At Big Government yesterday, Kristinn Taylor and Andrea Shea King compiled overwhelming evidence refuting one key element of a cease-and-desist letter sent to Fox News by lawyers for former Obama administration "green jobs" czar Van Jones. In doing so, they referenced and credited a video I posted in September 2009 of an anti-American rally in Oakland, California on September 12, 2001 where Jones spoke. They pair did a great job, and I appreciate the credit.
I would like to give Taylor's and King's work greater visibility, and extend it just a bit, especially because you can virtually bank on the fact that the establishment press won't touch it -- or if they do, they won't accurately report it.
The sending of the cease-and-desist letter was reported on Monday evening in a Huffington Post item by Michael Cadlerone and demonstrated journalistic fudger Sam Stein.
Taylor and King addressed the following core contention in the cease-and-desist letter, conveniently not mentioned by Calderone and Stein, that the following statement made by Beck is false:
(6) Jones organized/attended an anti-America rally on 9/12/01
That Jones "attended" cannot be disputed, as seen in the following video I posted on September 8, 2009 (Jones's remarks begin at the 4:38 mark; only those with strong stomachs should consider viewing the entire video):
Here's what Jones said:
“It’s the bombs that the government has been dropping around the world that are now blowing up inside the U.S. borders.”
“We’ve got something stronger than bombs, we have solidarity. That dream of revolutionary change is stronger than bombs.”
Boiling down the first portion of what Jones said on tape: We deserved what happened on September 11, 2001.
Jones's lawyers are separately (and in my opinion futilely) disputing Beck's contention that Jones is or was a "truther." They can't possibly dispute the fact that on September 12, 2001, Van Jones was a "deserver."
The video clearly establishes that it wasn't just the rally that was anti-American. Van Jones made an indisputably anti-American statement at an anti-American rally.
That leaves the question of whether Jones "organized" the 9/12/2001 rally. Taylor and King prove that with a press release saved here. What follows are a few snippets.
Snip 1 establishes that the "source" of a press release on the evening of September 11 (the "11-1" which appears is clearly a typo which should in context have read "9-11-1") was the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, of which Jones co-founded:
Snip 2 reveals that the Ella Baker Center was named as the lead endorser of the rally, and that Van Jones was its National Executive Director at the time:
Snip 3 shows that the Ella Baker Center was listed as the first point of contact for more information about the rally:
In other words: Game, set, match. The Ella Baker Center, co-founded and headed by Van Jones, was from all indications more heavily and prominently involved than any other group in organizing the 9/12/01 Oakland rally. Beyond that, the Center, which currently has a staff of over 20 and, as seen here (fourth listing), had "17 staff members" and "a $1 million annual budget" in early 2002, appears likely to have had a far more substantial organization infrastructure capable of orchestrating such an event than most if not all of the other organizations involved.
In light of the Ella Baker Center's involvement in the rally as its prime organizer, Jones's appearance late in the video is more than likely the result of speech schedulers wanting to give the grand leader in the eyes of those involved, the last word.
Glenn Beck's contention as alleged in Jones's cease-and-desist letter has plenty of support in the facts. In my opinion, the letter itself, which attempts to refute Beck's contention by irrelevantly claiming that Jones didn't agree with everything everyone said at the rally, offers no substantial refutation.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
