"I really admire Van Jones, Obama's former "green jobs" appointee. Some would say it's maybe even a crush..." Mary. Mary. Stop smoking what grows in your herb garden while at work. As this "crush" line leads your defensive, "Huffington Post" wanna-be column, everything that follows is discounted as non news rubbish. I however, took valuable time to read the entire article and concluded that my initial impression was correct.
Here's another gem you included from The New Republic: "With the Obama Administration letting Green Jobs czar Van Jones resign, questions as to whether these people have any spine are becoming sadly legitimate." Mary. You are in the media. Your bio says that you are the senior editor for The Flyer. I understand the predictable New Republic statement. I am concerned however, that in your emotional, love struck,school girl state of mind, that you may really believe that Mr. Jones tendered his resignation of his own free will. This suggests that you have zero corporate or business experience outside the hallowed offices (a chartreuse, rusted, 60's, VW Micro Bus?), of The Flyer.
Mr. Jones, narcissistic as always, bit off more than he could chew, and destroyed a coosh government job with the most powerful weapon at his disposal- his own mouth. President Obama is not an idiot. His media team determined that Vans' actions and statements were obscuring the already clouded heath care message. Hi-de-ho, Van Jones has gotta go.
I'm certain that Mr. Jones is now needing a job. You need a man. Perhaps you two could hook up, fire up the bong, and share tales of the glory days of the USSR.

"So I was disappointed to see that, after being the victim of a weeks-long smear campaign by Fox News' Glenn Beck..."

Although Beck was over-the-top with his relentless attack on Mr. Jones, Beck's "smear" tools were Jones' own words. Some of Jones' statements were so outrageous that the White House had to cut him loose – his hate speech against white Americans was indefensible.

You really have to go some to be fired by the most socialist, left-wing president in history because your language and background is too radical. It would be like Hitler firing Heinrich Himmler.

At least it was merely a high tech lynching, and not a real one.

The guy was a 911 truther. No business being in government. A guy might have written the most original and unique article on a topic I am interested in but if he was a Birther I would say he has no business being in an appointed government position.

Strange that advocating for finding the truth about 9/11 is viewed as being crazy. What do you support? Maintaining the lies of 9/11? How marvelously Orwellian we have become.

move along move along, nothing to comment on here.

Jeff I almost always enjoy your comments and even find myself agreeing with you on a great many subjects, however I must disagree here. The mere supposition that the US government was in any way a part of what occurred on 9/11 is sheer lunacy. There is plenty of blame for the breaches in intelligence (or even lack there of) and even everything that transpired afterwards, but complicity? Just plain wrong. I am generally very open minded and forward thinking with very little trust of the government, but after spending a week digging through rubble at the WTC site and working in the Arab world, I have no doubts about who was responsible.

If it helps, just the mere fact of W being able pull off something this complicated basically excludes the US government from the list of suspects.

all you had to do to figure out that GW had no foreknowledge or involvement in 9/11 attacks was see his deer in the headlights reaction when he was told about the first plane crashing into the WTC while reading The Pet Goat to schoolkids. Patrick the Starfish looks like Jean-Paul Sartre by comparison.

Merc and Pack, I didn't say W was involved. I merely advocate that the truth be told. Whatever you think about this issue, it is difficult to deny that we have not been told the whole truth about that day.

Asking questions is not crazy. Not asking questions is not only crazy, it's an invitation for it to happen again.

I hear ya jeff, but that's not gonna make me pass up an opportunity for a gratuitous shot at dubya.

What whole truth about 911 has been hidden from us?

Van Jones got caught in a witch hunt--the "truther" letter was only the rope used to hang him.

I agree with those pundits that think he will have the opportunity to have much more impact back on the "outside". He really shouldn't have taken the czar spot in the first place with no opportunity to get any light shown on his green job initiatives amidst the constant focus on healthcare and the stock market.

The only thing Van really lost in all this was a cushy federal healthcare package.

What America lost is much greater--we have elevated Glenn Beck to an unelected position of power.

Jack, they hid the truth about the toxic air at ground zero and now hundreds of people who worked there are sick and dying as a result. That's a good place to start. Also take into account the subsequent actions and inactions of the people in charge that day, as they led us into a war on false pretenses - then covered it up - and as they failed to react to the greatest natural disaster this country has ever faced - then covered up their failure.

Now tell me why we should believe anything they say about 9/11. They have zero credibility.

The whole truth about 9/11 hasn't been hidden. Just the parts that reflect badly on our former Glorious Leader.

Really, Jeff, how is your calling Bush the "Glorious Leader" legitimate while the righties who now refer to Obama with basically the same title are crazy? Bush wasn't a fascist, and neither is Obama. Your credibility drops when you say stuff like that. But to your point. Allegedly lying about toxic air and using 911 to start a war, as you claim, is quite different from the main truther argument - that the government was responsible for 911 or knew it was coming and ignored it. That kind of argument is specious and dangerous - and has been debunked at least as many times as the Obama was born in Kenya silliness - and no one who really believes that and signs several documents expressing that view has no business working for that same federal government.

Anything you say can and will be held against you in the court of politics. A lesson for all aspiring leaders to learn. Arrogance even among a group of followers will come back and bite you. Van Jones should have stuck with what was mostly a very positive messages and left out the attacks and rants. Very sad. He inspired me back in 08' when he was here at the Green for all conference.