Month: May 2010

With or without government intervention? Public Opinion and Facts

Following a pro-longed debate over health care reform, a new legislative battle over financial regulation is under the way. What remains consistent in the public discourse and in Washington is the bone of contention: the role of government.

But what is it that we really argue about it? It could be many things such as the wellbeing of the people, the financial health of the country or America’s leading role in world politics. In the bigger picture, a lot of what we are arguing and fighting for are embodied in the idea of the American Dream, that "dream of a land in which life  should be better and richer and  fuller for every man, with opportunity  for each according to ability or  achievement" (James Truslow Adams).

The new and first State of the American Dream National Survey (Xavier University Institute for Politics and the American Dream) explores Americans’ perception and experience of the Dream today. "What is it exactly, who believes that, what aspirations and values are imagined for  this generation and the next?" According to the survey, most define the American Dream as opportunity freedom and family followed by financial security, wealth, a good job and home ownership (see chart below) with variations on opinions by race or immigrant story (1st and 2nd generation immigrants compared to all adults in the U.S.).

Non-whites and recent immigrants define the dream mostly in terms of "tangible markers of financial well-being or a means of attaining the same: opportunity, home ownership, a good job, or wealth itself." White adults "most often associate the Dream with freedom and financial security."

These somewhat different meanings that different groups assigned to the Dream might be the reason that non-whites and immigrants are more positive than whites about the American Dream. Its current state and legacy  are scoring low among Americans, but non-whites and immigrants are more positive than whites—the most pessimistic views come specifically by white women, particularly those between 40-64 yrs old, and residents of the Midwest. As FM3 observes in their analysis of the survey results, it is notable that "the part of our society that is still, by and large, worst off in terms of social or economic measurements, is also the same group that is most positive about the American Dream."

The current condition of the Dream scores a mediocre 4.5 in a 10-point scale. "Nearly half of Americans rated the Dream lower than a “5” with nearly a quarter assigning the lowest possible rating. In contrast only 5% awarded the highest possible mark." The legacy of the dream is also scoring low: 65% believe that "it has become harder to reach the American Dream than it was for their parents’ generation" and only one-third feel it is easier.  A large majority are also pessimistic for the future (68%) saying that "it will be harder still for their children to reach the Dream with a stunning 45% believing it will be much harder."

The state of the country vs. the state of the individual

Although the Xavier survey found this "this bleak view of the ‘macro’ state of the Dream", it also indicated that people have a more optimistic reading of it on an individual level.

The more optimistic look at one’s circumstances than the state of the country, or  perceptions of situations outside of oneself in general, are commonly  observed in the research. On the topic of hard work and opportunity, the Pew Economic Mobility  Survey (2009) shows that Americans, even in the midst of the  recession, continue to believe that they exercise at least some control  over their  own economic situation (74%). However, when they are asked  about the  economic situation of people other than themselves, they  think that  other Americans do not have such control (55%).

Hard work or circumstances will save the American Dream?

The same survey also shows that"most Americans believe hard work as opposed to luck or circumstances will lead to its achievement; and two-thirds are still at least fairly confident that they will reach the Dream even as they rate its condition mediocre or poor". Americans’ fiction on personal responsibility is not a new theme. For the past 40 years, public opinion researchers have been asking the following question: “In your opinion, which is generally more often to blame if a person is poor: lack of effort on their own part or circumstances beyond their control?” Americans have been evenly split on this question since 1998, but public opinion on this topic experienced significant fluctuations before that.

Trust in government at all-time low. Should government intervene? Can anyone help us?

According to a March Pew Survey, just 22% say they can trust the government in Washington almost always or most of the time, among the lowest measures in half a century. "About the same percentage (19%) says they are ‘basically content’ with the federal government, which is largely unchanged from 2006 and 2007, but lower than a decade ago".

"Opinions about elected officials are particularly poor. In a follow-up survey in early April, just 25% expressed a favorable opinion of Congress, which was virtually unchanged from March (26%), prior to passage of the health care reform bill. This is the lowest favorable rating for Congress in a quarter century of Pew Research Center surveys. Over the last year, favorable opinions of Congress have declined by half — from 50% to 25%.

Not surprising, Americans do not highly trust the government or their elected officials. But do they expect them and hope that they find solutions to their problems? Let’s talk about financial problems since the topic is at the top of the public’s agenda.

Most Americans think that government must have an active role in confronting today’s economic problem, although some question its efficacy. In a January 2010 survey (Allstate/National Journal Heartland, Jan 2010),  1 out of 3 say that they "would like to see government PLAY an ACTIVE ROLE in the economy to ensure it benefits people like them, but they are NOT SURE that they can trust government to do this effectively"; and another third of America (29%) think that "the government must play an active role in regulating the marketplace and ensuring that the economy benefits people" like them. Opposed to that idea are about a third of respondents (35%), who say that "the government is the problem not the solution to our economic problems."

However, a majority (62%) say that "it’s time  for government to take a larger and stronger role in making the economy  work for the average American."

Additionally:

   
• Direct, publicly funded job creation programs are supported by 71% of voters (Benenson Group, 2009)

   

• A majority (51%) believe government should take a more active role in order to provide increased oversight and regulation of private business (Lake Research 2009)

   

• 66% of voters support raising income taxes on the wealthy—individuals making $500,000 or more and households making $1 million or more (7 Bloomberg National Poll, Seltzer & Co., Dec. 3-7).

Finally, Americans see "government help as last resort" (Demos/Topos). Americans tend to think that "the objective of government intervention in the economy must be to assist those who are failing in the existing system, like the poor or those who are unable to work."

Read more at The Opportunity Agenda website.

I continue to be concerned about the direction of the Republican Party.

I’ve always opposed misguided efforts that threaten Florida’s economy and environment by haphazardly drilling offshore. The vast oil spill off the coast of Louisiana – which led Gov. Crist to declare a state of emergency in several Panhandle counties – confirms this sad truth: the cost for error in Florida is too great. If thousands of barrels of oil spill over into our coasts, our economy, environment and military will all bear the brunt of massive corporate irresponsibility.
Marco Rubio stands by his support for expanding offshore drilling in the Gulf. “My message won’t change,” he said in Clearwater last week when asked about the oil spill. And while Charlie Crist now says he opposes new oil drilling, it wasn’t that long ago he was open to drilling closer to the coast.  On the other hand, I remain a firm proponent of ending our reliance on foreign oil and harnessing clean energy, but who knows what the long-term impact of this spill will be for our state. We also get the news now that an oil drilling rig overturned 80 miles off the coast of New Orleans. We can’t afford to take more and more of these types of chances by expanding drilling in the Gulf and bringing it closer and closer to the coast that is so important for Floridians and their livelihoods.  The cost to Florida families could be permanent and the more we expand drilling, the more likely we are to see more of these types of accidents.

It’s just not worth the risk, espcially for such a low payoff.  Expanded drilling won’t solve our energy problems.  I will continue to fight to protect Florida’s economy and deal with the aftermath of this disaster.  I’m the only candidate in this race who has been consistently against more drilling.  Stand with me in calling for a moratorium on further expansion of oil drilling in the Gulf.  Sign my petition and tell the “drill, baby, drill” crowd that you aren’t going to take any more chances with our environment or our economy.

Tell Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio that you don’t want any more new drilling in the Gulf.  Once we gather up your signatures, we’ll deliver them to Charlie and Marco to let them know how Floridians feel about this vital issue to our state.

Crossposted from BorderJumpers, Danielle Nierenberg and Bernard Pollack.

Originally featured in the North Carolina News Observer.

It’s not every day you meet someone from Raleigh while traveling in Lusaka, Zambia. Dale Lewis might not have intended to spend decades in the landlocked African country of 12 million, but his passion for protecting wildlife and for conservation led him there – and his entrepreneurial spirit and desire to lift farmers from poverty while protecting the environment compelled him to stay.

How does Lewis, who attended Broughton High School and whose parents were longtime Raleigh residents, help alleviate hunger and poverty in Zambia’s most rural areas?

By making peanut butter, and lots of it!

One of the first things you notice about grocery stores in Zambia is the plethora of processed foods from around the world, from crackers made in Argentina and soy milk from China to popular U.S. breakfast cereals. Complementing these foreign foods, however, are a variety of locally made and processed products, including indigenous varieties of organic rice, all-natural peanut butter and honey from the It’s Wild brand.

It’s Wild was started by the Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO), which Lewis founded over 30 years ago to conserve and protect local wildlife.

COMACO helps farmers improve their agricultural practices in ways that can protect the environment while also creating a reliable market for farm products. It organizes farmers into producer groups, encouraging them to diversify their skills by raising livestock and bees, growing organic rice, using improved irrigation and fisheries management and other practices so that they don’t have to resort to poaching elephants or other wildlife.

By targeting hard-to-reach farmers who live near protected areas, “we’re trying to turn things around,” Lewis says. For decades, many farmers in eastern Zambia practiced slash-and-burn agriculture and were involved in widespread elephant poaching. It was their only option. Degraded soils and drought left many farmers in the region desperate.

By training more than 650 “lead” farmers to train other farmers, COMACO hopes not only to protect the environment and local wildlife, but also to help farmers increase their incomes by connecting them to the private market. The organization supports creation of regional processing centers and trading depots to make it easier for farmers to process their crops and transport them to market. It also offers a higher price to farmers who grow rice and other products organically and for those who use the conservation farming techniques they’ve learned from trainers and lead farmers.

Lewis says that when farmers comply with COMACO, they see benefits, including improvements in food security and health.

The resulting products are then sold under the It’s Wild brand in major supermarket chains across Zambia, such as ShopRite, Checkers and Spar. Next year, COMACO plans to export its products to Botswana. The organization is trying to do as much of the product distribution as possible so that the money stays with the farmers and not middlemen.

COMACO has also gotten technical support from Minneapolis-based multinational food giant General Mills. The company paid for a COMACO food technician to visit its headquarters in early 2009 to learn how different food processing techniques can increase the nutritional and economic value of the foods the organization is selling. Lewis hopes that eventually COMACO will be self-sufficient, and profitable, without the current dependence on donor funding. But that’s not easy for an organization that works with thousands of farmers and has high administrative, transport and salary costs.

He says that he is 70 percent there and is determined to show that his model is not only sustainable, but also profitable.

Danielle Nierenberg is a senior researcher at the Worldwatch Institute and co-project director of “State of World 2011: Nourishing the Planet.” Bernard Pollack is a travel writer from the District of Columbia, currently based in Africa.

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Washington Post staff writer, Paul Farhi, isn’t the brightest crayon in the box. He’s also an inveterate Republican suck up. He mostly writes boring, useless opinion pieces for the Style Section. And his piece today is no different. Farhi is upset with Barack Obama because, for the second year in a row, his stand-up comedy routine at the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) Dinner wasn’t self-deprecating enough.

Barack Obama, the Insult Comic President, was up to his old shtick Saturday night.

Apparently, the president is supposed to restrict himself to telling safe jokes. And he shouldn’t bust anybody’s balls.

Obama went all Don Rickles on a broad range of topics and individuals: Vice President Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, presidential advisers David Axelrod and Rahm Emanuel, the news media, Jay Leno, and Republicans Michael Steele, Scott Brown, John McCain and Sarah Palin.

Of course, it goes unsaid that Don Rickles specialized in the racist and ethnic joke. And, as Farhi notes, Obama took aim at Democrats and Republicans alike, including members of his own staff and cabinet. But it’s not enough to be fair & balanced.

Except for a mild joke pegged to his falling approval ratings, Obama mostly spared Obama during his 14-minute stand-up routine.

He also made a couple references to the ‘controversy’ over his birth certificate and nation of birth, but only to laugh at the idiots who take that crap seriously. So, what’s the problem?

Obama’s derisive tone surprises and dismays some of the people who’ve written jokes for presidents past.

“With these dinners you want the audience to like you more when you sit down than when you stood up,” says Landon Parvin, an author and speechwriter for politicians in both parties, and a gag writer for three Republican presidents (Reagan and Bushes I and II). “Something in [Obama’s] humor didn’t do that,” he said Sunday.

A Republican joke-maker didn’t think it was funny when the president ripped on Mitt Romney, John Boehner, and Sarah Palin? So the fuck what? Have you ever seen a funny conservative comedian? Really? Name one.

And you would think a Republican would understand that no president loses points with the public for offending the White House press corp or the national bigfoot press. Remember Adam ‘major league asshole‘ Clymer. If anything, that incident helped the Bush campaign. No one cares if the president offends the sensibilities of WHCA dinner attendees. When Stephen Colbert eviscerated those nerds at their own prom, the people absolutely loved it. What Farhi doesn’t understand is that the people hate Washington and the press that covers Washington. The people hate Republicans, too. The only reason for a president to play nice with these buffoons is to get marginally more sympathetic coverage. But that can be done just as effectively through the use of operant conditioning.

NASA satellite image of the oil slick from May 1st:

The slick is now the size of Puerto Rico and still growing.

Meanwhile the Washington Post sheds a tear for poor BP and its CEO:

On the day he got news that the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig caught fire in the Gulf of Mexico, BP chief executive Tony Hayward received a series of crisis updates in his London offices. The rig belonged to Transocean, but BP had leased it to drill an exploration well and BP bore legal responsibility for any consequences.

The grim updates were interspersed with long silences. One person there said that on several occasions, Hayward asked, “What did we do to deserve this?” {…]

But Hayward hasn’t tried to deny BP’s obligations. In his video, he vowed “steely determination” to control the well, clean up and “do everything we can to understand how this has occured and to ensure that it never occurs again.”

Yes, what did poor BP do to deserve this? It’s not like they had a history of oil rig failures and safety issues — oops, sorry. I have to take that last part back:

[Hayward’s] predecessor [as BP CEO], Lord John Browne, had been a brilliant deal maker and a friend of British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s, but BP was often accused of neglecting safety precautions and adding to risks through deep cost cutting. Under Browne, who resigned after revelations about his personal life in Britain’s tabloid news media, a fatal explosion took place at BP’s Texas City refinery, leaks sprang onto the tundra from a company pipeline in northern Alaska, and a BP production platform in the Gulf of Mexico suffered structural problems that delayed its start date.

But in truth, who really matters the most in this crisis? Gulf Coast residents and native species of plants and animals, or the shareholders and senior executives of a major multinational oil company that worked the refs regulators to avoid the cost of the most up to date safety equipment at their well site?

In a letter sent last year to the Department of the Interior, BP objected to what it called “extensive, prescriptive regulations” proposed in new rules to toughen safety standards. “We believe industry’s current safety and environmental statistics demonstrate that the voluntary programs…continue to be very successful.” […]

But according to aides to Sen. Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat who has followed offshore drilling issues for years, the industry aggressively lobbied against an additional layer of protection known as an “acoustic system,” saying it was too costly. In a March 2003 report, the agency reversed course, and said that layer of protection was no longer needed.

“There was a big debate under the Bush administration whether or not to require additional oil drilling safeguards but [federal regulators] decided not to require any additional mandatory safeguards, believing the industry would be motivated to do it themselves,” Carl Pope, Chairman of the Sierra Club told ABC News.

Yes, because business that isn’t subject to governmental regulation will always be voluntarily motivated to take the least risks possible. Just ask all those extinct Wall Street firms that used to bestride the Global Finacial Industry, like Lehman Bros. and Bear Stearns, about how risk taking is a non-starter when Federal Regulators just get out of their way.

I’m sure, this is all good news for Republicans and their policies of de-regulation and lower corporate taxation.

And I’m not kidding about that. Watch in the weeks ahead as the GOP used this oil spill to blame Obama, the Democrats and Big Guvmint rather than where the fault really lies: on the politicians, mostly Republican but also many conservative Democrats, who allowed massive de-regulation of industries from finance to Big Oil to Big Pharma to Food manufacturers to occur.

Republican policies have made us less safe in every way imaginable. But that’s not how our fair and balanced news organizations will report it (and I don’t mean just Fox News). They’ll all get in line, with a few exceptions, to blame President Obama and the Democrats for these catastrophic failures caused by Republican control of our Government for most of the past decade. Just watch and see.

Update [2010-5-3 7:7:13 by Steven D]: The FBI traced the stolen license plates of the failed Times Square car bomb to this junk dealer in Connecticut:

Junkyard owner Wayne LeBlanc didn’t catch the news on Saturday night because he was busy watching “Old Yeller” with his grandkids.

So he was shocked when FBI agents with flashlights knocked on his door at 3 a.m. to tell him that the license plate on a vehicle filled with explosives parked in Times Square came from a truck in his junkyard. […]

Investigators said they were skeptical of LeBlanc’s tale that he knew nothing about how a license plate from a car in his shop wound up linked to a car bomb in Times Square.

“Repair shops know they will get hammered if a plate goes missing from a car they are responsible for. The shop, the plate and the owner of the Pathfinder are all very much under investigation,” a law enforcement source said.

Curiouser and curiouser.

Second Update [2010-5-3 7:7:13 by Steven D]: Police released surveillance video, Here is a copy of a portion of that surveillance tape that the AP posted to You Tube:

The man seen changing taking off a long sleeve shirt to reveal a light red colored short sleeved shirt underneath is the purported suspect. The video is grainy, but one thing is clear: this guy clearly suffers from male pattern baldness and doesn’t appear to have much if any grey hair. That let’s me off the hook at least.

Third Update [2010-5-3 7:29:18 by Steven D]: More connections to Connecticut:

Law enforcement officials reportedly interviewed someone in this Highland Avenue house in Bridgeport today as part of the investigation into the explosives-filled sports utility vehicle found in New York City’s Times Square on Saturday night.

It appears the license plates on the SUV in Times Square — which was crudely put together and discovered before any explosion took place — may have come from another vehicle with a connection to the house, although there is no indication any local individuals were involved in the terrorism incident.

And a “New York police official told CNN” the owner of the Nissan pathfinder involved in the flawed and failed bomb attempt “lives in the tristate area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.”

My money’s on Connecticut again. Clearly we have White male Taliban cells infesting that unfortunate state. Maybe they’re all former “disgruntled” Bear Stearns or Lehman Brothers employees? Hey, my conspiracy theory is as good as that of anyone else.

****************************************************

I know that the Taliban have claimed credit for the amateur hour bomb car at Times Square. Hey, whether they are responsible or not, they’ll get Americans all worried about those funny Muslims again, and who knows what further devilry could come from that? Maybe we’ll invade Pakistan?

But there’s something a little off in this whole “The Muslims are Coming! The Muslims are Coming!” meme. Take a gander at this excerpt from a MsNBC report regarding the attempted “act of terrorism” on what the video surveillance tapes at Times Square revealed to see where I’m headed with this one:

NEW YORK – Police investigating a failed car bomb left in Times Square have videotape of a possible suspect shedding clothing in an alley and putting it in a bag, Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Sunday.

The surveillance video shows a white man in his 40s taking off one shirt, revealing another underneath.

Let’s be clear. Our media doesn’t describe typically “swarthy” Middle Eastern looking gentlemen (or Latin Americans either for that matter) as white. “White” is a term generally reserved for people who look like me: men with a Northern European heritage. Maybe the occasional Eastern Euro or Italian American makes the white category in the media, but not often. And whatever Pakistanis are, white isn’t a term the US media is likely to employ to describe their appearance

So either the Pakistani Taliban have been making great inroads in the recruiting efforts among white American or European males (does sound a little dubious doesn’t it?) or the Taliban is just trying to grab a little free PR, perhaps to buck up their “jihadis” and other assorted “collateral damage” (i.e., innocent civilians unfortunate enough to be in the vicinity when one of our robots bombs drops out of the skies on their heads) back home whom our Military’s drones keep blowing to smithereens.

So I can understand why the Taliban back in Pakistan is making this claim …

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility. In a one-minute video, the group said the attack ws [sic] in revenge for the death of its leader Baitullah Mehsud and the recent killings of the top leaders of al-Qaida in Iraq.

… but the local authorities in NY aren’t buying it:

[Police Commissioner] Kelly said there was no evidence to support the Pakistani Taliban’s claim. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said there’s no evidence the attack was linked to al-Qaida or any other large terrorist organization.

Just for the record, Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano hasn’t ruled out that this was a potential “terrorist act” but she also said it didn’t show a high level of sophistication either.

Napolitano told ABC News there was no evidence the incident in Times Square was “anything other than a one-off” and that the bomb “doesn’t look like it is a very sophisticated one.”

What else was odd about this “dangerous threat?” Well, the fact that the vehicle was left in an alley between 44th and 45th Streets, with its keys still in the ignition, motor still running and its flashers on. As if someone wanted it to be noticed, and notices quickly. Which it was:

Two street vendors flagged down a mounted police officer after they noticed smoke from the Pathfinder, which had been parked haphazardly at the curb with its engine running and its flashers on.

And it was a haphazardly made bomb in a car filled with propane, gasoline, fertilizer (Ah yes, the whiff of Tim McVeigh rises again) and firecrackers:

[T]he materials found in the Nissan Pathfinder — gasoline, propane, firecrackers and simple alarm clocks — also included eight bags of a granular substance, later determined to be nonexplosive grade of fertilizer, inside a 55-inch-tall metal gun locker.

Non-explosive fertilizer? Doesn’t sound like a well trained Taliban soldier or Al Qaida terrorist to me. Sounds like some lone loon (and I don’t mean the kind currently getting soaked with oil along the Gulf Coast). Someone who didn’t have a very good idea about how to make an improvised explosive device, or much of a plan on how to set it off, much less escape being seen. I mean Times Square is one of the most highly video monitored places in the country, not to mention all the tourists walking around videotaping their trip to the Big Apple:

Kelly said officers were on their way to a Pennsylvania town to talk to a tourist who also might have recorded the suspect on his video camera.

Right wing bloggers are convinced that Viacom, the owner of Comedy Central (which censored a recent South Park episode about Muhammed) was the target of this clearly Muslim extremist jihadist attack, because Viacom has offices at 1515 Broadway near where the “bomb car” was parked.

Just for kicks, here are some of the other businesses located at 1515 Broadway:

Nokia Theater
Dunkin Donuts
CBS Radio
The Minskoff Theater
NY Gas Group
Brinson Patrick Securities Corporation
Icon Parking Systems
SL Green Management
US Labor Department
Screen Actors Guild
Tishman Construction Co. (Jt. builder of new Jets/Giants Stadium)
AAA Towing
Skytel

Oh and

Bank of America

Yeah, the “target” had to be Viacom. Though why the “bomber” didn’t park directly outside Comedy Central located up the street at 1775 Broadway is a little odd, don’t you think? After all it was Viacom that kept the controversial South Park episode from airing. But what do I know about the mind of a Muslim Islamofascist terrorist. I’m just some white guy. Kinda like the suspected bomber. Hmmm …

Still, I’m sure whatever the investigation of this incident ultimately reveals and whoever the manhunt for this idiot ends up arresting, it will be bad news for that Muslim loving, Kenyan born usurper President Obama.*

* That it will be good news for John McCain goes without saying.

The Moonie Times is battling snakes and mice in the newsroom and can’t afford an exterminator. The whole enterprise is going up for sale. Unfortunately, it looks like a bunch of conservatives are going to band together to buy up the paper and relaunch it, perhaps as the Washington Guardian. Wouldn’t be nice if a bunch of liberals got together and bought the paper instead? I mean, the Washington Post is no longer a remotely liberal-friendly newspaper. With a Democratic president and Democratic Congress, shouldn’t the nation’s capital have a better choice than a center-right or a far right newspaper? Give me Fred Hiatt’s job at the new paper and I’ll show him how to generate quality content based on factual assumptions.

You wouldn’t think a guy with a name like Cuccinelli would be uptight about bare breasts in art. I mean, there was this thing called the Renaissance that was kind of big in Italy.

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli apparently isn’t fond of wardrobe malfunctions, even when Virginia’s state seal is involved.

The seal depicts the Roman goddess Virtus, or virtue, wearing a blue tunic draped over one shoulder, her left breast exposed. But on the new lapel pins Cuccinelli recently handed out to his staff, Virtus’ bosom is covered by an armored breastplate.

When the new design came up at a staff meeting, workers in attendance said Cuccinelli joked that it converts a risqué image into a PG one.

And Larry Sabato is correct that Cuccinelli has no excuse for setting himself up for ridicule. Everyone remembers when U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft put drapes over the boobies at the Justice Department.

When even Italian-American Republicans start exhibiting prudishness about nudity in art, you know something has gone badly wrong with the psychology of that party.

The Great Seal of the Commonwealth is a two-sided image that dates to 1776.

The side depicted on the state flag features Virtus standing victoriously over Tyranny, a male figure prone on the ground in defeat, his crown fallen from his head. Beneath him is the motto Sic Semper Tyrannis: Thus Always to Tyrants.

Three Roman goddesses – Libertas, Aeternitas and Ceres – grace the reverse side of the seal. Cuccinelli isn’t the first to have less-revealing garments placed on Virtus.

Multiple varieties of the seal have been used over the years, said State Capitol historian Mark Greenough. The modern version is based on language added to the state code in 1930, which specifies that Virtus is “dressed as an Amazon” while clutching a spear in one hand and a sword in the other.

The secretary of the commonwealth, Janet Polarek, is charged by law with being the keeper of the seal. Asked for an assessment of Cuccinelli’s interpretation, she declined to offer an opinion. When Virtus was fighting Tyranny, Polarek said, “a dress code was probably not her first concern.”

Maybe we should go back to making everyone learn Latin and Greek. Too many people learn the Judeo-Christian part of our culture without learning the Greco-Roman part. And, no, I am not talking about wrestling.