PrintSeptember 7, 2009
Congratulations to conservative terrorists for forcing a Truther nut from government
I am getting old.
I'll be 56 in January and I realize that the days behind me are beginning to far outnumber the days before me. I have lived a lot of history in those years and have seen just about everything in politics imaginable; huge upsets, the triumph and fall of conservatism, a presidential resignation, culture wars - exciting times to have lived.
But I will never understand this:
Van Jones was one of the good guys. A really, really good guy. He used his education and his passion to combat police brutality and the massive, wasteful incarceration of so many of this nation's young, brown people. Having fought in the trenches for so long, he saw an opportunity to build hope and jobs and tangible communities as the world responds to the climate crisis. He connected the dots and inspired action and had a vision. He was the rare outsider who got a chance to move inside, and move he did.
This same blogger referred to health care opponents as "psychological terrorists."
And then there's this from Keith Olberman:
I don't know why I've got this phrasing in my head, but: Find everything you can about Glenn Beck, Stu Burguiere, and Roger Ailes.
No, even now, I refuse to go all caps.
No, sending me links to the last two Countdowns with my own de-constructions of his biblical vision quality Communist/Fascist/Socialist/Zimbalist art at Rockefeller Center (where, curiously, he works, Comrade) doesn't count. Nor does sending me links to specious inappropriate point-underscoring prove-you're-innocent made-up rumors.
Tuesday we will expand this to the television audience and have a dedicated email address to accept leads, tips, contacts, on Beck, his radio producer Burguiere, and the chief of his tv enablers, Ailes (even though Ailes' power was desperately undercut when he failed to pull off his phony "truce" push).
And what in God's name is Jane Hamsher so riled up about?
Now he's been thrown under the bus by the White House for signing his name to a petition expressing something that 35% of all Democrats believed as of 2007 -- that George Bush knew in advance about the attacks of 9/11. Well, that and calling Republicans "assholes." I'm pretty sure that if you search through the histories of every single liberal leader at the CAF dinner that night, they have publicly said that and worse.
So where are all the statements defending Van Jones by those who were willing to exploit him when it served their purpose? Why aren't they standing up and defending one of their own, who has done nothing that probably the majority of people in the Democratic party haven't done at one time or another? Is he no longer "one of their own?"
What has me so perplexed this morning is that these liberals and other Democrats are upset that this racist conspiracy mongering Truther is out of a responsible position in government.
It just absolutely boggles my mind that these and most other Democrats have no problem with a guy who is an admitted Communist ("Former" communist? Would that be anything like a "former" racist like Strom Thurmond, Trent Lott, and other conservatives?), a man who pushed the conspiracy theory that white people want to deliberately murder black people by degrading the environment in the ghetto, who supports the cop-killer Mumia, and who signed a 9/11 Truther petition, claiming he didn't know what he was signing thus making him a liar or an idiot.
They are defending this crackpot?
I don't see how anyone can rationalize support for someone that the overwhelming majority of American people would agree is unfit to serve in any capacity in government. Forget Glenn Beck and Fox News. This guy was hoisted on his own petard of far left, radical statements and beliefs. For me, it had nothing to do with calling Republicans "a-holes." I refer to many GOP'ers in such colorful language frequently." But I draw the line at those who see shadows in the mist around every corner in America. There is no place in government for those whose minds have been captured by paranoid conspiracy theories. Such thinking colors everything else they believe and as such, interferes with sound judgment - a prerequisite for serving the people.
The Jones fiasco highlights how "movement liberalism" is so out of touch with ordinary people - treating those of us in flyover country with such nauseating contempt - that they are totally blind to the sensibilities of the majority.
The American people tolerate a lot in their politicians - in both parties. But they will not put up with conspiracy mongering communists. That's a bridge too far and Obama and the left should have realized that before putting Jones up for such a prominent position in government.
