Standing by Van

Van Jones may have been driven from his post by the screaming mental cases on Faux News and their enablers in the Con party, but Steve Benen assures us "we haven't heard the last of Van Jones, and that's a good thing. He's one of the nation's great visionaries on energy and environmental issues, and as Kate Sheppard noted, '[P]erhaps the even bigger irony here is that he's always been more effective and influential as an outside activist than as an administration official.... In all honesty, Glenn Beck may have more to worry about with Jones outside the White House than in it.'"

Well, a sane person might worry about that. Beck & Co., however, are pretty fucking far from sane. So, for that matter, is a disturbing number of the Con contingent in Congress.

Blue Texan reminds us of a simple truth:

Now this is a party whose elected officials regularly peddle completely unhinged conspiracies and have introduced legislation implying the President of the United States isn't an American citizen. It's a party whose members have made a habit of accusing the President of being a fascist akin to Adolf Hitler. It's a party whose leaders have endorsed outright treason and whose last candidate for Vice President was married to a secessionist. It's a party whose activists and media figures engage in the vilest political hate speech on a daily basis.

And these are the people who get to determine what constitutes appropriate speech and acceptable views in the political arena?

Perhaps not if we stand with Van. And if Glenn Beck wants to start a campaign of destruction, perhaps we should return the favor.

Many people have made excellent statements regarding Van Jones's loss, but this one says it best:

John Podesta, the President and CEO of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, released this statement following the resignation of Van Jones:

Van Jones is an exceptional and inspired leader who has fought to bring economic and environmental justice to communities across our country.

He has chosen to resign because he believed he was serving as a distraction to the president’s agenda. I respect that decision.

Van was working to build a common ground agenda for all Americans, and I am confident he will continue that work. Unfortunately, his critics on the right could find no common ground with him.

Clearly, Van was the subject of a right-wing smear campaign shrouded in hypocrisy. Van’s chief tormentor Glenn Beck, who spent weeks engaged in vicious name-calling, retains his perch at Fox News after calling the president a racist who has “a deep-seated hatred for white people.” Van has set a standard that Beck would never impose upon himself.

I look forward to working with Van to move our country towards a clean energy economy that empowers and lifts up all Americans. [emphasis added]

If these hypocritical fuckers want to sow the wind, we shall ensure they reap the whirlwind.