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.)
Maybe instead of worrying about how Van Jones got fired, you could look into how he got hired.
And your wrong about the “asshole” comment being the nail in his coffin, as it clearly was his being outed as a 911-truther.
Sure, sure…move along, nothing to see here.
Just Michele Bachmann doing her job looking after the best interests of her constituents.
Bill Ayers, Jeremiah Wright, Roland Burris, Van Jones…what, or more properly stated, who will be providing the next Obama scandal?
Who is this Kevin Jennings we’re hearing of?
….”had some associations with groups that believe the Bush Administration may have been complicit in 9/11)….”
is far from “….a 911-truther.”
A lot of guilt by (past) association is involved.
Apparently the Obama administration is guilty of being too concerned with a person’s capability of doing the job they are hired to do, and too little about their past associations.
A political error, not a governmental one.
No one has criticized Jones’ job performance (although some on the right may question the job itself).
Yes Thomas, who is this Kevin Jennings? Care to spread more of the rumors and innuendo that are being generated by the right against him?? If you have FACTS you’d like to share, please do!
Patience, Matt. All in good time.
It’s only fair to let the public’s disgust with Jones cool a bit before subjecting them to the likes of Mr. Jennings et. al.
No need to wait, Mr. Swift. The smear campaign against Mr. Jennings began months ago.
(hint Matt: the man is gay. That’s it.)
You’re going to have to do better than that, David.
The next Obama scandal has nothing to do with what his Assistant Secretary does when he goes home.
It’s what the group he founded does and says when they think they are alone with kids that people are not going to like.
Massachusetts Commissioner of Education David P. Driscoll was forced to issue an apology to sweep up after Jennings’ crew conducted a “youth conference” for kids as young as 12 that all reasonable people will recognize as degenerate filth..
http://www.doe.mass.edu/news/news.asp?id=641
“Following is a statement issued today by Massachusetts Commissioner of Education David P. Driscoll on concerns raised about the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) [the group Jennings founded] annual conference held March 25 at Tufts University.”
“Today, two of the Department of Education senior staff members listened to excerpts of tape recordings from workshop sessions held at the GLSEN conference at Tufts in March, and they have briefed me on the contents of the recordings….”there is no question that the comments of the Department of Education staff and the other [GLSEN] consultant in those workshops go beyond the boundaries of what our staff should have done.”
“… I had no knowledge of what the conference workshops would entail.”
“The workshops were of prurient nature, and not educational, and what we heard suggests that the discussion contributed absolutely nothing to the students’ understanding of how to avoid AIDS and HIV.”
“Therefore, as a matter of policy, I have directed our staff not to have contact with students on issues of sexuality education. Our staff will confine their work to train and educate adults,”
Oh yeah, this one is going to hurt.
I’m not inclined to go into details here, but if you’re interested google “March 25 GLSEN” and you’ll find hundreds of links, audio recordings and articles that provide the whole story behind Kevin Jennings.
I must say I wasn’t surprised when Democrats jumped up to defend Communists and Communism, but I do wonder if there is a line beyond what even the left won’t cross; a point at which they say “enough”.
If there is, this has got to be it.
“Oh yeah, this one is going to hurt. ”
Ah, but who?
Mr. Swift is being coy about the FRC’s stagnant and–so far–failed campaign to smear Mr. Jennings as a raving homo atheist druggie. Tony Perkins is currently trying to rev up his more gullible followers now that school is in session:
http://www.frcblog.com/2009/09/back-to-school-with-president-obama/
Think Progress has a fine rundown on the extensive list of lies and distortions currently being test marketed regarding Mr. Jennings:
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/07/03/kevin-jennings/
John, if “thinkprogress” is the benchmark of the left’s propaganda strategy, Obama might as well resign right now.
They didn’t refute anything, but more telling, they didn’t even address the Massachusetts debacle.
Good luck with that!
Honestly, *is* there a line of decency the left won’t cross?
Some recent news gives this story more dimension. Rabbi Michael Lerner of Tikkun (which means healing or repair said he, too, signed the statement Jones did and says, “let me make clear that neither he nor I, who also signed the statement, signed something accusing Bush of being directly involved in 9/11.” The petition was to investigate 9/11 and how it came about–much like John Farmer, whose book “The Ground Truth,” on how 9/11 came about, was just published. He used recently declassified documents to uncover “new ground in his examination of how the government missed the warning signs of Sept. 11.” This was probably what both Lerner and Van Jones had in mind.
Lastly, Van Jones: Behind his “resignation” was a man named Phil Kerpen from “Americans for Prosperity.” These are big oil guys who are trying to stop any interference with the planet’s demise by global warming.
Check it out. These are facts.
Smears, innuendo and veiled references to a ten year old incident that was well covered at the time it occurred (apparently in an attempt to make it seem like it happened this year, and to make it seem as if Mr. Jennings was there) equals “Truth”.
Check.
Well-researched, documented fact-checking and direct interviews with people who have first-hand knowledge of the falsity of said smears and innuendo equals “Left Wing Propaganda”.
Check.
Human beings doing what they have always done, but now being honest about it equals “Depravity On A Scale Heretofore Unknown To Man”.
Check.
It looks like you have the whole right-wing package, Mr. Swift. Congratulations.
“I would not be surprised to learn that some branch of our government conspired either actively to promote or passively to allow the attack on 9/11,”
Rabbi Michael Lerner