GreenSage E-zine Fall 2009

Green Jobs Leader Resigns Under Personal Attacks

Van Jones, a long time leader of vision and commitment to green for all, has been the latest target of hypercritical personal attacks by extreme conservatives in Washington. He has stepped down citing that fighting the attacks would draw attention away from his mission of an inclusive green economy that is based upon the most fundamental of American values: equality, justice, and opportunity for all.

These extreme conservatives, opponents of progress and social justice, have again taken the personal attack strategy over the issue debate strategy. Its a very pathetic strategy indeed.

The foolish backwards tactics of attacking this leader won't deter the folks and followers that share the same vision as Van Jones. They know these kinds of tactics are intended to frighten and divide. Instead, its reaffirming their commitment, making them even more intent on pushing for their goals, including a climate bill that delivers on the promise of a clean-energy economy and green jobs for all.

According to Sarah Wheaton as printed in the NY Times, Van Jones resigned as the White House’s environmental jobs “czar” on September 5th, after weeks of controversy over his past comments and affiliations had slowly escalated.

Appointed as a special adviser for “green jobs” by President Obama, Mr. Jones was not subject to the traditional vetting process as are administration officials who must be confirmed by the Senate. So it was not until recently that some of Mr. Jones’s past actions received broad airing, including statements about Republicans in February and his signature on a 2004 letter suggesting that former President George W. Bush might have knowingly allowed the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks to occur in order to use them as a “pre-text to war.”

Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said that Jones had resigned because “the agenda of the president is bigger than any one individual” and he did not want the dispute to get in the way of creating green jobs in this economy.

After George Stephanoupoulos, the host of ABC’s “This Week,” asked several questions about Mr. Jones’s past controversial statements, Mr. Gibbs said that the president did not endorse what he said.
Mr. Jones’s involvement in the 1990s with a group called Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement had prompted recent accusations by conservative critics that he associated with Communists. The group, according to a post-mortem written by some of its founders, was an anti-capitalist, antiwar organization committed to achieving “solidarity among all oppressed peoples” with “direct militant action.”

Republican blogs and conservative talk show hosts, notably Glenn Beck of Fox News Channel, seized upon Mr. Jones’s statements and associations. Mr. Jones apologized for derogatory words he directed at Republican opponents of Mr. Obama’s Congressional agenda during said lecture, calling his remarks “inappropriate” and noting that they were made before he joined the administration. Mr. Jones has also said in the past that the Sept. 11 petition did not reflect his views.

“I cannot in good conscience ask my colleagues to expend precious time and energy defending or explaining my past,” Mr. Jones said in a statement announcing his resignation. That message was followed by another from Nancy Sutley, chairwoman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, affirming that she had accepted his resignation.

Representative Mike Pence of Indiana, chairman of the House Republican conference, called on Mr. Jones to resign, and Senator Christopher S. Bond of Missouri called for a hearing on Mr. Jones’s appointment. Mr. Obama has appointed more than two dozen special advisers who are not subject to the confirmation process.

Before joining the Obama administration, Mr. Jones wrote the book “The Green Collar Economy” and co-founded several nonprofit organizations, including the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and Green for All.

Howard Dean, the former head of the Democratic party, defended Mr. Jones. “This guy’s a Yale-educated lawyer,” Mr. Dean said on “Fox News.” He’s a best-selling author about his specialty. I think he was brought down, and I think it’s too bad. Washington’s a tough place that way, and I think it’s a loss for the country.

“Look, all of us campaigning for office have had people throw clipboards in front of our face and ask us to sign. And he learned the hard way you ought not to do that. But I don’t think he really thinks the government had anything to do with causing 9-11.”

Mr. Beck, who regularly draws almost three million viewers on Fox News, first criticized Mr. Jones in July, in segments on his syndicated talk radio show and then again on his television program, according to Christopher Balfe, the president of Mr. Beck’s production company. Mr. Beck called Mr. Jones a “communist-anarchist radical.” (Ed note: has Eugene McCarthy arisen from the dead?)

A few days later, Mr. Beck called President Obama a racist on a Fox News morning show, leading Color of Change, an activist group co-founded by Mr. Jones four years ago, to call on Mr. Beck’s advertisers to stop sponsoring his TV program. Color of Change says Mr. Jones is no longer affiliated with the group.

As the advertiser campaign heightened, Mr. Beck devoted more time to broadcasts of Mr. Jones’s past remarks. Dozens of advertisers have subsequently issued statements to distance themselves from Mr. Beck’s show in the past month, but Fox said no revenue had been lost.

Mr. Balfe emphasized that Mr. Beck had spoken about Mr. Jones’s background before Color of Change “began targeting Glenn.”

In a statement by Mr. Beck, he said that Americans had demanded answers about Mr. Jones, but “instead of providing them, the Administration had Jones resign under cover of darkness.”

Mr. Beck added: “I continue to be amazed by the power of everyday Americans to initiate change in our government through honest questioning, and judging by the other radicals in the administration, I expect that questioning to continue for the foreseeable future.”

Express your opinion. Join in to do the right thing and sign the following Petition in support of the Green Jobs Movement: http://org2.democracyinaction.org/petition. Then pass it on to 10 friends and use this opportunity to grow in strength. Because, "A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has," (Margaret Mead) or as the GreenSage motto says, 'Together, we are the ones.'

Peter Baker contributed reporting from Washington, and Brian Stelter and Joseph Berger contributed from New York.