Van Jones: Opportunist

Politically 2009 was a long time ago. Remember when Van Jones was dumped by the Obama Administration for signing that 9/11 "truther" petition? (Van Jones: San Francisco Progressive). Recall too that, since he's articulate and photogenic, last year Jones made a comeback as a TV commentator for CNN. 

Based on his reaction to President Trump's speech to Congress the other day, Jones's most salient characteristic now is opportunism. Can a job in the Trump administration be far behind?

Conservative Chronicle columnist Debra Saunders nailed it in 2009:

In 2004, Jones signed a petition that suggested that people in the Bush administration "may indeed have deliberately allowed 9/11 to happen, perhaps as a pretext for war." Last week, Jones released a statement in which he asserted that he did not agree with the petition "and it certainly does not reflect my views now or ever." And yet he allowed his name to remain as a signatory for years...Also damning: A column by The Chronicle's Chip Johnson that reported on a 1999 protest organized by Jones in support of convicted cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal.

Supporting a cop-killer was okay but the 9/11 petition went too far? I bet the Obama people didn't know about either one.

When you look at the online 9/11 petition, it seems that Jones's signature was number 46, but it now has "Name removed by request 9/9/2009." Too late!

Another TV commentator---conservatives love it when liberals screw up---Charles Krauthammer got it right:

One Obama administration source told ABC that Jones hadn't read the 2004 petition carefully enough, an excuse echoed by Howard Dean. Carefully enough? It demanded the investigation of charges "that people within the current [Bush] administration may indeed have deliberately allowed 9/11 to happen, perhaps as a pretext for war."

Where is the confusing fine print? Where is the syntactical complexity? Where is the perplexing ambiguity? An eighth-grader could tell you exactly what it means. A Yale Law School graduate could not? No need to worry about Jones, however. Great career move. He's gone from marginal loon to liberal martyr. His speaking fees have just doubled. It's only a matter of time before he gets his own show on MSNBC. (emphasis added)

Yes! Except his show is on CNN.

Jones is becoming the Richard Nixon of the left. His message to his supporters after his 2009 resignation was positively Nixonian.

Chris Daly---remember him?---defended Jones in 2009.