THE VINE SEPTEMBER 3, 2009
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For months now, various right-wing bloggers and Glenn Beck have been trying to whip up outrage over Van Jones, Obama's green-jobs guru. Their accusations to date—that he's a secret communist, say—have been absurd and easily ignored. But all of the sudden Jones may be turning into a real political headache for the White House. Yesterday, he had to apologize for an old YouTube clip in which he called Republicans "assholes" for thwarting environmental legislation. That alone might be more amusing than inflammatory if it weren't also for the fact that, today, a conservative blog dredged up evidence that Jones had signed onto a 9/11 "truther" petition back in 2004.
Now this is considerably more problematic. The petition had called for "immediate inquiry into evidence that suggests high-level government officials may have deliberately allowed the September 11th attacks to occur" and demanded "an immediate investigation by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, Congressional hearings, media analysis, and the formation of a truly independent citizens-based inquiry." (Other signatories included Ralph Nader, environmentalist and author Paul Hawken, Rainforest Action Network founder Randy Hayes, and John Gray, author of Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus.)
Naturally, Fox News was on this story immediately, as was Glenn Beck, who, on his show can often be seen flogging a Beautiful Mind-esque chart showing Jones to be at the center of a supposedly vast crypto-communist plot. True, there's no small irony in the fact that Beck of all people is accusing someone else of believing in zany conspiracies, but even so, it's not hard to think the right could end up winning this particular fight.
If Jones does get pushed out, though, perhaps the even bigger irony here is that he's always been more effective and influential as an outside activist than as an administration official. Having followed Jones since he was a relatively unknown advocate for green jobs in the Bay Area, it seems to me that he's actually had less impact over the energy debate from his current post at the Council for Environmental Quality than he has at many other points in his career.
Jones, after all, hit the national scene in 2007 when he worked with Nancy Pelosi to get the Green Jobs Act included in the energy bill. He was soon being profiled in Time, The New Yorker, O Magazine. There was a point in 2008 when he was the keynote speaker at nearly every major liberal summit, from Netroots Nation to Take Back America, and seemed to be more skilled at eliciting enthusiasm for climate action than anyone else in the country. Indeed, when Jones joined the administration last March, many environmentalists worried that were losing their most charismatic and visible spokesman.
Those fears have, to some extent, panned out. Jones's most public appearance in the past few months may have been when he stood up at a White House press conference to ask the gathered reporters to silence their cell phones (he had no further remarks to make). Instead of playing a leading role in drumming up support for clean-energy polices—something he was extremely effective at—he's now a relatively low-level bureaucrat trying to steer stimulus funding toward green-job programs. In all honesty, Glenn Beck may have more to worry about with Jones outside the White House than in it.
Update: It looks like the White House is keeping Jones for now. Here's the statement he issued Thursday night:
In recent days some in the news media have reported on past statements I made before I joined the administration—some of which were made years ago. If I have offended anyone with statements I made in the past, I apologize. As for the petition that was circulated today, I do not agree with this statement and it certainly does not reflect my views now or ever.
My work at the Council on Environmental Quality is entirely focused on one goal: building clean energy incentives which create 21st century jobs that improve energy efficiency and use renewable resources."
(Flickr photo credit: Center for American Progress)
10 comments
Here we go again, Democrats cowering with fear because the big bad wingnuts are bullying them. The only way this guy loses his job would be if the Democrats refuse to grow a spine. And then, of course, the nutty birthers and their puppet masters would move up to seek another administration guy that could be hounded out of office. Amazing how the GOP's mainstream senators are birthers and everybody yawns, but a Democratic White House low level official could be driven out of office because of what exactly? He's almost - almost! - a lite version of a birther? Ok, what if he is? Boo fucking hoo.
- scrubby
September 4, 2009 at 6:11am
I sense that Mr. Jones had signed the petition without actually reading it. There is nothing in his background that would indicate supporting Truthers nuttiness. However, if you take away word "Deliberate" as well as Bush/Cheney stonewalling at time it would make perfect sense.
- adolbe
September 4, 2009 at 12:15pm
I dunno'. Guy sounds politically toxic from the bit I have heard about him. Somtimes Fox makes a point.
- basman
September 4, 2009 at 2:43pm
By all means, keep the wacko on. The longer you do, the happier I'll be.
- lsernoff
September 4, 2009 at 8:05pm
Well, here we are on September 5th and still no mention of Van Jones in the New York Times. The Washington Post has a story today, well hidden. You need to do a search to find the story in the online edition. I assume one cannot become a whacko unless one is a right-winger.
- lsernoff
September 5, 2009 at 10:07am
Sayonara Mr. Jones, and I guess that got the attention of the NYT.
- dtohmatsu
September 6, 2009 at 6:10am
"I assume one cannot become a whacko unless one is a right-winger." - Isernoff You are the same person who, whenever the rightwing whackos in the townhalls were pointed out on these pages, complained that liberals are too focused on the rightwing fringe. Yet you had the time to search for news on a lowly White House official you believe to be whacko and think should resign. He's now resigned. So, would you now direct your non-partisan anger at Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma? Maybe you missed it but he's the one that, in his townhall, said "President Barack Obama is disarming the military, is destroying everything good about America and is determined to turn foreign terrorists loose on U.S. soil." He should resign too, right? Also, should Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa resign for claiming that the president would "pull the plug on grandma" ? Now, those two are United States Senators, not some fringe elements. I won't even bother you with other outrageous comments by low ranking Republican members of congress........comments I'm sure you are aware of. Should I assume that "whacko" statements cannot make you lose your job unless you are a leftwinger?
- scrubby
September 6, 2009 at 8:27am
The New York Times story today begins as follows: "Val Jones resigned...after weeks of controversy...." I you were relying entirely on "the paper of record" to put out "all the news that's fit to print" you have heretofore been sublimely unaware that there was any controversy involving Val Jones. Since my political information-gathering habits have been the subject of speculation, here they are. Much as I have come to despise its current proprietor, I read the Times online every day. I also read the my old hometown newspaper, The Washington Post, every day as well as the Wall Street Journal. Obviously, I subscribe to TNR, and I also read the Weekly Standard and National Review online. From time to time I also look at Politico online. My TV preferences are best characterized by whom I can't bear. I dislike Glenn Beck as much as Keith Olbermann; Sean Hannity as much as Rachel Maddow; and Bill O'Reilly as much as Chris Matthews. As for the evening news hour, I switched from Charlie Gibson to Brit Hume about a year ago and have stayed with Bill Baird. My ideas on whackos are bipartisan. Birthers and truthers both fit the bill. As for health care hyperbole, I didn't much care for anybody telling grandma the plug would be pulled on her; I also wasn't thrilled with grandma being told she could keep her Medicare Advantage policy as-is, when the Dems plan to give it a haircut.
- lsernoff
September 6, 2009 at 1:37pm
"My ideas on whackos are bipartisan. Birthers and truthers both fit the bill." Fair enough, Isernoff. So you agree that, just as Van Jones resigned for getting on the anti-Bush truther bandwagon, members of congress who fit the bill as either anti-Obama truther or birther should also resign? Just asking. For the record, I don't believe Jones should have resigned. And those Republicans on capitol hill playing to the fringe birther and truther crowd should NOT resign either. Having them called out is enough for me.
- scrubby
September 6, 2009 at 3:17pm
Test.
- avizenilman
September 8, 2009 at 6:29pm