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Glenn Beck will not drop the attack on Van Jones. AP Photo Evan Agostini
I was ready to leave the Glenn Beck and Van Jones controversy in the dust but as Glenn Beck continues to misinform on Jones I feel the need to bring up more truth regarding Van Jones. Today as can be seen in the video clip below Glenn Beck counterattacked against "liberal bloggers" who defended Van Jones in his "One Thing" segment.
The heart of Beck's response to the "liberal bloggers" is that Van Jones has never disavowed his communist past but instead just changed his methods. Beck uses the same quote he has always used from Van Jones which basically states Jones still attempts to achieve radical ends through different means.
First, Beck does not respond to all the arguments of the "liberal bloggers" which prove Jones is not in fact the radical Beck makes him out to be. Evan Patterson, the person Beck "responds" to in his segment presented the following points that Beck never mentioned or rebutted:
#1: The quotes Beck uses against Van Jones are taken from an article which make it crystal clear that Van Jones has disavowed any connection to communism. Why has Beck never quoted any other parts of the article?
#2: Beck never addresses other statements from Van Jones which confirm his capitalist beliefs. For example this quote from Van Jones is curiously never brought up by Beck.
We are not promoting welfare. We are promoting work. ... We are not expanding entitlements. We are expanding enterprise and investment. ... We are not trying to redistribute existing wealth. We are trying to reinvent an existing sector, so that we can create NEW wealth - by unleashing innovation and entrepreneurship. This should be common ground."
Does that quote sound like the radical ramblings of a communist?
#3: Van Jones does not have the absolute and unconstrained authority that Glenn Beck claims Jones has. Instead, Van Jones is part of the chain of command in the White House and answers as a subordinate like anyone else. In addition, contrary to Beck's claims Jones cannot simply allocate millions of dollars as he wishes with no oversight.
#4: Beck never addresses Patterson's eyewitness account that Van Jones did not participate in the Rodney King riots as Beck claims. Beck also never mentions that Jones was never prosecuted after his two arrests and in fact successfully won a lawsuit against San Francisco based on the illegality of one arrest.
I think Beck counts on his audience not actually looking up Patterson's article. Beck is probably right to make such an assumption as much of his audience will trust him on Van Jones no matter what evidence exist. So this piece I am writing too is also likely a waste of time to some degree in that I know many will never believe me or Eva Patterson to tell them about Jones. Still, I have hope that maybe one or two readers will at least begin to question whether Beck is giving them the full and unbiased story on Van Jones. You may say I am dreamer, but I am not the only one. I have Eva Patterson and the facts on my side at least.
Comments
Interesting that black liberation theology is not racist but pointing out that someone has followed leaders who spout divisive rhetoric. Al Sharpton is a Racist, Jesse Jackson is a Racist, Jerimiah Wright is a Racist, and if Barack Obama chose to throw his support behind people who say the things that the liberation theologists, and seperatists spout then he should have to live with that identity. Nobody forced Obama to associate himself with people who say those nasty things, and if Sarah Palin had been a member of a white seperatist group in her lifetime I doubt very seriously you would grant her the same benifit that Mr Jones is recieving.
I just don't understand the logic of some people. So your argument is that Van Jones was only legitimately arrested once. That he used to be a communist but has since, "disavowed any connection to communism." Wow! Even if what you are saying is true why would we want this person in the white house???
So you mean Van Jones was indeed arrested and came out an admitted communist. But everything's cool now because, in a moment of political opportunity, he claims to be capitalist.
Yeah...I must have missed the left giving right-wing politicians the benefit of the doubt when it comes to pas statements/affiliations as compared to present ones.
Van Jones went to prison and admitted to becoming a communist. I don't want him anywhere near the people's house.
And incidentally, Barack Obama IS a racist. He claimed that it's "typical" of white people to be afraid of black people on the street. He made a generalization about a wide-swath of people based on their skin color alone. That's racism.
Enjoy your 42% Messiah.
People can say all that they want after the fact to make them sound more appealing to people. The fact that once upon a time in a not so distant past he said all these things and has been associated with these groups, is enough to say that "I do not want this man helping make decisions on my future and the future of my fellow Americans". Why can't Obama find people who can advise him that haven't been tied to any of these organizations or have self proclaimed themselves communists?? There is something fishy going on in the White House. I am not going to say it is as elaborate of a scheme as Beck is preaching, but there should be someone answering these things.
#1. If Jones made it so crystal clear that he disavowed communism in the rest of his book, then maybe Patterson could have included a quote or two.
#2. The quotation does not contradict communism. Both systems include ideas of economics. The difference is who controls the economy. In a free market, individuals are in control. In a command economy, the oligarhy is in control. Look at how many times he says "we....", and he isn't talking about "we the people." I especially like, "We are trying to reinvent an existing sector, so that we can create NEW wealth..." Why would THEY even think to reinvent an existing, free market, sector. Oh, wait. CHANGE.
Hey Ryan,
Let's end the Van Jones argument right here. The guy has been to PRISON. If you have been to PRISON, you can't get government clearance, run for office, or own a gun. This guy hangs out in the Whitehouse? Case closed.... something ain't right. Instead of trying to debunk the only person in the media who seems to care about this country, try taking off your Obama T-Shirt and look at what is happening to this country. Provide any proof that Obama has helped the Middle Class in this country and then come back to us!
Hey Ryan,
Let's end the Van Jones argument right here. The guy has been to PRISON. If you have been to PRISON, you can't get government clearance, run for office, or own a gun. This guy hangs out in the Whitehouse? Case closed.... something ain't right. Instead of trying to debunk the only person in the media who seems to care about this country, try taking off your Obama T-Shirt and look at what is happening to this country. Provide any proof that Obama has helped the Middle Class in this country and then come back to us!
In 1992 Van Jones said he was a Communist. Under Communism millions were murdered. The Communist murdered millions for THEIR OWN citizens.
Proud American you are absolutely correct. Obama is using czar appointments to get around the vetting process and is compromising everyones security to do it. By being a self avowed comunist and anarchist, Van Jones would be excluded on those grounds by the FBI for any presidential appopintment. Add in the prison thing and it becomes even more clear. Anyway, thanks to Obama he now has access to classified information and multi million dollar budgets. Clearly Obama has no intention of being relected. He will do as much damage as possible with his four years in office.
Unbelievable.....yes he is a self proclaimed communitst! Look at his personal web page! Anybody who thinks different needs their head examined! I voted democrat all these years...NO MORE if this what is about!!!!
Proud American: He went to jail not prison. There is a huge difference between someone arrested ILLEGALLY who spends a night in jail and someone serving a life sentence in prison. But if you really believe being in "prison" disqualifies someone then you should stop listening to Beck's show. As I am about to write in a future piece the man who Beck interviewed today was arrested and taken to "prison" just like Van Jones.
tired of you leftist apologist assclowns. if you hate the constitution and the american way of life, simply leave.when you start screwing with us ,thats when you will doom yourselves.we will take only so much of your crap, then we take our country back ,you punk. by the way, i'm in largo florida, easy to find me,why don't you come on down and we can chat politics.
Last Monday, Beck referred to Van Jones as an avowed communist. I went right to Wikipedia to check and copied these words which I included in a letter to the editor of the Valle News
"Next Beck felt he had to malign Van Jones. A black man with a checkered past who has emerged as one of the foremost champions of green business, entrepreneurship and market-based solutions. He is now an advisor to Obama."
Today Beck opened his show saying, " did you see that they changed Van Jones profile on Wikipedia?"
PIG
Here is Van Jones personal Communist Manafesto published 2004.
apfr.org has it posted
Everyone knows that Communists claim to disavow to infiltrate democracy. It's OK to lie if your a Communist just like Obamas lying.
Here Obamas personal history.
apfr.org/2009/08/08/the-obama-time-line/
Sorry Ryan but if you keep writing this crap everyone will know you as Ryan Dim Witt or just as a Communist Sympathizer.
Obama and his minions are scary dudes. They don't belong in the White House and they may not even belong in this country. Keep telling the truth Glenn Beck, we need to stop the racist socialist that lied his way into the presidency.
Van Jones Is such a Hypocrite, He has fianacially benefited from capitalism while trying to tear it apart.
he dresses wealthy, He is a communist living the life of a rich man, A double minded man is unstable in all of his ways. I am sure he doesn't live in the projects.
Re:Proud American
He never went to prison. Van Jones was not even arrested for violence. He was ILLEGALLY arrested at a peaceful demonstration in San Francisco against the Rodney King arrest, not a riot. The District Attorney dropped the charges and Jones along with hundreds of others won a legal settlement against the police. Unless you consider protest a crime, and an illegal arrest justice, he didn't do anything wrong.
Obama. Van Jones, and Obamies other Thugs desire is to over throw the " the whitie" with there form of black crime of apartheid.
Don't fool yourself, they hate the white man just as Mandela does
Obama and his paternal 1st cousin Odinga, wanted to bring the whole of Kenya under Sharia law. Obama campaigned for Odinga in August of 2006,just before he filed with the US Federal Elections Commission for his presidential candidacy.
The idea was simply to have the Luo tribe, mostly Muslims, to take over Kenya from the inheritors of colonial power, the Kikuyu, and bring the country under Sharia law, kick out the Western investors in the nation that had made it one of the most stable nations in Africa, and supplant those Western investors with wealthy Arab oil money.It all failed.Then Odinga yelled election fraud, and put his Luo Islamofascists into the streets of Nairobi to “protest” by murdering, raping and maiming Kikuyu people, including the recent burning alive of a church full of Christians.
If Obama and Odinga had succeeded, the next step in the plan would be for president Obama to help Odinga consolidate his power over Kenya by international recognition and trade.
Van Jones changed my life! It breaks my heart to hear all these lies. This man has dedicated his life to helping mankind!! That means ALL PEOPLE!! Get to know him before you judge. Once you do that I want you to take a look in the mirror and tell me if you see a person that is trying to make this world a better place.
Obama went to the madrassas in Jakarta and was a practicing muslim. His father was a muslim. His stepfather was a muslim. In Islam, no matter what your mother is, if your father is a muslim, so are you. Obama understands and knows what is in the koran. Did he leave Islam, and if so, why the silence? If he left Islam, that would qualify him as an apostate, but I haven’t seen calls for his death-which we most certainly would have seen in his very public candidacy for the presidency. Is Obama practicing kitman or takeyya?
Melanie Phillips thinks this is worrying; and perhaps an indication of what he means when he talks about being the ‘candidate for change’.
His cousin Odinga is partnering with Islamic jihadists who are behind the violence in Kenya over his loss at the polls. Odinga is connected with Al Qaeda, for crying out loud. We should be asking question after question of Obama and his campaign, because the next president – like it or not-will be a war president. And we should
Re: Rob Conti
The wikipedia is written by anyone who wants to submit information. It is reviewed but it is NORT a very dependable source.
All of this talk about African-americans hating whites is interesting. Are they suppose to love the whites(whoever they really are) for all they have done for blacks? That would be a little strange after slavery, discrimination, and the vitriol that still exists towards blacks today.
Renaldo DaSilva , Van Jones, helped you, right, and you believe in the tooth fairy also
Apparently neither am I a good source when it comes to spelling. That would be 'the wikipedia is NOT a very dependable source of information'.
Coffee first, then writing, I should remember that.
Davidfromcal,
I am sorry there is slavery, I am White and Have Many Black friends, Honesty they are close friends.
Just because some are racists, doesn't mean all are.
The subject is Van Jones is a racist, Obama is also.
Having bitterness for the past doesn't make the future better.
God Bless you TexasRobert. You are in my prayers. Have a good day.
What Van Jones Believes IN:
Three Main Points
by Bob Avakian, Chairman of the RCP,USA.
What do we in the Revolutionary Communist Party want people to learn from all that is exposed and revealed in this newspaper? Mainly, three things:
1) The whole system we now live under is based on exploitation—here and all over the world. It is completely worthless and no basic change for the better can come about until this system is overthrown.
2) Many different groups will protest and rebel against things this system does, and these protests and rebellions should be supported and strengthened. Yet it is only those with nothing to lose but their chains who can be the backbone of a struggle to actually overthrow this system and create a new system that will put an end to exploitation and help pave the way to a whole new world.
3) Such a revolutionary struggle is possible. There is a political Party that can lead such a struggle, a political Party that speaks and acts for those with
Renaldo DaSilva , I pray for You also, If you know the truth from The word of God, "the Holy Bible" The truth shall set you free,
I Bless You Also
Jones said he WAS a communist.
Beck said he WAS a dirtbag, a liar, an alcoholic, and a liar.
Does anybody change? I believe so.
You have got to be kidding me? When are you going to wake up and smell the coffee. Why don't you report the facts? This guy is a COMMUNIST---a self advowed one. He is a special advisor to the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES and has not gone through any confirmation process and answers to NO ONE. YOU should have a BIG problem with this. WHERE is the media on this? Glenn Beck is the only one reporting one this. Having a communist advising the president is UNACCEPTABLE. So sir, start reporting the FACTS before they start taking our civil liberties away.
Van Jones' web site is *under construction*.
Mr. Witt, he is a self-avowed communist. Please have an open-mind and listen to the facts. The left is trying to radically transform this nation. We are the greatest nation on earth but if we continue on this road this may not be true. Jones is a self-avowed communist. If President Bush had a self-avowed communist in his administration it would not have been allowed. The hypocrisy of those on the left is rediculous. Please sir, for the sake of your freedom and your country, have an open-mind and listen to the facts, not what Obama and his administration is putting out there.
I can guarantee you if this was the republicans, you people would be all over this. It comes down to where you are, you people are not yet evolved yet in your thinking. Or maybe you're just a tool! Or maybe both. The left had such big problems with Bush but are giving this administration, which is doing the exact same thing at ten times the speed and in a different direction, a free ride. I guarantee you all, you are seeing the destruction of America. This is not why I voted for him! Open your eyes and minds to see what is going on. Insults get you nowhere!
Mr. Witt, he is a self-avowed communist. Please have an open-mind and listen to the facts. The left is trying to radically transform this nation. We are the greatest nation on earth but if we continue on this road this may not be true. Jones is a self-avowed communist. If President Bush had a self-avowed communist in his administration it would not have been allowed. The hypocrisy of those on the left is rediculous. Please sir, for the sake of your freedom and your country, have an open-mind and listen to the facts, not what Obama and his administration is putting out there.
Hey RyanWitt,
Why are you so embarrassed that Van Jones is a communist?! Just accept it.
davidfromcal, you lose! It's brothers like yourself that keep us down. Slavery is so far from the agenda today. Quit being a tool! Use your brain! White's also freed us so quit playing the damn slave card!
1. I find others who say he's no longer communist, but nothing from Van Jones himself explicitly spells it out.
2. "by unleashing innovation and entrepreneurship" - Give me more detail, please. Is this government controlled, funded by entitlements, or will it actually be hard work with blood, sweat, and tears?
3. Special advisor does have the ear of the President - Please, explain to me how President Obama has time to hire 30-35 of these "advisers" and can't fill positions that must be confirmed?
4. Rodney King Riots - Jones became a communist while in jail from the Rodney King Riots. The riots were not in LA, but they were part of the Rodney King Protests that took place all over the country.
He viewed these protests (with people looting and trashing vehicles)as successful. For the record, this is Jones' opinion not Beck's.
The man may be very nice, but I wouldn't hire an arsonist at a firewocrks business. A communist in a republic isn't logical for a free marke
An interesting thing to suggest is that everyone read the Wikipedia entry for Van Jones. Even Wikipedia has flagged the entry as 'potentially not neutral' and parts as an 'advertisement'. There is a LOT of information missing here. Are omissions not just as dangerous as untruths (of which there are both here)? The discussion page on Wikipedia discusses this in depth - obviously a lot of people have taken note of the 'advertisement here. I for one will not let my kids use Wikipedia as a reference for biographical information, and I hope others will do the same. Smacks a little of rewriting history. Anyone read 1984 lately?...
OK, this man WAS a communist....Now maybe he sings a different tune, and has "disavowed" communism. However, his ideals have not changed, and that is very concerning to me. It concerns me that any president would appoint someone to any position in the administration who had ideas that conflict so much with our constitution. I am concerned that we will experience a very swift & intrusive expansion of federal government powers and control.
Does this guy, Ryan Witt, get paid to right for the Examiner? Seriously? Does he really watch or listen to the Glenn Beck program? Does he check facts before writing?
#1-What article are you referring to Ryan? Post the 2005 article you are referring to not the link to Eva (not Evan) Patterson’s defense of Van Jones, who is a personal fiend and former colleague for Jones. HMMM…No conflict of interest there.
#2- Quote by Jones…”We are not promoting welfare. We are promoting work. ... (Sounds good. How???) We are not expanding entitlements. We are expanding enterprise and investment. ... (WHERE??? To those that fit the agenda of the Progressive movement like GE, SEIU, Apollo Alliance) We are not trying to redistribute existing wealth. We are trying to reinvent an existing sector. He means the private sector(The last group that tried to reinvent the private sector was the National Socialist German Workers' Party, a.k.a. The NAZI party in Germany)
“Does that quote sound like the radical ramblings of a communist?” No it actually sounds scarier! He sounds like an Elitist, a Fascist. He knows better then you do. He spoke a bout a fair playing field in a interview with the Washington Post. Fair playing field? Don’t we all have the opportunity in America? So when did it become the Governments job to dictate what is fair and what isn’t.
#3 -When did Beck say that Van Jones had “absolute and unconstrained authority”? The only one that has that type of authority, to an extent, is the President. Nevertheless Jones was appointed and not confirmed. What would have happened if Jones was put in front of the Senate for confirmation?
#4- Go back and look at the transcripts. Beck never said Jones participated in the Rodney King riots. He said Jones was arrested during the riots as he was arrested in 1999 during the NAFTA protests. Jones was never convicted on either occasion. GLENN BECK NEVER STATED THAT JONES WAS CONVICTED.
This is an excerpt from an article published on Askmen.com…”Those charges were eventually dropped, but Jones’ time in jail introduced him to a subculture of anarchists, socialists and other associated "ists." And just like that, his life’s journey took a hard, sudden turn to the left.”
Re:Maxine and the Wikipedia
The Wikipedia is an attempt to make a reference site composed of writings of the viewers. It isn’t trying to rewrite history because it is NOT intended to be a serious scholarly source of historical information or anything else for that matter. The people behind the Wikipedia are always struggling to come to grips with the number of people deliberately falsifying history on their site. Lies spread fast.
If you want accurate historical facts and information you need to read scholarly works by authors with a good reputation for accuracy in their field and remember that almost all historians have a particular point of view to begin with.
The school librarians I know use the Wikipedia as a good classroom example of how the internet spreads so much incomplete, misleading, and false information so quickly. Most teachers in my area will not accept homework using it as a serious reference, we shouldn’t either.
Van Jones is not the problem, nor the solution, but a major stumbling block on the road to a free nation. If all the answers lie in distrubuting the wealth why is it that only the wealth of the middle class being attached. Michelle Obama has as staff of 22 with nearly a $2m budget per year. Every one in Washington associated with the governing body of the USA make a unbelievable salary, with wonderful healthcare insurance for life, also the option of voting themselves increases yearly. If they want the wealth diversified, start at home at the top. Leave the middle class alone. Nations without a middleclass soon fail. Do we need a Van Jones? Or for that matter, do we need all the other czars Obama has named and funded with our taxes???
The White house staff list for 2009 lists 16 staffers directly working for Michelle Obama, the same as for Laura Bush in 2008.
You know what? IT DOESN'T MATTER WHETHER HE USED TO BE A COMMUNIST AND HAS CHANGED HIS TUNE, HE STILL SHOULD NOT BE IN OUR WHITE HOUSE! WHETHER GLENN BECK IS RIGHT OR WRONG, VAN JONES SHOULD NOT BE AN ADVISOR TO THE POTUS BECAUSE OF HIS SHADY PAST. I AM A BLACK CONSERVATIVE AND WE ARE GROWING IN NUMBERS AND WE WANT OUR COUNTRY BACK AND WE ARE NOT GOING STAND-BY IDLY. This Author's comments don't even make sense! How can Capitalist & redistribution of Wealth be the same?
Why is the personal VanJones.com site suddenly "under construction"?
GLENN BECK IS THE BEST AND VAN JONES NEEDS TO BE TAKEN OUT OF HIS POSITION AND SO DOES OBAMA FOR ALLOWING HIM TO BE IN CHARGE OF SOMETHING!!!
Yes, DavidfromCali....a person can change just as the person of Glenn Beck, just like me but you know what the difference is? Glenn Beck, nor I, nor many people who have changed for the better are in the WH...that's the difference! If you change for the better, fine and dandy, go forth but not as an Advisor to the president. There is not enough Change for better for anyone to warrant that position. The people representing so many should be as close to squeeky-clean as possible and if you are far from it, don't go there! How some of these people made through vetting I'll never know! This country was headed in the Right direction, Blacks were getting along fine with Whites but now we are becoming more and more divided, Racism is more alive now than it has been in years, I feel we have taken steps backwards instead of forward. Man, I wish my Black Republican Friend, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. were alive today, he would not approve of this CHANGE!!!
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