Posted on 09/08/2009 9:13:04 AM PDT by lex33
September 8, 2009
BY MARY MITCHELL Sun-Times Columnist Given Glenn Beck's powerful platform, it's amazing that the best he can do is forcing out President Obama's czar for green jobs.
Van Jones, who was named a special adviser at the White House Council for Environmental Quality, was forced to resign after Fox News commentator Beck outed him as a black radical.
Jones' biggest sin was calling Republicans the "a" word. He also signed a petition that questioned whether the Bush administration officials might have deliberately allowed 9/11 to happen as a pretext of war.
As ridiculous as that might sound, a lot of black people distrusted Bush to the point that they thought anything was possible.
I can see how Jones, the founder of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, ended up signing the meaningless petition.
Jones, a graduate of Yale, is what some of us still refer to as a "race man."
In 2005, he co-founded ColorofChange.org, a political activist group that used the Internet to organize around issues such as the Jena 6, a case that raised questions about the criminal justice system in Louisiana.
Jones used his education to help improve the quality of life for poor people and became a highly respected expert on green jobs in poor and working-class communities.
That apparently makes him a dangerous man.
After Beck's outrageous comments that Obama "is a racist" prompted ColorofChange.org to lead an advertising boycott against his show, Beck responded with an all-out assault on Jones.
He has couched his smear campaign by claiming that he is investigating all of Obama's advisers.
Ironically, Beck isn't looking for evidence of corruption or malfeasance. He's apparently hunting for rhetoric that would scare the bejeebies out of white folks, many of whom have never had a conversation with a black person.
By the time Obama ran for office, Jones' background in community service made him a great choice to advise the new president on the environmental issues.
"Jones' genius was in welding the two issues together: hence 'green jobs,' new employment opportunities in solar panel installation or wind turbine manufacturing that could reduce carbon emissions even as they provided steady pay for struggling blue-collar workers," wrote Brian Walsh for Time.com.
Beck dug up an old speech Jones gave in which he called Republicans the "a" word, and hammered his audience with images of Jones as an evil threat.
Jones resigned late Saturday.
"They are using lies and distortions to distract and divide," Jones said in his statement.
"I have been inundated with calls -- from across the political spectrum -- urging me to 'stay and fight.' But I came here to fight for others, not for myself. I cannot in good conscience ask my colleagues to expend precious time and energy defending or explaining my past. We need all hands on deck, fighting for the future," he said.
The Beck attack is the same strategy that right-wing conservative radio and TV hosts used during the Obama campaign.
After finding video of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright using harsh language to describe race relations in this country, the hosts at Fox News had a field day.
Jones is being sacrificed in the same way the Rev. Wright was sacrificed.
Ironically, Beck, who had the gall to call the president of the United States a racist, is using the race card to alarm whites.
African Americans aren't the ones who are crying because Obama has a platform to talk to all of America's children about doing well in school.
And African Americans aren't losing sleep at night worrying that radicals have taken over the White House.
Although the Obama administration has bent over backward trying to gain the acceptance of distrustful whites, so far it isn't happening.
Beck and people like him can't seem to accept that John McCain lost the election and a black man and the people of his choosing are running the country.
Given the critical battle under way over health care, Jones did the right thing.
But let's stop pretending that the fierce opposition from the right isn't racism.
Well done Mr. Beck, who’s up next?
These people who see things only through the prism of skin color are the racists. Their accusations are a farce.
Yeah, it had NOTHING to do with VJ being a self-proclaimed Communist revolutionary, supporter of cop-killers, etc etc etc.
What utter drivel.
No, dipwad you and your reality stricken buddies on the left need to stop pretending that our opposition is racism.
Our opposition is based on a determination to stop the Socialist/Communist driven Democrat agenda.
Show of hands...how many white people here have never had a conversation with a black person?
This fight is about big Government fascism, period. No one cares if these guys are red, black, white or purple on the outside. What matters is they are commie red to the bone.
Anyone who claims that opposition to Obama and his policies is racism, is guilty of racism..
WHAP!... stop thinking with your dip-stick Mary...
From what I can tell, there is a lot to be scared of. So keep it up Mr. Beck! The sheeple are waking up...
Saw another piece this morning documenting inconsistencies in GB’s statements on several topics, by a well known writer.
I know, I know...not welcome here to say the least, what with y’all being so fair and balanced.
Another race card throwing liberal rag. How quaint.
“need to stop pretending that our opposition is racism.”
Why do you think they pimped him in the first place?
His “color” renders him Teflon no matter *what* horrible things he does.
And African Americans aren't losing sleep at night worrying that radicals have taken over the White House."
But they should be!
Me thinks they doth protest too much.
And the president dumped him.
Jones is being sacrificed in the same way the Rev. Wright was sacrificed.
Let Obama come out and defend him then. Beck didn't sacrifice him. Obama sacrificed him.
Lets avoid getting confused here. Beck played the tape. Obama dropped him like a hot rock. Two questions: Why did only Beck play the tapes? and, why didn't Obama stand by his man?
After Color of Changed Diapers put the smear on Glen Beck, I realized something really stinks about this radical commie Van Johnson. I still need a final list of advertisers I need to boycott.
You can say what you want here. This isn’t the Huffington post you know! I am a little curious why you didn’t post a link to the article. I would like to see what he said were inconsistencies.
It is not the Van Jones and his political beliefs nor your President a disciple of Saul Alinski.
It is a national main stream press that have become “social engineers” instead of investigators and reporters.
May the Chicago Sun Times and all its so called reporters/commentators quickly find themselves on the unemployment roll where they belong!
I recorded and watched the Beck exposé that questioned this man’s background. He never mentioned race or colour, the Sun Times makes allusion to it.
How long does your MSM plan to use the race card? Your President did when talking about a certain police force in Cambridge! Beck makes his viewers think and ask questions that MSM skirts around and ignore.
Why does your President need to surround himself with “37 czars” that are not vetted by your elected members?
What is this talk about a citizen’s army as potent and as well financed as the American Military?
Wake up America, its long overdue!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.