Van Jones Resigns – Is Anyone Surprised?
By Steve_in_KC on September 6, 2009 at 2:25 AM in Current Affairs
Another one under the bus.
Van Jones, one of 30+ “Czars” employed by President Obama, has resigned from his position as special adviser for green jobs at the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
A statement dated September 5 was released shortly before midnight September 6. In the written statement, Jones said,
“I am resigning my post at the Council on Environmental Quality, effective today. On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me. They are using lies and distortions to distract and divide. 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.”
Poor baby. He didn’t deserve any criticism, did he? I mean, just because he signed a petition calling for an investigation into whether or not the Bush Administration was somehow behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks… is that so wrong? Besides, he said he didn’t know what he was signing. And that’s a quality we all want to see in White House officials, isn’t it?
And that thing about calling Republicans “assholes,” was not really any big deal. It doesn’t matter whether he meant it or not, since he apologized for it. It’s not like this administration cares anything about bipartisanship.
The problem here is that Obama is planning to address both houses of Congress in a televised appeal for his national health care initiative. I assume the purpose of this speech is to gain a few votes from the Republican side. So it wouldn’t do to have one of his WH counselors stirring up resentment from the GOP. Not that he disagrees with Jones’ opinion.
Cherry-picking a few news sources, here is a quote from the Washington Post:
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Friday that Jones “continues to work for the administration” — but he did not state that the adviser enjoys the full support of President Obama, instead referring questions to the environmental council where he worked.
From AP:
Nancy Sutley chair of the council, said in a statement released early Sunday that she accepts Jones resignation and thanked him for his service.
“Over the last six months, he had been a strong voice for creating jobs that improve energy efficiency and utilize renewable resources,” she said. “We appreciate his hard work and wish him the best moving forward.”
This bus Obama keeps throwing people under must have those monster-mudder wheels on it, with the frame hiked up about 12 feet off the ground. Even at that elevation, it’s getting awfully crowded under there!
Another clip from AP:
Jones flatly said in an earlier statement that he did not agree with the petition’s stand on the 9/11 attacks and that “it certainly does not reflect my views, now or ever.”
As for his other comments he made before joining Obama’s team, Jones said, “If I have offended anyone with statements I made in the past, I apologize.”
His apologies did little to quiet Republican demands that he resign.
Gee, imagine that! Republicans weren’t appeased by his lame-ass apology? What’s wrong with those assholes?
We all know how much Obama loves working with Republicans. I guess this episode gets the blood off Obama’s hands on this whole partisan issue. The Obama Doctrine is reinforced once again:
“Embarrass me and you go under the bus too!”
Don’t get me wrong. Van Jones should have been fired. I’m not suggesting Obama should have kept him on. But allowing him to resign and claim that he was set up by asshole Republicans kind of gives the impression Obama didn’t really disagree with his points of view.
It has such a Bush-like smell to it, doesn’t it?
And I had such high expectations for this president!
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