Fury has been raining down upon Ken Cuccinelli the past few days, as it often does. His offense this time was to suggest that those opposed to the contraception mandate in Obamacare should go to jail for their beliefs.

In a talk-radio interview, the Virginia Attorney General—and GOP candidate for governor—cited Lincoln's dictum that the best way to get rid of a bad law is to enforce it strictly. His local bishop, he said, told him he was willing to go to jail over the matter. "And I said, 'Bishop, don't take this personally: You need to go to jail.'"

The usual suspects pounced. "Virginia women deserve better than an Attorney General who wants employers in this commonwealth to 'go to jail' rather than comply with the law of the land," said Democratic Party chairwoman Charniele Herring. Cuccinelli is trying to "set reproductive rights back 50 years," said the campaign of Terry McAuliffe, Cuccinelli's likely opponent, which urged followers to sign a petition telling Cuccinelli to "stop attacking women's rights." "Politicians should not be involved in a woman's personal decisions about her birth control," said Planned Parenthood Virginia PAC.

You get the drift.

But these rejoinders raise a host of questions. For example: