Va. AG Cuccinelli gets a lesson on the perils of tweeting

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By Julian Walker
The Virginian-Pilot
© May 5, 2011

RICHMOND

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli was reminded of the political pitfalls of social media Wednesday when Twitter and some online news sites went wild over a tweet he sent about the death of Osama bin Laden.

"How much would I give to be one of the 72 Virginans Osama is 'hanging out' with since Sunday?" Cuccinelli wrote.

The attorney general was referring to a joke about bin Laden's death that's made the rounds on the Internet. It places bin Laden at the gates of heaven, taking drubbing after drubbing from George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and Patrick Henry, among others.

As they're about to send him to the underworld, bin Laden screams, "This is not what I was promised!" An angel replies, "I told you there would be 72 Virginians waiting for you. What did you think I said?"

The joke apparently wasn't as well-known as Cuccinelli thought, and his misspelling of "Virginian" didn't help.

A Huffington Post writer seized on the tweet.

"Is Cuccinelli a virgin, or was he - perhaps more disturbingly - shooting for 'Virginians' with this tweet?" Jason Linkins wrote on the news site, guessing Cuccinelli might have been wishing he'd been part of the Virginia Beach-based Navy SEAL unit credited with taking out bin Laden in Pakistan.

"But this would be an odd way of communicating that desire," Linkins added. "At any rate, until I hear otherwise, I'm just going to assume that Ken Cuccinelli wants to make love to Osama bin Laden in hell."

Linkins later discovered the Virginians joke and posted an update with a link to it.

Cuccinelli also tried to clarify with a follow-up: "It seems some were confused by my earlier tweet. Read it closely:... 72 Virginians... "

Julian Walker, (804) 697-1564, julian.walker@pilotonline.com

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Apologies to Ken

Submitted by LostFounders on Fri, 05/06/2011 at 2:08 pm.

Our bad - http://lostfounders.blogspot.com/2011/05/formal-apology-sorry-ken-cuccinellifor.html

Final thought, (from me)

Submitted by truthseeker on Fri, 05/06/2011 at 12:41 pm.

Actually, that should have been "72 Vegans". Now, maybe the radical nuts will go after PETA.

Cuccinelli's joke

Submitted by margaretw94423 on Thu, 05/05/2011 at 11:01 pm.

At least Cuccinelli meant well.
What I find spooky is that the old joke about the 72 Virginians had any ounce of prophecy to it. Since the successful SEALs are based in Virginia Beach, they are at least honorary Virginians. And of course, they sent bin Laden off in style without being part of the afterlife. We can't know how many SEALs were involved because of national security. And if we did find out that the number were 72, this would become good reason to get spooked.
Although I dislike killing, I understand that it was a case of either us Americans or bin Laden and better him than us. May the Lord bless the SEALs!

A Huffington Post writer...

Submitted by theDigit on Thu, 05/05/2011 at 4:36 pm.

THAT'S your problem right there. A Huffington Post writer? Please...

This...

Submitted by drewman222 on Thu, 05/05/2011 at 3:43 pm.

...is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

- Shakespeare

I just don't think someone

Submitted by surfvb on Thu, 05/05/2011 at 2:44 pm.

I just don't think someone in his position should be twittering, for this very reason. People who aren't in high government positions make enough gaffes online, which should be example enough.

Much ado about nothing.

Submitted by nancyp on Thu, 05/05/2011 at 2:41 pm.

Much ado about nothing.

Get off of Social Media

Submitted by RLS on Thu, 05/05/2011 at 2:32 pm.

I would think that politicans would learn that nothing good ever comes out of social media for politicans. The scary part here is that the leading legal officer of the state feels a need to communicate through it and worse yet gets himself embroiled in a silly issue like this.