Paranoid racists ascendent

Thoughts on Van Jones’ resignation 37

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.

On substantive grounds, the resignation is not that significant. Part of the absurdity of all this is that Jones was basically a low-level functionary. By yesterday the dimwit conservative hack Dick Morris had him “in charge of running the cap-and-trade legislation”—ignorant on too many levels to catalog—but I doubt if Jones has ever so much as been in a meeting with Obama. By all accounts he was frustrated by the difficulty of getting even the smallest things done from the bottom of a massive bureaucracy. Even if he’d had the hidden intentions Beck and his pant-wetting audience attribute to every black liberal, he couldn’t have done anything about it.

But policy, reality, that’s not what bottom-feeders like Beck care about.  The right governed the country for eight years and ran it into a ditch. Conservatives have no plausible health care solution, no climate solution. They have nothing to offer in response to the nation’s pressing problems. What they have is affect. They have the amygdala, the fight-or-flight reflex. They have deep threads of racism, fear, and resentment.

In other words, they don’t care what Van Jones does, they care what he is. Beck peddles a message that’s been around since America was born: They’re taking your country away. They—the non-white races, the immigrants, the urbanites, the communists, the elites—are stealing the country from nice, simple white Christians.  They’re taking what rightfully belongs to us, to Real Americans.

This basic, gut-level fear of loss, fear of tribal obsolescence and irrelevance, is all the 25%-and-shrinking right has left. It has been overwhelmed by its most paranoid, bigoted elements. Not activists, not online petitioners, but U.S. senators and Republican thought leaders say the president wasn’t born in the U.S.; that he wants to kill old people; that he is not fit to speak to school children. They are banging drums and chanting just outside the campfire circle of rational civic discourse. Their din makes it impossible to think, to plan, to govern. They can not lead, but in their twisted fear they can prevent the rest of us from going anywhere either.

Our civic immune system has grown weak. There are no filters, no longer shared standards of evidence, truth, or decency.  The poison courses unhindered through the body. Nothing, no matter how factually insane or morally repugnant, can be repelled.

Like I said, Beck’s more greasy huckster than true believer. He went after Jones to get revenge on Color of Change, a group Jones co-founded, for targeting his advertisers (which are dropping like flies). Rupert Murdoch will only put up with the stench as long as money’s coming in.

But make no mistake, it’s racial resentment that blew this story up. The worst outcome of all this is that it will validate Beck and his long history of paranoid conspiracy theories and repugnant allegations. It will be like chum in the water, almost as invigorating to the crazies as bagging Dan Rather. Much, much more ugliness will ensue, and it will become that much harder to focus on the multiple crises converging on the country.

The White House will find someone else to tend green job-training programs; Jones will go back to his much more effective role as an activist. He will do much good in the world in his life, far, far more than a pissant charlatan like Glenn Beck. But I’m not as sanguine about the direction the country is headed.

David Roberts is staff writer for Grist. You can follow his Twitter feed at twitter.com/drgrist.

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  1. randino Posted 4:11 am
    06 Sep 2009

    I hope that there are no more of us out there, who think that reason and Kumbaya will win out with the right.  At times like this I recall that scene in the Untouchables, where Malone tells Ness how to get Capone.  You wanna know how to get Capone? They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. *That's* the *Chicago* way! And that's how you get Capone. Now do you want to do that? Are you ready to do that? I'm offering you a deal. Do you want this deal?I am not suggesting that literally. But we need to understand who we are dealing with. They are not nice people, and we will have to be just as tough as Malone in dealing with them. Your day of misfortune is your day of liberation Van. Make them curse the day they got you fired.  And as far as Obama is concerned, well - as the Bible says, he has his reward. Randy Cunningham

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    1. m a bol Posted 6:48 am
      06 Sep 2009

      I CAN NOT BELIEVE THAT YOU THINK THE ADMINISTRATION HAS NO SPINE.  LOOKS LIKE THEY HAVE PLENTY.  APPOINTING A SELF AVOWED RADICAL COMMUNIST WITH NUMEROUS VIDEOS SHOWING HIM TO BE COMPLETLEY RADICAL . THIS MAN COULD NOT HAVE  BEEN CHECKED BEFORE APPOINTMENT OR AS VALERIE JARRETT SAID WAS HAND PICKED.  SOUNDS LIKE SOMEONE NEEDS TO BE CHECKING THESE CZARS.   DO YOUR HOMEWORK - WATCH THE VIDEOS.  QUIT WORRYING ABOUT REPUBLICAN OR DEMOCRAT. LET'S BE AMERICANS WATCHING OUT FOR OUR COUNTRY FIRST.

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      1. Richard Lombardo Posted 3:02 pm
        06 Sep 2009

        "QUIT WORRYING ABOUT REPUBLICAN OR DEMOCRAT. LET'S BE AMERICANS WATCHING OUT FOR OUR COUNTRY FIRST." You might want send that sentiment to every member of the GOP, their radio and television commentators and their very own Network....Fox News.

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  2. Anon92107 Posted 4:44 am
    06 Sep 2009

    This column is just more proof that the Democratic Party is the most self-destructive bunch of fools in America, they allow the Republican Hatemongers to crap all over them 24/7/365.Pogo had to be thinking about Democrats when he said: "We have met the enemy and he is us" (Earth Day 1970)David Roberts comments prove the new saying:"With friends like Democrats, who needs Republican Hatemongers to destroy Humanity.So Democrats just keep looking the other way while the Keeling Curve gets further out of control.And the Obama era crashes and burns because the Republicans use Lies of Mass Destruction while Democrats and Independents fail to care enough to Fight Back For Humanity.   

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  3. bravedeer Posted 5:35 am
    06 Sep 2009

    I (thankfully) no longer follow cable news chatter. What I do know is this, the Obama administration needs a spine. If this is the way it's going to be for four years not much will get done. Shame on Grist for giving Glen Beck this much coverage. 

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  4. m a bol Posted 6:37 am
    06 Sep 2009

    first of all I don't know what kind of site I happened on but just had to speak up.  i can not believe that anyone can think that van jones could be anything but let go.  my question is how could anyone support someone by his own admissions on video that he is a radical communist. he has stated on video that he wants redistribution of all wealth,reparations for slavery,conspiracy on 911. it goes on and on.  this is not a democrat or republican situation.  we should all be horrified that someone with this admitted(on numerous video) history could be appointed and hand selected as stated by the president's personal advisor Valerrie Jarrett.again on video.how can you blame glen beck or anyone else for reporting the truth.  do your homework and find out the truth for yourself.  all you have to do is watch the man speak for himself.  there is even more distrubing video out there.  Just look and quit worrying about political parties.PEOPLE HAD BETTER START PAYING ATTENTION.- DOING THEIR HOMEWORK AND STOP FIGHTING EACH OTHER BEFORE WE LOSE OUR COUNTRY.  IT CAN HAPPENED.  I PRAY NOT...

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    1. randino Posted 7:03 am
      06 Sep 2009

      Another Troll heard from.Randy Cunningham

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    2. veritone Posted 7:46 am
      06 Sep 2009

      Do you run knitting needles through your ears every morning or when was it you first wondered that your brain went missing? You repeat nonsense you hear from Glenn Beck and his ilk without doing any fact checking whatsoever. Van Jones is not nor has ever admitted to being a radical communist as near as I can tell. Of course people like you are convinced that Obama is a socialist and a fascist (those are on opposite sides of the poilitical spectrum, by the way). Can you actually define socialism in perhaps one sentence?By the way, we know you're shouting, your type always tries to make a point by raising the decibel levels, so capitalizing your remarks isn't necessary. My favorite remark you made, reminiscent of George W. Bush is "IT CAN HAPPENED." You don't say? No surprise that your command of English is on par with your command of the facts or proximity to reality.Randino is right, you are just another troll. Go find a bridge to hide under.  

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      1. m a bol Posted 9:52 am
        06 Sep 2009

        what does george bush have to do with my statement.  i was simply involved with what i was saying and didn't know it was an english class. Van jones has admitted to being a communist. 
        Watch his videos.  I'm not the one hiding under a bridge.  you need to face some facts and quit calling every one brainless who disagrees with you.   hope i did'nt make any typing errors for you to criticize instead of facts.   how can you not admit what all the videos show

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  5. scrapster Posted 7:29 am
    06 Sep 2009

    Nicely written piece. While I'm sure that race helped stoke the fire, I can't help but think that this was more about taking an early potshot at the image of Obama's energy policies while he's mired in the health insurance reform debate. As you said, Van may have had nothing of substance to do with those policies, but he could easily be made a figurehead for them.
    All in all, letting Van go was a very short-sighted move by Obama. Van seems like an impressive guy, and there is nothing wrong with his background that I can see (and certainly nothing more radical than the views espoused by the current core of the republican party.) Accepting his resignation just lends credence to the angry, right wind hordes.

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    1. m a bol Posted 10:07 am
      06 Sep 2009

      Race has nothing to do with my opinion.  You don't know my race-afraid to say-do i type in a certain way for a certain race>>> by the way it's nice to have that to fall back on,if it were true[  I also seem to remember that the president is half white and half black.  Am i wrong'''  i still believe being a communist whatever your party is wrong/democrat or republican.  Everyone that has been wrong in government does not mean we should continue in this path. I have never been to a town meeting so could not have hollered. 

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      1. BHGINFL Posted 10:41 am
        08 Sep 2009

        TO M A BOL,Lose our Country?  Wake up.  America was founded on the"melting pot" concept.  Your racist views seep into your answer.  America does not belong to the whites.  It belongs to all of us and that is what makes the United States of America GREAT! 

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  6. jenniferlayne Posted 7:36 am
    06 Sep 2009

    Van Jones is a good guy and we have lost a very useful voice in DC.  Van will continue to do good work,  but it is really a shame that Glenn Beck will take credit for this....nasty little pieces like Beck should not be rewarded.    I have no problem with anything that I have heard Van say, over the past few years that I've been  aware of him.  I think white folk should sort of grow up and not be so freaked by a strong personality like Van Jones.   I don't really know whether Van is a communist or not  - but I do think that in today's more progressive world - what difference does it make?  I think our government should be made up of people from all walks of life -- there should be more different backgrounds than there are now. The important thing is to have people who are knowledgeable and creative and hard workers; people who will get something done, and a strong personality ususally does.   Its a loss - and probably due to the White House's battle for Healthcare - because everyone should have ignored all that 'right' blather and just got on wiith the business of solving these problems.   It is a real shame, he was a very good choice for that position.

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  7. davidbro Posted 8:50 am
    06 Sep 2009

    Worse yet, critics of the green economy will likely seize upon Jones' resignation as a referendum on the ideas and initiatives he was chosen to help lead. Clearly, green jobs = communism. Right? Their personal attacks will now gain broader traction, as this adds fuel to Beck's fire of hate and ignorance. Sad for Van. Sad for all of us.

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  8. scrapster Posted 10:34 am
    06 Sep 2009

    MA BOL
    You'll have to excuse me if I don't trust your sources (which you repeatedly reference but don't cite), or your hyperbolic analysis. Your 1950's era, McCarthy-esque ranting also won't elicit much more than a collective yawn here. We've moved on to more pressing, contemporary issues. Feel free to go duck and cover with the Limbaugh crowd if you'd like though. And watch out for those Commies.  They'll getcha!!! :)

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  9. amazingdrx Posted 10:47 am
    06 Sep 2009

    Did Van jones take his supporters' (my) advice in resigning, or was this a forced "resignation"?  How would he have gotten anything progressive through this administration?  Not gonna happen.  It is like me trying to activate the local party here, run as it is by former reagan 'pubs.Anyway, it is the right decision.  Good for you, now you can get back in the fight.Now the question is this.  Should a campaign to get a total advertiser boycott of the steaming pile of beckscrement continue?  Or is it better for progressive reform to have as many idiots like beck, palin, "joe the plumber", drug limboob, o'really(?)...  and so forth in prominent media roles as possible?Have they effectively extended thier own wing nut status into ABC news now that Jake Tapper and others decided to give the truther BS credibility?  I think so.  The further the wing nut rant enters the so-called main stream media, the more people will realize how polluted that "stream" is with wing nut contamination.  Do most MSM producers still have Drudge up on their computer screens 24/7?  Most likely, but now add worldnutdaily to those screens too.  What's next Jake?  Birthers on the weekend talking head shows?Will only 5, 6, 7...dollar gas, millions more family medical emergency bancruptcies/foreclosures, and expanding the oil wars get reform back on the public agenda?  It looks like it.  Let the beckscrement flow while rome burns, maybe enough of US will get sick enough of it to demand reform?  Otherwise we the people are set to enter sleep mode again.(Hehey, very funny.  The local control freak reaganites here use ALL CAPS too.  They even talk in ALL CAPS)

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  10. amazingdrx Posted 10:50 am
    06 Sep 2009

    Did Van jones take his supporters' (my) advice in resigning, or was this a forced "resignation"?  How would he have gotten anything progressive through this administration?  Not gonna happen.  It is like me trying to activate the local party here, run as it is by former reagan 'pubs.Anyway, it is the right decision.  Good for you, now you can get back in the fight.Now the question is this.  Should a campaign to get a total advertiser boycott of the steaming pile of beckscrement continue?  Or is it better for progressive reform to have as many idiots like beck, palin, "joe the plumber", drug limboob, o'really(?)...  and so forth in prominent media roles as possible?Have they effectively extended thier own wing nut status into ABC news now that Jake Tapper and others decided to give the truther BS credibility?  I think so.  The further the wing nut rant enters the so-called main stream media, the more people will realize how polluted that "stream" is with wing nut contamination.  Do most MSM producers still have Drudge up on their computer screens 24/7?  Most likely, but now add worldnutdaily to those screens too.  What's next Jake?  Birthers on the weekend talking head shows?Will only 5, 6, 7...dollar gas, millions more family medical emergency bancruptcies/foreclosures, and expanding the oil wars get reform back on the public agenda?  It looks like it.  Let the beckscrement flow while rome burns, maybe enough of US will get sick enough of it to demand reform?  Otherwise we the people are set to enter sleep mode again.(Hehey, very funny.  The local control freak reaganites here use ALL CAPS too.  They even talk in ALL CAPS)

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    1. veritone Posted 11:43 am
      06 Sep 2009

      "beckscrement," what a lovely and apt formulation. I'm going to borrow that with honor and use it widely. Thanks!

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      1. amazingdrx Posted 9:46 am
        07 Sep 2009

        Thanks, it was invented a couple years ago by someone else.  It will take more beckscrement to get any kind of backlash.This is what we are going to get. No healthcare reform, no ban on pre-existing condition exclusion,  no cost control, no law against insurance companies dropping anyone's coverage at will when that person gets sick or is injured, no regulation whatsoever.  Just as has happened with financial markets, banks, and credit card companies.  No real climate legislation or green jobs and manufacturing.  Expanding war in afghanistan, spilling over into pakistan.Will that wake people up?  Doubtful.  We won the election, but lost the battle for change.  Propaganda won again.  Face facts, only 10% of the population is interested enough in politics to support reform.  Of any kind.  this has always been the case.  Ocasionaly an accident happens and some fake reform is instituted.This doesn't even look like a fake.  Just a plain sellout.  Why would Van Jones want to be part of that?On top of that, a gubenatorial candidate in idaho threatened (joked about?!)  assasination of the prez in public and got away with it.  Along with all the other public threats that have been ignored like cadres of militia  gunmen outside Obama events, it is pretty clear that the presidency has become a mainly ceremonial position.The powerful radio talker/fauxnews propaganda machine has encouraged the assasination of abortion doctors.  With complete impunity.  So now they slyly encourage ( gunmen outside rallys with "the tree of liberty..blood.." quote, featured as heroes) the assasination of this president with impunity?  Yep. Fear of assasination and it's inevitable aftermath, open fighting in the streets.  With all the guns out there, it won't just be like the rodney King riots.  it will be opposing racial gangs well armed.  With the police unable to stop it.  This is what the administration fears even more than for the safety of the president and his family.  Complete chaos, with winger militia and street gangs fighting it out in the open.Maybe Obama will invade iran to take the heat off?  I wouldn't be surprised at this point.  He could just hire halliburton to do it.  Hehehey.

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  11. SteveH Posted 10:59 am
    06 Sep 2009

    I nearly vomited last week when I happended upon Hannitty calling Jones a communist and a felon.  There must be a concerted, multi-pronged effort to disrupt the ability of Fox News to continue to spout outright lies.  As consumers, http://www.foxnewsboycott.com must become our homepages.  Locally, those of us prone to protesting need to target physical locations of these advertisers.  We need to make it a hassle to advertise on this network.  We need other groups to do as Media Matters does to document the atrocities of Fox News.  And we need to use the common meme that Fox News, at the behest of its foreign benefactors, is trying to weaken the government of the United States of America.  Lying about a high level staffer with the express purpose of disrupting this individuals ability to perform their job could easily be considered a crime.  At the least, Mr. Jones has a very good case for libel against Mr. Murdoch's organization.  Enterprising lawyers ought to be filing cease-and-desist orders with every lie; with a lawsuit to follow.  The bottom line is that in order to acheive our goals of a sustainable nation, we must concentrate our efforts on removing the ability of Mr. Murdoch's criminal, perhaps, enterprise from illegally influencing OUR government!

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    1. veritone Posted 11:41 am
      06 Sep 2009

      I challenge Fuax News wherever I find it. In public places, like airport bars and the like, if it is on I always insist that it be changed making it very clear how offensive I find it. So far I'm batting 1000. I've always gotten it changed and no one has ever risen to its defense. Obviously this kind of action by itself won't silence Murdoch, but if lots of folks did it, it would surely help. Remember that old saying, "All it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to say nothing." Silence now is inexcusable.

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  12. cskinner72 Posted 1:20 pm
    06 Sep 2009

    This cracks me up...there is video of Van admitting that he is a communist. He blames everything wrong with the country on white people...(racist?...i think yes). A video of him calling republicans assholes...(is he entitled to his opinion???...yes....but not as a government official). He is a typical gangsta thug and deserves no position in government. The fact that you idiots defend him shows that you have no interest what so ever in our country getting any better....you are just stuck on your radical ideas and want America to become some other country. If you think America is so bad then go live somewhere instead of trying to change it. Most of us like living in a Republic where we have a right to choose most things for ourselves.

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    1. randino Posted 5:21 pm
      06 Sep 2009

      Gee, I thought "Love it or Leave it" was just a fading nightmare of my youth.  As far as socialist, communist whatever, I have to take a little more affirmative defense.  Socialists were among the first people to demand that workers have rights, in an era where the Robber Barons said "jump" and the whole country jumped. They were at the vanguard of fighting Jim Crow and segregation at a time when most White Americans thought those things were just fine and proper.  They were in the forefront of the movement to end the war in Vietnam.  They have screwed up royally at times in this country, and great crimes were committed in the name of socialism or communism.  But, within the history of this country, they have been more often right, than wrong.  Something that cannot be claimed by the reactionaries who now call themselves conservatives. Now, let us get down to the environmental movement.  One of my heroes, and perhaps he was a Van Jones of his day, was Bob Marshall.  He was a journalist, forester, legendary hiker and outdoorsman, and a socialist.  He had a modest job in FDR's administration.  This did not prevent him from taking part in unemployed marches in the nation's capitol.  He was a champion of civil rights in the right of African Americans to enjoy the national forests for recreation.  He was also a person of interest to the FBI - our own political police force.  His brother was red baited out of the leadership of the Wilderness Society during the McCarthy Era.  The fact is that his bosses in the Roosevelt administration knew everthing there was to know about Marshall.  They did not force him out.  A lot of people have compared Obama with FDR.  This is another example of where Obama may be many things - but he sure as hell is not FDR. Finally, I get the definite impression that the trolls that have come to reside on Grist like ticks on a dog, would really like to enact an ideological loyalty oath, where anyone who works for the government has to swear that they love capitalism, and that Adam Smith is second only to Jesus Christ.  Another nightmare from my youth.Randy Cunningham 

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      1. veritone Posted 6:59 pm
        06 Sep 2009

        First rate response, Randino! We are closer to fascism emerging in this country than we've ever been and it will take the kind of guts you display if we are going to put a stopper in that nasty bottle. Like you, I think we should call out these right-wing trolls loudly and proudly when they try and revive Joe McCarthy or take their marching orders from Glen Beckscrement. Well done, Randy!

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  13. Christopher S. Johnson's avatar

    Christopher S. Johnson Posted 7:32 pm
    06 Sep 2009

    The big picture here is that this wasn't even about Jones. It was about his idea. His idea that one CAN make the transition away from fossil fuels without killing the economy. That one CAN lift poor minorities up into the middle class and stop pollution at the same time. That makes him dangerous, because it undercuts the argument against greenhouse gas regulation and it brings a new segment of our society on board to environmental awareness.
    --
    And 'dangerous' people get offed, dig?
    This is only the beggining.

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  14. Christopher S. Johnson's avatar

    Christopher S. Johnson Posted 7:34 pm
    06 Sep 2009

    The big picture here is that this wasn't even about Jones. It was about his idea. His idea that one CAN make the transition away from fossil fuels without killing the economy. That one CAN lift poor minorities up into the middle class and stop pollution at the same time. That makes him dangerous, because it undercuts the argument against greenhouse gas regulation and it brings a new segment of our society on board to environmental awareness. 

    And 'dangerous' people get offed, dig?
    This is only the beggining.

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    07 Sep 2009

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  17. Chris Pratt Posted 8:26 am
    07 Sep 2009

    I thought we lived in a free country and there is no law against being a communist. American is built on the freedom to say and do what you think as long as it doesn't hurt other people or break any laws. Not everyone believes that you have to be a capitalist pig to be an american.

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  18. Tyler Durden Posted 10:53 am
    07 Sep 2009

    Van Jones's policies are light years better than Obama's, and I'd much rather that he was president instead.  But unfortunately, as I've said ad nauseam here and elsewhere, mainstream Democrats are right wing too, they're just not as far right as the Republicans, who are full on fascists.  That's the problem here and is why Van Jones got no support from the administration.  Instead we get crap like Obama saying that he doesn't support Van Jones's views, which makes me glad I resisted the urge to vote for Obama just 'cause he's black.Until and unless Americans evolve into mature, thinking adults, saying what you really think will remain a problem for politicians, which it should not be.  This really has to be a country of uptight jerks for a campaign like the one against Van Jones to work, which tells you a lot about this country.

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  19. randino Posted 3:11 am
    08 Sep 2009

    Now that I have had a long weekend to both hit the ceiling and cool down, I have come to the conclusion that it will end up being good for Van, good for Beck, and absolutely horrible for Obama, who is now marked as a kid who won't fight back when you steal his lunch money.  That is fatal for a politician.We should remember a few things about the world we live in.1) Trying to turn an activist into a bureaucrat is like trying to turn a wild animal into a pet. You end up with a lousy wild animal and a lousy pet.

    (2) Appointees to positions in government, are like young women who wish to marry an heir to the throne. They should have a history but no past.

    (3) This world is run by successful non-entities. Sleek and fat (to use Shakespear's term), colorless, bland, not too stupid and not too intelligent, people who you forget five minutes after meeting them. In short, domesticated animals - like cows.Anyone who does not conform to standarsd of blandness, is in trouble.  You become the issue.  There is a reason that most politicians are forgotten six months after they leave office.  It is because they are forgettable.  Like cows.Randy Cunningham 

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  20. KenGreen's avatar

    KenGreen Posted 11:44 am
    08 Sep 2009

    Dave - I have to say, I think you're losing your perspective on the Van Jones issue, and perhaps on the entire climate policy debate. You've let yourself become a sort of anti-Beck, launching tirades that are just as distortionary as his, only in the opposite direction. I don't watch Beck (Or other Fox shows), nor do I listen to Rush, but I think that the crude way you characterize the people who DO listen to them reveals a profound elitism and arrogance that I think is shredding your credibility. Is it REALLY inconceivable to you that people might object to the proliferation of czars through the political system out of reasonable concerns for our government's system of checks and balances? Do you really think that if a conservative "czar" had done the kind of things that Van Jones did, he/she'd be allowed to remain in the administration? Have you completely lost the ability to show any intellectual respect for those who disagree with you on either the interpretation of climate data and studies, much less public policy and the economic consequences of those policies? If you have reached this level of cynicism, Dave, then you need to take some time off and meditate on the value, and virtues of civil discourse, and giving your opponents the benefit of the doubt regarding their sincerity. The Democrat response to the rising tide against the Obama administrations "big government everywhere!" approach has been equally elitist, arrogant, and condescending. They're simply not capable of acknowledging that anyone could ever have legitimate reasons to disagree with them on anything, and the way they (and you) characterize these people (teabaggers, mobs, rabble, etc.) is absolutely shameful. Ultimately, that attitude will lose them the support of the many independents and moderates who did NOT vote for a hard-left government, but who voted for "anything other than Bush."Read your recent posts, and ask yourself this question: compared to your reporting of a year ago, aren't you sounding more and more like Joe Romm (and like the right-wing people you characterize as unhinged), than you are like a serious reporter? Time to step back, take a deep breath, and try to regain a sense of perspective. 

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    1. mayo615 Posted 12:17 pm
      08 Sep 2009

      Grist folks,How shameful it is that the former Vice President can be recorded using the same "allegedly" obscene word commenting on a Liberal Senator without any serious repercussions.Regrettably, this nation is demonstrating its descent into facism: Glen Beck in general and the rest of the right wing shock jocks, the health care mistruths and staged disruptions, the objection to Obama speaking to school children, but no objection to Reagan or Bush 42 doing the same...This nation will get exactly what it deserves.

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  21. birdboy2 Posted 2:27 pm
    08 Sep 2009

    Communists!
    Socialists!
    Racists too!
    If I say it real loud, then it must be true!

    How can he dare to appoint such a man?
    To destroy our free market must be the plan!
    Look at his color- he's obviously red!
    What more than that needs to be said?

    How dare he speak to our children in school-
    he's trying to make them a communist tool!
    He'll poison their minds with equality and learning,
    and soil their hearts with homosexual yearning!

    He'll cripple the markets with government regulation-
    there'll be a tax on your breath, and a curse on our nation!
    I see your grandparent's death, and a ban on religion,
    We'll be forced to eat dirt while we wait in a bus station.

    How can you sit there and take this from 'That One'?
    It's time to rise up and bring your weapon!
    Defend our beloved corporate masters!
    Stand up for your right to be ignorant bastards!

    Permalink

  22. birdboy2 Posted 2:33 pm
    08 Sep 2009

    Communists!
    Socialists!
    Racists too!
    If I say it real loud, then it must be true!

    How can he dare to appoint such a man?
    To destroy our free market must be the plan!
    Look at his color- he's obviously red!
    What more than that needs to be said?

    How dare he speak to our children in school-
    he's trying to make them a communist tool!
    He'll poison their minds with equality and learning,
    and soil their hearts with homosexual yearning!

    He'll cripple the markets with government regulation
    there'll be a tax on your breath, and a curse on our nation!
    I see your grandparent's death, and a ban on religion,
    We'll be forced to eat dirt, while we wait in a bus station.

    How can you sit there and take this from 'That One'?
    It's time to rise up and bring your weapon!
    Defend our beloved corporate masters
    Stand up for your right to be ignorant b@st@rds!

    Permalink

  23. greenferret Posted 7:00 pm
    08 Sep 2009

    Join the movement to draft Van Jones for governor of California!

    Permalink

  24. BT Posted 12:47 pm
    09 Sep 2009

    Conservatives have no plausible health care solution, no climate solution.  This is what you have said.   WHat a joke.  Did Bush sign up to take 800,000 barrels of oil a day from the tar pits in Canada. No he did not.  This is a disgusting and embarrassing decision that Obama has made for our country. Instead of cutting down on the mess  in the environment he has now decided that it is OK to make a mess in another country and then pretend that we are not adding to the pollution of the Canadian wilderness and hte world. The Chinese have also bought up oil from the tar pits.  Canada and the US should be ashamed of allowing this to happen.   Where were you all in this hideous decision?   Nowhere I guess-  you did report on ti briefly but not with any shame.   Have you no shame??????BT

    Permalink

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