I woke this morning to news that Van Jones, President Obama’s ‘Green Jobs Czar’, has stepped down.
I honestly didn’t see that coming, even though he was fast becoming the center of attention in all but the most liberal of news outlets.
Discovered by bloggers, fanned by Matt Drudge, amplified by Fox News and pinpointed by a few specific members of congress, Van Jone’s past has finally caught up with him. Brought into the White House as a ‘Green Jobs Czar’, Jones was able to sidestep the normal vetting process, leaving him as an open target when items started bubbling to the surface. The White House seemed to distance themselves from him almost immediately as he spent the last week apologizing for such public discrepancies as calling Republicans at-large “assholes” and supporting (with his signature) the ‘9/11 Truthers’, who believe that the Bush administration were responsible for the terror attacks.
While it is not illegal to say or believe in such incendiary notions, it is a bit of a flag-raiser for a holder of public office. Certainly an ‘item of concern’ about someone who has the ear of The President, but who is not held to any accountability as are regular holders of office (a ‘Czar’ is a pseudo-cabinet position created by the president, and not accounted for in The Constitution).
Anyway; Jones acknowledged the truth of said distractions in two apologies before pulling the ripcord, and for this reason I have to question a particularly biting line in his resignation. In his resignation he says his detractors are “using lies and distortions to distract and divide”.
Hmmm; lies and distortions? Why then apologize? It’s awful hard to call someone a liar after you have apologized for the actions you are defending. Not only that, but I did not hear one accusation of Jones that was not backed up with full video support or written documentation. The offending accusations line up like this:
- He was a self proclaimed Communist
- He did work for an organization that explicitly promoted Communist and Socialist agendas
- He did call Republicans “assholes”
- He did claim that “white polluters are directing poisons to minorities“
- He did sign a petition supporting the 9/11 Truthers
Hardly lies and distortions. Illegal? No. Racist and bigoted? Perhaps. Unbecoming of a bi-partisan politician who has the ear of The President? Certainly.
And because all of this fully documented in employment records, videos posted to YouTube and in documents published by 9/11 Truthers, I think it is particularly revealing that he would bite back with the whole ‘lies and distortions’ angle when it is more than clear that the truth has set him free. It is his own worst self-mockery. He is literally rubbing his own salt into his own wounds in a most Arrogant way.
It is best that he step down and avoid directing this particular poison toward The President, who is already running an uphill battle on almost every front.
Even the LA Times is in on this one. Now.
Tags: Van Jones