The Resignation of Van Jones

The long sordid journey of the White House green jobs czar finally came to an end last night.

White House green jobs adviser Van Jones resigned in the middle of the Labor Day weekend following persistent controversy over his past remarks and associations.

Jones, who served as an adviser to the White House Council on Environmental Quality, had generated mounting criticism over the past week. He earlier issued back-to-back apologies -- first, for calling Republicans "assholes" during a videotaped address earlier in the year, and second for signing a petition in 2004 supporting the "9/11 truther" movement, which believes the Bush administration may have been involved in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

Now, if anyone wasn't still sure that he needed to go, here's his resignation letter.

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.

By lies and distortion, Jones, of course, means You Tube videos of himself and a petition that he admits signing. The guy is a complete and total radical. That's his right. He's made a lot of money espousing that sort of radical agenda. There's nothing wrong with that. As I have said, I applaud him for picking himself up after going to jail and making a success of his life. I think that can be used as an inspiration for many.



That said, he had no business giving policy advice to any president. It's stunning that it took this long. It took precious oxygen away from the president on the eve of a make or break speech. It was boneheaded, if you will, to allow it to take this long. That said, they've finally done what everyone expected him to do and thankfully this sordid episode is over.



The question of the proliferation of czars and special advisors, however, is just beginning. Jones is a symptom of a White House that by passes the Congress with jobs they create out of whole cloth. As for talk radio, Glenn Beck, and the blogs, they shouldn't let up. There's plenty of radical characters currently in the Obama administration that deserve more scrutiny. Gateway Pundit made a name for himself with this story. It's obvious that most of the media isn't interested in giving these folks any scrutiny. So, that leaves the job for alternative sources. The likes of Cass Sunstein, John Coldren, and Harold Koh need to be scrutinized. They are as radical as Jones and if they are put under the microscope, I suspect we'll find as much on them as we have so far on Jones.