WSJ Blasts AGs

Just like our post yesterday, the WSJ rails against the sleaze AGs we have in place. Nothing new here, but still worth a read:

Take one part ego, one part ambition and one part lawyer, mix it with an office that has few restraints on power, and you'll end up with the worst sort of state attorney general. Take Dan Greear, and you'll have a man at the front of a nascent electoral movement to change the formula.

...

His quest has become a case study in the opportunities, and pitfalls, of an upstart reformer challenging an incumbent attorney general who, like New York's
Eliot Spitzer, has cemented his position through populism and political patronage.
...
Mr. McGraw, in more than 14 years as West Virginia's attorney general, has been a pioneer in the practice of filing questionable lawsuits against big companies, secretly doling out the legal work to outside trial lawyer friends who reap millions in fees. Those lawyers then turn around and donate heavily to Mr. McGraw's re-election.

What is it with State AGs?

I recognize many of the names on this list of AGs from wiki, all of them for saying or doing something the average man would be too embarrassed to do. They are as out of touch as academics. Take (please) AG Blumenthal of Connecticut. Yesterday’s NY Post quoted a released statement saying, "We are holding the credit-rating agencies accountable for a secret Wall Street tax on Main Street." The gist of his complaint is that municipal bonds aren’t rated as high as corporate debt.

What puts this bureaucrat in a position to second guess the ratings experts? Nothing. But it’s a lot easier to bully around rating agencies than shore up a balance sheet. It’s classic Spitzer: Make the corporations the bad guys and himself the good guy. No matter what the outcome is, claim victory. Move on to the next shakedown.

While Spitzer the AG is no more, his tactics live on in the other wannabes. The grandstanding, the bullying, and the shameless pandering is all part of the job description. There is nothing noble about a public servant in the AG role. They all seem to be using it as a role to burnish their populist cred and move onto the next gig. So what is the solution? Recognizing that AGs are just like any other politician, but with too much power, is a good first step. The unfortunate catch-22 of AGs: The only people who would want the position aren’t the kind of people you would want to be in that position. The lap dog press doesn’t go any deeper into the AG phenomenon than cutesy grammar articles about Attorneys General. Disgraceful.

Now Gestures Are Crimes

Just asking if someone is a police officer is considered a crime as well. These bureaucrats are beyond satire:

Simple body language can now send known prostitutes and their johns to jail in West Virginia's second largest city.

Under the new law, suspects can be arrested for beckoning passers-by with conversation, attempting to stop traffic by waving their arms, circling an area in a vehicle or trying to stop pedestrians. An arrest can also be made if a suspect asks if a potential prostitute or patron is a police officer.

What is the root of such idiocy? The "drug war" of course:

"It's not going to eradicate prostitution, because it has been with us since the existence of time,'' said Huntington Mayor David Felinton. "But where prostitution and the drug trade are so closely tied together, I think it will be another tool for us to use.''