions in total revenue in 2010, even though the state does not consider the profits of a parent company when reviewing rate hikes.

Although his push to oppose rate increases is noble and shared by Republicans, PolitiFact points out that the rate hikes are in response to spending on new environmental controls and a higher price of coal. "Armstrong, a lawyer, has been poring over Apco's finances for more than a year and it's mind-boggling to suppose he's in the dark on these things," the fact-checkers found.

That's Ward "Give or take $144 million" Armstrong, today's Worst Virginian in the World!

Nelson Vaquiz, Edd Houck, City of Norfolk

Because Prince Edward County chose to close its public schools for five years rather than desegregate them in the 1960s, here are today's nominees for Worst Virginians in the World!

The bronze goes to truck driver Nelson Vaquiz of Beaverdam. He was arrested for doing something not unheard of: He went through a gateless E-ZPass lane on the George Washington Bridge into New York without paying a $65 toll, The Associated Press reported Thursday.

However, the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey said he installed a cable in his truck to flip up his front license plate to dodge being caught on camera. His rear plate was bent up, too. Vaquiz was charged with theft of service, possession of burglar tools and eluding arrest, and his truck was impounded.

The Port Authority said it is increasingly dependent on tolls for revenue for the new World Trade Center. In fact, toll cheats cost the Port Authority $14 million in 2009 and 2010.

The silver goes to state Sen. Edd Houck, who has been in a combative campaign fight on the airwaves against Republican Bryce Reeves.

Houck, D-17th (Albemarle, Culpeper, Louisa, Orange, and Spotsylvania counties), debuted a TV ad last month declaring, "Bryce Reeves chaired a group bankrolled by a New York billionaire who fired hundreds of Virginia workers and sent their jobs to China," and saying Reeves "is OK" with sending jobs overseas. Well, no. PolitiFact on Wednesday slapped Houck with a False rating.

The watchdog reporters essentially concluded that the Houck campaign used a Kevin Bacon degrees of separation to draw its conclusions. For a few months in 2009, Reeves volunteered to chair the Fredericksburg regional chapter of the right-wing Americans for Prosperity. The group was co-founded and funded by billionaire David Koch, half of the infamous Koch brothers of energy conglomerate Koch Industries. (The Kochs are among the biggest backers behind tea party candidates and causes.) In 2008, Koch-owned Invista announced 210 layoffs at a Waynesboro carpet nylon plant. Although there is no evidence that these jobs were sent to China, the Houck campaign found that Invista in 2006 said it was expanding operations in China.

Industry experts told PolitiFact that they believe the plant closed because the sour housing market hurt the demand for residential carpet. Also, there were also no union filings with the U.S. Department of Labor arguing that the jobs went overseas.

So Reeves chaired a local chapter of Americans for Prosperity, which was co-founded and funded by David Koch, who co-owns Koch Industries, which owns Invista, which had previous announced expansion in China and which two years later laid off scores of workers, which included Kevin Bacon. OK, not really. But, therefore, Reeves "is OK" with sending Virginia jobs to China.

Ironically, Houck refused this month to answer a Q&A from Fredericksburg Patch because, as his campaign manager said, "his opponent will distort his answers."

But the gold goes to the city of Norfolk for its recklessness in the death of a sanitation worker.

The Virginian-Pilot of Hampton Roads reported Wednesday that the city was cited for 19 serious safety violations by the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry for the tragic killing of garbage truck operator Jerry Holton. The city trained its sanitation workers to go into the back of the trucks to fix jammed equipment, and Holton did so during his shift on Feb. 3; the hydraulics activated and he was crushed to death. Eight of the citations pertain to Holton's death, while the others apply to other violations discovered in the investigation.

The department said that a serious violation is one that could lead to the harm of an employee. To make matters worse, a safety mechanism that could've saved Holton wasn't working on his truck. "Some heads should roll on this," a councilman said.

A lot of heads in Norfolk should roll. Just since July, the City Council has considered stripping the quasi-government Norfolk Community Services Board of some of its autonomy after it was revealed that a former employee stayed on the payroll for 12 years; the Norfolk Police Department was cited in the death of a recruit during a simulated fighting exercise; and now the city was cited for Holton's death. Whoever is in charge there should consider cleaning house – or the voters will.

The city of Norfolk, and the morons who run it: today's Worst Virginians in the World.

Bob McDonnell, Portsmouth Social Services, Eric Cantor

Because anal and oral sex are a Class 6 felony and a "crime against nature" in Virginia, here are today's nominees for Worst Virginians in the World!

First up is Gov. Bob McDonnell. PolitiFact's new Bob-O-Meter called out Bob on Monday for his failure to follow through on a plan to raise revenue through toll roads on the North Carolina border.

His campaign said during his gubernatorial run, "As Governor, Bob McDonnell will provide an additional dedicated revenue stream for essential transportation needs by tolling travelers coming into Virginia at the North Carolina border on I-95 and I-85." The Federal Highway Administration approved the I-95 plan last month, but federal regulations allow the state to only use tolls on one interstate at a time. Federal officials also want toll funds to be spent mainly where the tolls are installed.

The Bob-O-Meter found, "His communications chief says McDonnell knew back then that federal regulations allow Virginia to toll only one Interstate at the time and the candidate was hopeful of changing the rules. The regulation remains in place, however, and the McDonnell administration has not lobbied to alter it."

Evidently not all toll roads lead to campaign promises.

Our runner-up is Portsmouth Social Services. The office's director approved a $40,000 payment of taxpayer money for New Orleans Saints player Anthony Hargrove to visit during the July 4 weekend for speaking events to area foster parents, children, and staff.

The Virginian-Pilot of Hampton Roads reported Friday that the city's top prosecutor has asked the state to audit the Hargrove paper trail. The Commonwealth's Attorney's office doesn't think there was any criminal wrongdoing, "but an audit wouldn't be a bad idea with the situation."

What makes this case bizarre is that Hargrove's management company had never charged for speaking engagements before. Portsmouth social services wasn't aware that he didn't charge for such events, and they simply researched how much NFL players often charge for these services, as well as compensating for his family to travel with him.

To quote Mayor Kenny Wright when the story broke originally last month, "Woah, are you kidding me?"

But our winner is U.S. Majority Leader Eric Cantor. Unsurprisingly, he has joined plutocrats or right-wingers like Michael Bloomberg, Mitt Romney, Herman Cain, and CNBC commentators in portraying the We Are The 99%/Occupy Wall Street protesters as dangerous fanatics.

Cantor, R-7th (Richmond, Culpeper, Orange), told the ironically named Voters Values Summit in Washington on Friday:

"This administration's failed policies have resulted in an assault on many of our nation's bedrock principles. If you read the newspapers today, I, for one, am increasingly concerned about the growing mobs occupying Wall Street and the other cities across the country. And believe it or not, some in this town, have actually condoned the pitting of Americans against Americans. But you sent us here to fight for you and all Americans."

(He also vowed to defund abortion providers. Because that will create jobs, or something.)

Cantor is Mr. 1%: His personal wealth is upwards of $7.5 million, and his fundraising committees took in $2 million from real estate, investment, and securities companies last year. The Washington Post detailed in July how Cantor has embraced the tea-party wing of the GOP not because of its cause but for gamesmanship to protect his corporate benefactors. So it's no surprise he'd be defending Wall Street.

Yet, others in his position haven't taken his side. Republican Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress that he understands the OWS protests: "I would just say very generally, I think people are quite unhappy with the state of the economy and what's happening. They blame, with some justification, the problems in the financial sector for getting us into this mess, and they're dissatisfied with the policy response here in Washington. And at some level, I can't blame them." Even Cantor's colleague Rep. Robert Hurt, R-5th (Charlottesville, Danville, Martinsville), who is anything but an enemy of Wall Street, told The Daily Progress of Charlottesville on Friday:

"The protests in New York I think reflect what the American people are feeling, tremendous frustration about the fact that we have 9.1 percent unemployment. ... To the extent that there is corporate greed, to the extent that there are Wall Street rip-offs, those are things that I think are properly within the function of government to make sure that we have transparent markets, markets that are honest and that you don't have people being stolen from."

However, Cantor had no problem pretending to commiserate with the tea party during a 9/12 rally two years ago. He said on stage that those protesters were "fighting on the fighting lines of what we know is a battle for our democracy." He added, "People are beginning to wake up and see a country they don't really recognize." The only people pitting Americans against Americans are brazen opportunists like Cantor, who doesn't have to worry about his life being turned upside down in the name of "austerity."

Majority Leader Eric Cantor, 100% hypocrite and fraud, today's Worst Virginian in the World!

Manhole Cover Thieves, State Board of Elections, Ronald Speakman

Because the state mammal is the Virginia big-eared bat, here are today's nominees for Worst Virginians in the World!

The bronze goes to whoever has been stealing manhole covers in Fredericksburg. The Free Lance-Star of Fredericksburg reported Tuesday that at least six manhole covers have been stolen in town, and no one knows why, and there's no leads.

They weigh up to 75 pounds, and a crowbar is needed to remove them. Sure, thieves have stolen copper wires, AC units, and downspouts for scrap, but although manhole covers are worth $100 each, scrap yards and recyclers will not accept them.

Because the city cannot replace them fast enough, the Free Lance-Star reported, "Until the city can get more covers to replace the missing ones, cones and tape are set up to block the road as a safety measure." (See photo at left.)

The silver goes to the State Board of Elections, which seems to have jumped on the disenfranchise bandwagon. Republican lawmakers nationwide have implemented changes in voting laws to prevent voter fraud when in actuality they will frustrate the suffrage for 5 million voters.

Virginia's Republican-run State Board of Elections has proposed striking current rules that allow further verification with a catch-all on absentee ballots if a voter's signature is illegible, The Virginian-Pilot reported Wednesday. "Those who support the catch-all provision say verification can be done simply by checking ballot return envelopes mailed by local registrars that contain identifying information for the registered voter who requested the ballot," the Pilot reported.

A State Board of Elections adviser told the Pilot, "The goal here is to get things right on a tough issue ... to err on the side of the voter." Virginia Democratic Party Executive Director David Mills sees it differently: "Virginia should place a priority on finding ways within the law to count as many votes as possible, not make it more difficult to have your vote counted if you vote absentee." The U.S. Department of Justice will need to approve the new rules.

Tune in next time when the board proposes photo ID requirements, proof of citizenship, and stricter early voting rules.

But the gold goes to Ronald Speakman, a candidate for Loudoun County sheriff. We have our first Anthony Weiner/Chris Lee scandal!

Last week he text-messaged a photo of a man's genitals to a female campaign staffer. Tom Jackman of The Washington Post's "The State of Nova" blog reported Thursday personally confirmed that Speakman sent the photo to his staffer's phone, and although he said it appears the photo is not of Speakman himself, "You do not want to see the photo." The photo shows a nude man extending his foot with the caption, "Does this look like atheletes foot?" Speakman said it was a joke.

But the fact the photo was sent and received is the only part of this episode that can be confirmed. Speakman said he and the staffer were making sexual comments before sending the photo, but she denies this. She said she was paid to post favorable comments about Speakman on blogs, but he denies this.

Speakman defended sending the photo. "I was never inappropriate with her. Have you seen the photo? It's a joke. It's a joke photo. It was going around. My son got it. I can tell you the guy that forwarded it to me. It's been around all over. It says, 'Do I have athlete's foot?'" Speakman, who lost the Republican nomination for sheriff in July, believes someone with the GOP is setting him up over the nature of the texting conversation, however.

This is the same Ronald Speakman who as a married policeman with children 20 years ago had an affair with a married mother, eventually buying a house with her – before the woman shot him. And he didn't win his party's nomination?

That's Ronald "Does this look like a lost election?" Speakman, today's Worst Virginian in the World!

Roanoke Market Building Foundation Board, Pat Robertson, C.T. Woody

Because the Fairfax-based National Rifle Association is represented in Congress by a member with an "F" NRA rating, here are today's nominees for Worst Virginians in the World!

First up is the Market Building Foundation Board of Roanoke. The board voted last month to ban organized assemblages at the Roanoke City Market Building by denying permits for the sidewalk in front of the building.

Plowshare Peace and Justice Center had used the space for six years for monthly silent antiwar vigils. Although the city owns the building and sidewalks, it has been leased to the foundation for 40 years for renovation tax credits. The board's chairman said the ban was to reserve the space for restaurants and businesses inside.

The ACLU of Virginia isn't happy. The Roanoke Times reported Saturday that the group sent the building foundation a letter last week warning them that such a policy violates the First Amendment. "The First Amendment allows for reasonable time, place and manner regulations of speech, but an outright ban on assemblies on the sidewalk is not permissible," the ACLU wrote. Simply because the property is being leased doesn't mean it is exempt from free speech and assembly protections, the ACLU argued, citing precedent.

Meanwhile, Plowshare's director said he is looking for a "win-win" resolution with the foundation so both businesses and vigil attendees can share the sidewalk space. Here's hoping the foundation's board is listening.

Our runner up is the Virginia state loon, Virginia Beach-based televangelist Pat Robertson (real first name Marion). As his Christian Broadcasting Network turns 50, he has decided to hang up one of his tin-foil hats and will refrain from endorsing candidates from now on.

"When I was in charge of the Christian Coalition, I was available to mobilize grassroots support for somebody," Marion told The Associated Press for a Sunday story. "I don't have any army right now. It's just an opinion, and that isn't quite as good as it used to be."

But he's not leaving the political scene without a parting shot at Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney: "He said he considers the Mormon candidate 'an outstanding Christian,'" AP reported, "but declined to say whether he would be OK with a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the White House. Both Romney and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman are Mormons seeking the GOP nomination."

Marion told the AP, "I've been there, done that. The truth of the matter is, politics is not going to change our world. It's really not going to make that much of a difference." Marion, you just realized this now and not 50 years ago?

But our winner is Richmond Sheriff C.T. Woody, who is apparently intent on turning the Sheriff's Office into a regular family reunion.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported last month that Woody has hired at least 10 family members since taking office in January 2006, including two sisters, a brother-in-law, a son, a daughter, a niece, a nephew, and three granddaughters, totally $440,000 in annual salaries.

Woody is a constitutional officer, meaning that he is elected and not bound by city ethics policies. He did say, however, that he would conform to Richmond's nepotism policy of supervisor-subordinate relationships if the City Council formally asked him to. But it is unclear if Woody would fire any of his relatives.

He has stayed generally mum on the issue since a press conference last week, but the Times-Dispatch reported Sunday that his nephew's marriage to a deputy whose daughter also works at the sheriffs office brings the total number of Woodys at the Sheriff's Office to 11. Ironically, Woody criticized his predecessor for nepotism, but she only hired four relatives.

That's C.T. Woody of the Woody Family Sheriff's Office, today's Worst Virginian in the World!