Grist has Van Jones' Back As Beck Continues His Smear Campaign

Treehugger ^ | 9/3/09 | Daniel Kessler

[Sig Sauer P220]

Grist's David Roberts has done a service to journalism by taking some time to help clear the air around Van Jones, special advisor for green jobs, enterprise and innovation at Council on Environmental Quality. Ever in search of a bogeyman, Glenn Beck, among others, has tried to paint Jones as some sort of evil mastermind, conspiring to make the U.S. the new U.S.S.R. by championing green jobs. Roberts' debunking deserves a look, especially after Beck again went after Jones on his Fox show Tuesday night. Watch the clip above to see Beck's feeble, paranoid mind at work. In this clip he attacks Jones for his social justice work.

Beck, ever allergic to facts, has painted Jones, the man who helped create the Apollo Alliance and Green for All, as communist/black militant/ex con who is bent on undoing the American system from within. As Roberts points out, Beck has mislead the public on at least three crucial points.

Jones is not a criminal: While at Yale Law School, he volunteered as a legal monitor at a protest following the Rodney King trial. Jones was detained at the rally but was let go after four hours. He was never convicted of a felony. If he was, he would have a hard time getting past the California Bar.

Jones is not the green jobs czar. There is no such thing. His title is special advisor for green jobs, enterprise and innovation at Council on Environmental Quality. If he was the green jobs czar, however, there would be no shame in that title. It was Richard Nixon who began the trend of naming czars, appointing a drug czar, Jerome Jaffe, in 1971. Reagan continued the trend by naming his own drug czar. Surely Beck doesn't believe Nixon and Reagan were communists or Nazi sympathizers, does he?

Jones is not a communist. I'm not even going to explain this. It's too silly even to justify a moment's thought.

Beck is a demagogue and Rupert Murdoch should consider taking him off the air. Sponsors are already jumping ship, but instead of taking that as a sign that playing loose with the facts is wrong, Beck has instead chosen to continue to spread lies and create straw men in place of helping educate his viewers about the real environmental threats we face. Shame on Beck.

[Sig Sauer P220]

So, according to some loser commenter, Beck doesn't know what he's talking about because Van Jones is "really, really hot". I think that same logic is how we got stuck with the Kenyan Marxist usurper.

[madison10]

Truth isn’t a smear. They cannot stand having the light shone on their darkness. Makes ‘em squirm.

[bcsco]

No sense trying to argue with an idiot with an agenda.

[Dallas59]

It’s not paranoia dear...It’s a fact.

[muawiyah]

Kessler continues to pretend to be stupid ~ now he wants to ridicule the notion that Jonesy is a Commie ~ only it's Jonesy himself that says he's a Commie.

The clear implication is that so is Kessler.

[bravotu]

Like Dude I Can’t even spell Komunist.

[WHBates]

"Jones is not a communist. I'm not even going to explain this. It's too silly even to justify a moment's thought."

What a moron, Jones himself said he was a communist. I really don't see how we are going to survive this administration.

[Natural Law]

"Jones is not a communist. I'm not even going to explain this."

This is just another case of "who are you going to believe, me and Obama, or your own lying eyes?"

[Jedidah]

The problem with anyone trying to refute Beck’s attacks on Jones is that most of what Beck uses is video or audio of Jones in his own words. And those words are weirder and farther out than any Beck accusations.

Hard to argue with reality.

[ronnie raygun]

Communist jail bird radical is being poo pooed on! Go get em Beck!

[Jet Jaguar]

Beck, ever allergic to facts, has painted Jones, the man who helped create the Apollo Alliance and Green for All, as communist/black militant/ex con who is bent on undoing the American system from within. As Roberts points out, Beck has mislead the public on at least three crucial points.

All Beck did was play Van in his own words.

[Charles Henrickson]

STAND BY YOUR VAN
Tune: "Stand By Your Man" Original

Sometimes it's hard to be Obama
Backin' all the czars at your command
You'll have commies
PR tsunamis
Wipin' out your castles in the sand

But if you love him you won't dump him
Even though he's messin' up your plan
And if they throw stones
Oh, don't let go Jones
'Cause after all he's still your Van

Stand by your Van
Give him your imprimatur
Don't be a wimp about it
When whites attack your brother

Stand by your Van
And show Glenn Beck you back him
Keep backin' Jones--oh, yes you can!
Stand by your Van!

[doc1019]

So, if someone brings forth a truth (and can prove it), it is a smear? Love it! ;-)

[LibertarianLiz]

Hard to argue with reality.

But, the liberals/progressives will continue to do just that.

I have become a little concerned about Beck, not for what he has been saying; but, because he does seem to have lost some sponsers (the length of time between breaks has been growing), and, there even seems to be dip in the number of guests he has on in a show.

Am I imagining things?

[Yardstick]

It was Richard Nixon who began the trend of naming czars, appointing a drug czar, Jerome Jaffe, in 1971. Reagan continued the trend by naming his own drug czar.

No shiznit Sherlock. But Nixon and Reagan didn't have 32 of them, did they? Nor were their czars self-proclaimed communists.

[Sparko]

Daniel Kessler? David Roberts? Who are these *holes?

They are squirming like roaches on a bathroom floor when you turn on the light. Makes them uncomfortable to know their bread and butter may be taken away.

[LegalEagle61]

Truth isn’t a smear. They cannot stand having the light shone on their darkness. Makes ‘em squirm.

Yeah kind of the same way that Dracula acts when someone sticks a cross in his face.

[crazyhorse691]

Sometimes you just have to shake your head in bewilderment at the musings of libtards...and then there are times you get a great chuckle at the biased rants. Either way you have to keep up to date on their talking points. This one is really quite weak and reads more as a mandatory homework assignment that will never be read by the teacher.

[Jedidah]

Yes, I think so.

The first segment of his show is always really long, then a commercial break, then more of a regular flow.

With the viewership he’s pulling in, I’m not worried at all about his job. I am concerned for his safety. He’s wrestling with some really bad people.

[LegalEagle61]

That was priceless! LOL I even sang it out loud to my dog (I think I saw him grinning too)