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ERIC BLACK INK

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    Former communist Van Jones, Obama's green jobs advisor, resigns

    By Eric Black | Published Tue, Sep 8 2009 11:07 am

    This actually happened, fairly quietly, over the weekend (fairly quietly means you can find a gazillion references to it on the web, but it wasn't featured much by the mainstream media). I reference it mostly because I wrote about it twice before (because Rep. Bachmann talked about it on the radio and then because the White House gave me a non-response response) and because this apparently ends the tale.

    Van Jones, sometimes referred to as Obama's "Green Jobs Czar," although his title was nothing of the sort, resigned Sunday, presumably because his past statements and associations were becoming a distraction. Jones, a distinguished environmentalist, author and civil rights lawyer, had a least said at one point that he considered himself a communist, had some associations with groups that believe the Bush Administration may have been complicit in 9/11) and subsequently said (after he was in the administraiton, on video, that Republicans are "assholes" -- although, to be fair, he used the same word to describe himself).

    I find it somewhat interesting that of the three, the remark about Republicans seems to be the one that finished him. It wasn't that long ago that any whiff of communist association would have finished anyone in any administration.

    Other than that, this tempest is possibly more noteworthy as a chapter in the wild swings of Fox News provocateur Glenn Beck. If you care, this link will get you started on the possibility that Beck went after Jones because a Jones-linked group was organizing an advertising boycott of the Beck program (or perhaps it was the other way around, says this one.)

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    Eric Black

    Eric Black Ink

    minnpost.com/ericblack


    Eric Black is a former reporter for the Star Tribune and Twin Cities blogger. He writes about politics and government of Minnesota and the United States, the historical background of topics and other issues. Click here to view Eric's previous postings at former blog, Eric Black Ink. He can be reached at eblack [at] minnpost [dot] com.

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