Glenn Beck Gets a Scalp
| Sat Sep. 5, 2009 9:58 PM PDT
A few days ago, after a month of low-level sniping, Glenn Beck declared full-on war against Van Jones, an environmental activist who had been appointed an advisor on green jobs to the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Why? 
Well, Jones had been fairly radical in the early 90s, which was probably enough, but it's more likely that the real reason had to do with a recent boycott of Beck's show spearheaded by ColorOfChange.com, a group that Jones co-founded in 2005. Jones left the group a couple of years ago, but no matter: Beck wanted revenge and Jones was an easy target.
I don't have the stomach to repeat all the smears that have been leveled at Jones, so you'll have to google it if you haven't been keeping up with this. And none of it would have mattered much if (a) a YouTube of Jones calling Republicans "assholes" hadn't gone viral and (b) he hadn't signed a petition in 2004 from 911Truth.org asking for an investigation into charges that the "current administration may indeed have deliberately allowed 9/11 to happen."
But it did, and he did, and tonight Jones resigned. "I cannot in good conscience ask my colleagues to expend precious time and energy defending or explaining my past," he said. "We need all hands on deck, fighting for the future."
So now Beck has his scalp and our effort to generate green jobs during a recession will be just a little less effective. Lovely.
UPDATE: More here from Gawker ("The story of how the President's Special Advisor for Green Jobs became the biggest, scariest villain of the right wing (this week, anyway) is also the story of how the right wing information delivery process works now") and David Roberts ("For the record, Jones isn’t a truther"). The wingers, of course, are ecstatic over all this.
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Comments
The guy's a revolutionary
Submitted by Anonymous12 (not verified) on Sat Sep. 5, 2009 10:20 PM PDT.
The guy's a revolutionary communist for heck's sake. If he falls within the standard for a senior position in the administration then there is no standard at all.
Speaking of assholes
Submitted by karog on Sun Sep. 6, 2009 6:13 AM PDT.
"There's Adam Clymer -- major league a**hole -- from the New York Times," Bush said.
"Yeah, big time," returned Cheney.
And yet they did not resign. Much to the world's horror.
Yea but Clymer was not a
Submitted by God bless America (not verified) on Tue Sep. 15, 2009 7:24 AM PDT.
Yea but Clymer was not a communist. Bent on the dowmfall and socialization of America
a superior's administration of an authoritarian standard
Submitted by tpx on Mon Sep. 7, 2009 10:03 AM PDT.
Anonomous12 is a reactionary brown shirt for Christ's sake. He falls to an all fours position for his superior's administration of an authoritarian standard.
Courage of your convictions
Submitted by jonguu (not verified) on Sat Sep. 12, 2009 9:59 AM PDT.
Signing your comment as anonymous reveals the courage of your convictions. Courage? You have none! You are a craven coward; and a politically ignorant one at that. Convictions? If you have any they are most likely on a police blotter! When these labels you use were taught in school, you obviously had nothing to say or were absent. So until you have something meaningful to add to a discussion, other than a display of your ignorance, shut up!
Well since we are so
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue Sep. 15, 2009 9:20 PM PDT.
Well since we are so excepting why not get the liked of David Duke as Education secretary cabinet position. And darn We will never have any energy efficient products never-ever withe Van Jones gone. I need to close this now, my whale oil lamp needs re-fueling
Oops I meant to write
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed Sep. 16, 2009 5:11 AM PDT.
Oops I meant to write *Accepting* see what happens when your trying to write with low light.
Anon 2 is apparently a Joe
Submitted by Rich in NJ (not verified) on Sat Sep. 5, 2009 11:08 PM PDT.
Anon 2 is apparently a Joe McCarthyite, sort of like his hero, Glen Beck.
That said, signing that petition should have been a red flag in the betting process, and a per se disqualification for a job in the Administration. It was readily foreseeable that it would be discovered and that a resignation would follow.
Edit: Anonymous12.
Submitted by Rich in NJ (not verified) on Sat Sep. 5, 2009 11:09 PM PDT.
Edit: Anonymous12.
Yup judging people by labels
Submitted by Troy (not verified) on Sun Sep. 6, 2009 12:05 AM PDT.
Yup judging people by labels and not their work is pretty deep there, anonymous12.
While I in no way believe the previous admin intentionally allowed the attacks on the WTC, it wouldn't surprise me to learn that they did allow the hijackings themselves, since up to then hijackings were always dramas, good for ratings, but lacked the body count of 9/11.
Kevin, You make it sound as
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun Sep. 6, 2009 12:12 AM PDT.
Kevin,
You make it sound as if he's been hounded out. The fact is that he signed a truther petition and that should be an automatic disqualifier for anyone at his level.
Well
Submitted by MobiusKlein (not verified) on Sun Sep. 6, 2009 12:32 AM PDT.
outing CIA agents should also be an automatic disqualifier too. Didn't see Mr Rove scooting out.
Dismissing a briefing stating "Bin Laden determined to attack US" by telling the guy he's covered his ass, he can go - that should have been an automatic disqualifier too.
It all comes back to IOKIYAR
This had nothing to do with incompetence or corruption
Submitted by myiq2xu (not verified) on Sun Sep. 6, 2009 1:12 AM PDT.
None of the cr*p thrown at Jones was relevant to his qualifications or job performance.
What. It had nothing to do
Submitted by God Bless America (not verified) on Tue Sep. 15, 2009 7:39 AM PDT.
What. It had nothing to do with his job? I guess having a communist and top advisor to the president is ok? Wait this president can be defined by his associates, willian ayers also perhaps. Well let's get pedophiles in day care.
What happened to Congress and checks & balances?
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun Sep. 6, 2009 2:24 AM PDT.
Obama appoints these folks like Jones to an office without the approval of Congress. He (Obama) thinks he is the sovereign ruler of the land. He knows Mr Jones would have never made it though Congressional interrogation that was designed to be checks and balances for our government so he appoints him and others as czars. Besides, this whole "green" propaganda is nothing more than the government's new excuse and crisis for emploring its need to take over and move us to communism or marxism.
Sad commment, but unsurprising thee days
Submitted by Sam Gamgee (not verified) on Sun Sep. 6, 2009 7:08 AM PDT.
Where were you when Bush Jr. appointed posts that did require congressional approval, but waited until they were in recess to bypass the approval. Your my-side-can-do-wrong attitude is the first step away from American ideals toward the dictators you profess to loathe.
Could you please make up your mind!
Submitted by MarkH on Sun Sep. 6, 2009 5:00 PM PDT.
C'mon now, I'm hearing that Obama is a Socialist, Marxist, now Communist and then that he's just like Bush. I'm having a hard time trying to decide whether to support him or revile him. Could you please make up your minds what you fear he's doing and show some evidence.
Obama should have refused to
Submitted by Napoleon (not verified) on Sun Sep. 6, 2009 2:27 AM PDT.
Obama should have refused to take the resignation/withdrawl, but then again that is something a leader with balls would do, and that simply is not Obama.
Where was the NYT's?
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun Sep. 6, 2009 2:47 AM PDT.
Since the paper of record failed to print a single word of this controversy-their usual bias through omission- and WAPO and the rest of the MSM gang were late to the party I am thankful that FOX exposed this crud. Regardless of which side of the political argument you come down on we still need an independent press.
When the MSM ignores an issue like this then the internet takes over and that's when things get really ugly with lies and misinformation. Jones would have been better served if the NYT's had done an upfront feature on him sorting out the facts. Instead they tried to protect Obama by not reporting the story and of course most of the lap dog media followed suit.
Even though I think Beck is an unsavory fellow and what he does borderlines on McCarthyism, I'm glad he pulled the curtain off of Jones. If Beck has to do the NYT's job, so be it.
The NYTimes was exactly
Submitted by cmac (not verified) on Sun Sep. 6, 2009 8:09 AM PDT.
The NYTimes was exactly where it was supposed to be - reporting news, and not ugly racist smears from a bat-shit crazy loon on the right.
Ya, I guess they only do
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun Sep. 6, 2009 9:45 AM PDT.
Ya, I guess they only do that rumor and innuendo stuff when Republican's are the focus. They are experts at that.
Right
Submitted by Douglas McClean (not verified) on Tue Sep. 8, 2009 12:14 AM PDT.
Keep telling yourself that. Maybe confirmation bias will really kick in and you'll start actually believing it.
Lying for a living
Submitted by Mike Burns on Sun Sep. 6, 2009 10:45 PM PDT.
If all of the Media including the New York Times were actually doing their job then they would begin every story with "Michael Steel lied today" or "Sarah Palin lied today" or "Newt Gingrich lied today" and so on and so on. Force the conservatives to actually be held accountable for their dishonesty. The truth is that Glenn Beck Says 100 lies for every actual fact yet there is no real consequences for his actions. He gets to say and do whatever he likes and hurt as many people as he wants. The New York Times should be doing front page stories about him, not Van Jones or any of his other targets.
Mike Burns
http://www.disorderlyreport.com/
"Somebody is angry therefore
Submitted by bjk (not verified) on Sun Sep. 6, 2009 3:33 AM PDT.
"Somebody is angry therefore they must be wrong" - no sometimes the angry people are right and the scapegoats really did deserve it.
What kind of idiots are they
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun Sep. 6, 2009 4:50 AM PDT.
What kind of idiots are they employing to do the vetting? He should never have been hired.
someone intelligent with an eye for bringing our most innovative
Submitted by Christopher1974 on Sun Sep. 6, 2009 8:07 AM PDT.
let's see... cover of Time, Fast Company. Best selling author.
Innovator that brought good, paying jobs to the intercity with a focus on the environment?
Yeah we wouldn't want anyone intelligent or innovative in DC -- might have done something not "on message."
What a load of crap.
Van Jones is exactly the type of people in that Obama promised to bring to DC: well educated, innovative, doers.
Van Jones is a hero to this country and it's people. And he should not have been run out of town for signing a petition. We ALL signed those petitions after 2001. At least most of us in New York and SF at the time.
I think later we realized how off the rails truthers were... but if you lived in those cities (or any place really) after the attacks -- there wasn't any of us who didn't think that that based on the severity of the attacks. And the inept response of the administration (oh and shepherding out the Saudis on private planes) didn't think that there was more to that story.
But none of that matters. What matters is that Van Jones is a capitalist entrepreneur that is one of the biggest and brightest stars of social capitalism. And if we aren't going to spiral town into a land of idiots.(And wonder why smart people, dedicated people aren't working in Washington.)
Then we need to know when we can let something slide.
Look, you lost. We get our own people now. You had nutty Christianists up and down that last administration. We get to have the people we want to.
christopher // inaudiblenonsense.com
Chris you are a hater 'we
Submitted by Eugeneos (not verified) on Tue Sep. 15, 2009 8:16 PM PDT.
Chris you are a hater 'we get our own people' and 'nutty Christianists'. Wow I thought representatives like elected officials actually 'represent' and I don't recall any religious aspect being mentioned here or in other forums. Anti Christian hater.
Glenn Beck Hired to Run White House Personnel Office
Submitted by Marie Burns (not verified) on Sun Sep. 6, 2009 6:11 AM PDT.
Certainly Color of Change's success in getting more than 50 advertisers to drop Beck caused Beck to step up his attacks on Jones, but the real reason behind the general attacks on Jones was his race. And President Obama, to his great discredit, caved to the right & let Glenn Beck & extremist partisan Mike Pence run the White House personnel office, just as President Clinton dumped Jocelyn Elders for her egregious remarks suggesting masturbation was normal, oh my!
The fact is that many effective black leaders are now automatically disqualified from serving in presidential administrations, because most speak truth to power in a way lily-whites haven't the guts to & many make forays into radicalism. Beck, et al. have successfully punked not just Obama-Jones, but many, many black activists (especially men). If the President has accepted Jones' resignation, shame on him.
The Constant Weader at www.RealityChex.com
think harder
Submitted by Travis2 (not verified) on Tue Sep. 8, 2009 11:43 AM PDT.
oh, horseshit. I'm an Obama support, didn't want Jones to go, but I am honestly appalled that you think race is the primary motivator here. That is silly and stupid. Can you name other African-Americans tossed out of the administration?
Of course race is going to be a subtext in everything this administration does or is perceived to do. It should never be discounted. Jone's firing, on the other hand, was a straightforward attack of the political oppo research variety. Beck's group was reeling from the loss of several dozen advertisers, and he has been doing oppo research on Color of Change as a counter-attack. He's throwing everything he can find out there, as soon as he gets it. It's not terribly different from Corzine's campaign against Christie.
This is how politics is played, like it or not. Stop with the knee-jerk responses about racism.
He's a Truther
Submitted by Al on Sun Sep. 6, 2009 6:39 AM PDT.
I don't see why he had to resign just because he is a Truther.
Truthers are the mainstream of the Democrat Party (as poll after poll has proved).
Link?
Submitted by Douglas McClean (not verified) on Mon Sep. 7, 2009 11:38 PM PDT.
Perhaps you would care to link us to some of those polls?
No? Didn't think so. Odd, that. Perhaps you are referring to the one Rasmussen poll that claimed to make a finding of that kind on the basis of a poorly worded question? Hardly "poll after poll."
But Republicans ARE a**holes!
Submitted by PTate in MN on Sun Sep. 6, 2009 7:05 AM PDT.
So it is okay for Glenn Beck to call the President a communist, a socialist, a facist, a racist who hates white culture, and not okay for Van Johnson--before he became part of the government--to call Republicans a**holes?
It's okay for Republicans to organize disruptions of town hall meetings, buy guns and preach seccession and revolt, acting on their delusions that the President wasn't born in the US, is going to turn the US into a Nazi state or that the government wants to kill seniors, but its not okay for a private citizen to sign a petition asking for an investigation of whether or not the Bush administration did enough to prevent 9/11?
So yet again, IOKIYAR.
So, where is this all going to end up? We have a crazy, ill-informed minority of the American population who hate the current government. As the Declaration of Independence stated, 'Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." So what do we do when a well-organized, aggressive, vocal, delusional, paranoid minority--with their own TV station--refuse to be governed? They are obstructing the will of the majority who elected this government. What do we do?
If you really saw the video
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue Sep. 15, 2009 7:56 AM PDT.
If you really saw the video of the gun toating man you would have known it was an African American male msnbc zoomed in on the gun then showed a white males.. Very poor journalistic license
I once asked a psychiatrist
Submitted by cld (not verified) on Sun Sep. 6, 2009 7:13 AM PDT.
I once asked a psychiatrist to explain Glenn Beck but he wouldn't do it.
Too much material, apparently.
Kevin, what happened to your
Submitted by mark robbins (not verified) on Sun Sep. 6, 2009 7:15 AM PDT.
Kevin, what happened to your comments?
They used to be interesting and erudite and now....they're this.
Van Jones isn't a truther. He denied ever believing in those views and does not currently believe in those views. Truthers lie, it's what they do. They get people to sign petitions and then change the petitions after the fact.
See: http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/34594_Truther_Document_Signatori...
I can't believe that the only website pursuing the truth about this issue is: littlegreenfootballs.com
I'm pretty disillusioned right now. People who work hard for causes that everyone believes in, but are too lazy to actually work towards, aren't even given the benefit of the doubt, or the time it takes to do a google search or two. This is a disgusting fail of the left, and a good case study in why the republicans win. It's like the left's reflexes are towards weakness and backing down.
As for marxism, seriously go fuck yourself if you think being a marxist disqualifies someone from having a position in government. If libertarians and neo-conservatives aren't de facto disqualified, marxists shouldn't be either. That said, of course, he's not even a marxist. But these are facts, and people can't stand facts that disagree with their hate.
not everyone believes in...
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun Sep. 6, 2009 8:59 AM PDT.
Mr. Robbins,
Maybe "everyone" you talk to believes in, but not "everyone". And by the way, glad to see you can post without denegrating others...oh wait - guess you can't, after all.
Too bad.
Huh?
Submitted by Douglas McClean (not verified) on Mon Sep. 7, 2009 11:42 PM PDT.
I don't see any "denegrating" -- or denigrating, for that matter -- in Mr. Robbins' comment. Perhaps you could spell out what you are talking about?
Kevin, Most of your post is
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun Sep. 6, 2009 7:40 AM PDT.
Kevin,
Most of your post is a logical argument but the last clause of the last sentence, which is your conclusion, I believe, does not logically follow anything in your post. It's a non sequitur.
Please stop this game of pretending there is only one capable person for any job.
The guy resigned. There is no reason to believe he would have been any more or less effective than anyone else in that position.
To the extent that "czars" are high level, unvetted positions, and that Obama has been making more czars than usual or needed, than Obama brought this on himself, not unlike the shit that Bush did with his unneeded, unnecessary, circumlegal signing statements. A more interesting post from you would have explored the issue of the czars.
where's the non sequitur?
Submitted by junebug on Sun Sep. 6, 2009 10:13 AM PDT.
I'm not sure why you think Kevin said that anyone else would necessarily be less effective than this guy would've been. He didn't. But the fact that the recession continues at the same time that the position designed to generate green jobs remains vacant -- during said recession -- necessarily means that "our effort to generate green jobs during a recession will be just a little less effective." Just like he said.
Czars
Submitted by Douglas McClean (not verified) on Mon Sep. 7, 2009 11:51 PM PDT.
Where the heck are people getting this idea that there are "more czars than usual" or even that there is such a thing as a "czar"? A "czar" is any officer in the executive branch that someone in the media chooses to refer to as the "Whatever Czar" instead of as the "Assistant to the Deputy Undersecretary of Whocares for Whateverology."
As to the idea that "czars" are "unvetted," I can only say, "huh?" Perhaps you could explain what exactly it is that you think "vetting" is. It could be that the Obama administration's vetting process in selecting Van Jones was less than stellar; it could be that they knew about some of this weaksauce and elected to take the risk that it would come to light; I don't think we know at this point which is the case. (I'm getting the idea that you mean "unconfirmed," in which case it is simply incorrect that "czars" are not confirmed. Perhaps the best known "czar" is the "Drug Czar," aka the Directory of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, which is a senate-confirmable position.)
Hey, how about that Charlie
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun Sep. 6, 2009 7:49 AM PDT.
Hey, how about that Charlie Rangel? Maybe Glenn Beck will go after him next.
Go after Mr Rangel but why?
Submitted by Robere' (not verified) on Tue Sep. 15, 2009 8:17 AM PDT.
Go after Mr Rangel but why? You racist pig. Mr Rangel has the right to NOT PAY taxes. Guess its part of his own stimulus package
This is just another entry
Submitted by Another Brad (not verified) on Sun Sep. 6, 2009 9:16 AM PDT.
This is just another entry in my favorite liberal genre, i.e., there's nothing much wrong with being a communist or marxist, but to accurately call someone a communist or marxist is the worst sin imaginable. McCarthyism! Red-baiting! Um no.. how about truth in labeling? A corollary, as Kevin so ably demonstrates here, is that there are no enemies to the left. Even signing a truther petition, let alone being a communist, isn't enough to give Kevin the slightest pause in considering whether this guy should be anywhere near government. But hey, like Al said, the idea the George Bush allowed 9/11 to happen is pretty mainstream in the Democratic party.
care to elaborate?
Submitted by junebug on Sun Sep. 6, 2009 10:29 AM PDT.
Leaving aside the issue of Jones, maybe you'd do us all the favor of explaining why someone who's a member of the Communist Party, or someone who espouses Marxism, should not be permitted to work in government. What prevents such a person from doing the job with which she's been charged? Do your prejudices extend to those who would have us back on the gold standard? What about anti-free traders? Or those who advocate proportional representation, or even a parliamentary system of government?
Liberals need not apply
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun Sep. 6, 2009 12:57 PM PDT.
nor progressives nor anybody else that isn't fascist, racist or both. This is a paying job is it not?
Let's see well reshaping us
Submitted by Robere' (not verified) on Tue Sep. 15, 2009 8:42 PM PDT.
Let's see well reshaping us to a socialist system and don't go into how much can he effect? or minimize his impact. If you are soooo cavalier and open let's get the likes of David Duke in office! Better yet let's get Dr Kovorkian in charge of health care
It's Obama who should resign
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun Sep. 6, 2009 10:21 AM PDT.
Obama has been violating his oath of office from the time he took it. He hasn't "protected and defended" the Constitution -- he's worked feverishly to expand the power of government beyond it's already unconstitutional limits.
Anonymous is clearly
Submitted by cld (not verified) on Sun Sep. 6, 2009 10:46 AM PDT.
Anonymous is clearly projecting.
George Bush Eats a Kitten,
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_KxT3bZCpsqw/SVc3uQnGD1I/AAAAAAAAEkM/BALiWKnIDi...
Maybe "everyone" you talk to
Submitted by mark robbins (not verified) on Sun Sep. 6, 2009 11:08 AM PDT.
Maybe "everyone" you talk to believes in, but not "everyone".
If someone could tell me what the fuck this sentence means i'll buy you a soda.
"But hey, like Al said, the
Submitted by mark robbins (not verified) on Sun Sep. 6, 2009 11:38 AM PDT.
"But hey, like Al said, the idea the George Bush allowed 9/11 to happen is pretty mainstream in the Democratic party."
Through incompetence, yes. Not that he knew about it and let it happen anyway. Not that the difference matters one whit to you.
That's why we called for 911 investigations. Because we wanted to know how such an absolute failure of government at every level could possibly happen. Instead we got....DHS, Tom Ridge, abu ghraib, and the politicization of terror. Great job!
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