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Tuesday, September 8, 2009
News Score for Beck: Van Jones is out
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Tue, Sep 8, 2009 at 2:58 PM
After all of the pushing Progressives have done to oust Glenn Beck from his throne room at Fox News, Beck succeeds in securing a resignation from one of his White House targets: Van Jones, Special Adviser for Green Jobs at the Council on Environmental Quality.
Van Jones had to resign. It became inevitable when Gibbs offered no support.Much of the blame for this incident lies squarely on the White House. The information used against Jones was freely available on the web. All it took was a search. I thought by hiring Jones they intended to take a chance on a real left progressive, but now it appears they were simply caught flat-footed. Either Valerie Jarrett—Jones’ champion in the upper echelons of the administration—didn’t know much about him or didn’t widely share what she knew. They certainly seemed disinclined to mount a vigorous defense with Glenn Beck gnoshing on his favorite new chew toy and the health care reform battle about to heat up again. No distractions.
For the record, Jones isn’t a truther. Five years ago, at the end of a busy paternity leave, he was asked to support the calls of 9/11 families for further investigation of the attacks (reflecting the concerns of millions of Americans). He agreed and his name ended up on a petition that contained language he didn’t support. Three others who signed the petition have also come forward to say they were deceived about its final contents. But the truth of it hardly matters at this point. Jones has always spoken freely, not in the clipped, narrow confines permitted of those who aspire to public office. He talks real talk, in colorful, provocative language. There’s plenty in his copious past writing and speaking that can be demagogued. This isn’t a civic discussion among people who care who Van Jones really is or what he really believes, after all. It’s a head hunt.
Read the rest of this article at Grist.org.
Jones at his pulpit:
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