The Van Jones affair is Obama’s very own Sista Souljah moment.

What will be really interesting is how long Obama supporters can continue to promote the big lie that Barack Obama is some kind of political “progressive.”

Throwing Van Jones under the bus is only one minor example of the broader Right Wing political policies that the Obama regime has implemented since taking power–from trillion dollar Wall Street/corporate bailouts to the expansion of American militarism in Southwest Asia.

Hope and Change?

More like, lies and deception.

The Van Jones Affair: An “Unfriendly Environment” for Progressives at the White House
http://www.blackagendareport.com/?q=content/van-jones-affair-%E2%80%9Cunfriendly-environment%E2%80%9D-progressives-white-house

“99% of the police (in the bay area) are doing a great job.”
Van Jones on TV the day he got appointed as green job czar

While I think crime is a much much bigger problem than police abuse for urban communties like Oakland, I’m not centrist/naive enough to believe that 99% of the police are doing a great job. Perhaps one of Van’s comrades can ask him about that comment.

first let’s call it what it is: a blatant attack on the progressive left by a right-wing media hack supported by BigOil.Was the threat green jobs in principle, or Van’s frequently-stated plans to use green jobs to redistribute wealth to black,brown, native, and yellow communities? while you’re mulling that one over, consider that Van had no budget approval powers. So it’s not like he was in charge of disbursing funds to eco-Commies, as Beck would have you believe. In fact, few up on the hill seem to have a grasp on what he actually did do in his official capacity.
second, let’s look at the way the race card was played by all three major entities: Obama, Beck, and Jones. Barack is still recovering from the dings his healthcare agenda took from the Skip Gates incident, not to mention the J.Wright controversy. Beck made a point on several occasions of linking Wright to Jones to Obama. Jones played the race card almost exclusively up until his appointment. He’s got literally thousands of quotes demanding “racial justice” with respect to environmentalism. That goes directly against Obama’s tactic of trying to bring about equal justice by desensitizing race (at least that’s how i see it) as an issue. He dropped Wright, he dropped Jones rather than take a position which could easily backfire. Does that mean he doesnt care about us, as Davey-D claimed today? I dont think so. The brother’s in a tough position; he’s getting it from both sides on this one. But what do progressive gain by attacking Obama? and isnt that level of discord and confusion just what Foxistas want?
Third, and this is a question very much open to debate, is Van Jones a martyr, or did his own words do him in? Sure maybe there’s a double standards, but are we defending van the concept or Van the man when we rush to be in solidarity with him. The guy made some mistakes, can we at least agree on that? He may have been the victim of an orchestrated smear campaign, but his own words became the petard on which he was hoisted. This is a point worth marinating over for more than a minute or two.
Fourth, in the greater scheme of things, how important is this, really? Sotomeyer’s confirmation was probably a bigger deal. Van already has a new gig, at a DC think-tank with close ties to Obama. And Beck continues to be on the warpath, but will his puerile tactics work again the same way?
Fifth, the race card is a political albatross for Obama for obvious reasons. I dont like Beck’s watermelon reference either, but i think Obama made the right call. Jones can have more influence outside the white house on moving a green agenda forward. Obama can say he toed the Democratic line. Beck can go…who cares?
Sixth, in the long run, I dont think this means anything for environmental discourse. Now Obama is free to get someone for green jobs czar who may have better qualifications than Van. and Van is free to be a leader his way without being told what to do. For progressive visionaries with radical ideas who want to get close to the power structure, it means you have to be careful what you say. No new news there.
Seventh, “speaking truth to power”, as embodied by Jones, really isnt how government works–and if you’re the only dissenter, one really is the loneliest number. you can be an advocate for change all you want, but you’ve gotta make sure you’re in line with political realities.
Eighth, all these shoulda, woulda, couldas really go back to Van’s statements in the first place. Had he not said so many flameworthy things on record, he might have been easier for the Dem/liberal establishment to defend before the situation became critical. But that’s not Van’s style. Van may not be a card-carrying Communist, but without a socialist system in place, it would have been difficult for him to shove some of his ideas under CEO’s noses, as he would have had to do.
At the end of the day, Jones isnt a failure as an ideologue, just as a Presidential advisor. Obama might seem like he caved, but it was the politically-expedient thing to do. and Beck needs to be careful about overdoing it–his apparent victory could well turn out to be short-lived. i think progressive green social justice types will learn from the lesson here and knuckle up with more substance, less rhetoric, better initiatives and policies which are flame-proof.

The dismissal of Van Jones
http://wsws.org/articles/2009/sep2009/pers-s07.shtml

Van Overboard: Obama’s Problem With Strong Black Voices
http://www.uruknet.de/index.php?p=m57701&hd=&size=1&l=e

Van Jones and the Fraudulence of the “Left”
http://www.voxunion.com/?p=1617

WHY IS IT THAT THE JEWS CAN DEMAND THAT THERE BE NO STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS ON CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY (referring to the Nazi’s), BUT OBAMA REFUSES TO INVESTIGATE CHENEY/BUSH?

Just to build…this all got moving only after Obama’s comment on Gates, which led to Beck’s “Obama is a racist” play. It’s very interesting to see how the right’s use of race opened the gate to a larger political setback for greener energy policy.

Their endgame, of course, was to dip into the old trick bag of fears to scare up some more things that could bring Van down.

It sounded crazy and kinda laughable when Sarah Palin was the messenger last year, all but calling Obama a socialist and a racist. But Beck and his team worked the same line and as Ludovic points out, everyone caved. How do we allow the Right to continue to fight the Cold War like it’s 1949 or even 1989?

We ought to be hearing the dying gasp of those kinds of politics right about now. But we keep putting it on life support.