Powerline nicely summarizes the problems with (now former) Obama Administration official Van Jones:
Who do they have in the White House? A self-proclaimed Communist. A vulgar Marxist twice over. A supporter of cold-blooded cop killer Mumia Abu Jamal. A 9/11 Truther . A racist hater, whose hatred extends to the United States. And insofar as his current job is concerned, we have a man who sees the "green jobs" con as a tool for overthrowing capitalism. We have, in short, the complete left-wing nightmare package.
So naturally, the Denver Post hasn't yet printed a word about the (now former) Green Jobs Czar. The Washington Post and New York Times, would-be papers of record, finally got around to covering the controversy just in time for Jones to resign. As with the Eason Jordan affair, readers' could be forgiven for not knowing that there even was a problem, right up until the moment that the (nor former) advisor resigned.
Of course, those outlets that are now covering the resignation are basically whitewashing the problems with Jones. Here's the AP, as carried by the Washington Post:
Jones, an administration official specializing in environmentally friendly "green jobs" with the White House Council on Environmental Quality was linked to efforts suggesting a government role in the 2001 terror attacks and to derogatory comments about Republicans.
"Derogatory comments" is one way of putting it. Calling them "a**holes" is another. Jones wasn't just "linked to" efforts (note the passive voice). He actively linked himself to them by signing an online truther petition. ABC News's Todd Connor is even more circumspect (audio not available online):
Van Jones decided to leave in light of recent questions surrounding a racially tinged speech and a petition he signed which questioned the official version of the 9/11 attacks.
Plenty of speeches are "racially tinged." Few rise to this level of American self-hatred:
The American way, manufactuered by these white folks in office. By these rich men here to mock us. The United States is a stolen land led by right-wing, war hungry, oil thirsty. And when it's all said and done they still can't clean their own place because they got people of color playing servant to do that sh*t for them... The true terrorists are made in the US, in this police state... The US is a crack-fiend for oil. And they're ready to rape, kill, assault, rob anybody and everybody...
And plenty of people have questioned the official version of 9/11. I've noted that having Jamie Gorelick sit in judgment on the 9/11 Commission was pretty close to the ultimate fox-guarding-the-henhouse moment. That's a little different from asking whether "high-level government officials may have deliberately allowed the attacks to occur."
Again, readers may be forgiven for wondering what all the fuss is about.
In fact, Obama has merely victimized himself here, by a (now former) Tsar System that end-runs around Congressional vetting, and has been victimized by a press corps sleeping-walking through life. The two are not unrelated.
