Van Jones and (his) Truth

This morning I learn of the resignation of Mr. Van Jones.

One thing about his resignation which is both disturbing and telling is a portion of his resignation statement where he says,

On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me,” Jones said in his resignation statement. “They are using lies and distortions to distract and divide.

Really? “Vicious Smear campaign”? How obtuse and arrogant does a man have to be to believe that reporting on his own actions, historical facts, can somehow be construed to be smears? Clearly it is an attempt to obfuscate the truth.

The only vicious smear campaign I can identify is the one mounted against America and conducted by Mr. Jones who signed a petition in 2004 questioning whether the Bush administration had allowed the terrorist attacks of September 2001 to provide a pretext for war in the Middle East.

Just before being appointed to his White House post early this year he openly called Republicans “assholes”.

Mr. Jones publicly supports Mumia Abu-Jamal, who is on death row for the murder of a Philadelphia police officer.

The Press

The other part of this story which is also disturbing regards the press coverage of the controversy surrounding Mr. Jones.

Yesterday, I browsed over to CNN’s web-page to see what they were reporting. Nothing, nada, zip, zilch, zero. They didn’t care to report a single word on Mr. Jones and his background. Obviously, they assessed America did not need to know.

The New York Times did not decide to report on a single iota of Mr. Van Jones until the September 6, 2009 edition in which they finally report about a growing concern over Obama’s growing number of czars.

Mr. Jones’s hiring and departure again raised questions about the quality of the White House personnel vetting process and the proliferation of so-called policy czars who are not subject to Senate confirmation or legislative oversight.

If anyone doubts that true journalism in America died a long time ago, they only have to look to CNN and the New York Times. If it weren’t for the fact that Van Jones resigned, I doubt there would not be any press coverage of the man and his very controversial background and who has access to the POTUS.

Here’s the time-line of coverage from print and broadcast news outlets on Mr. Van Jones:

  1. Wednesday, September 2 – no mention from CBS, NBC, ABC or The Washington Post & The New York Times.
  2. Thursday, September 3 – no mention from CBS, NBC, ABC or The Washington Post & The New York Times print editions. (A Washington Post blog picks up the story eventually).
  3. Friday, September 4 – ABC & NBC do not cover the story on their broadcasts, CBS evening news files a report from Bill Plante.
  4. Saturday, September 5—no mention from CBS, NBC or ABC on the evening newscasts or The New York Times print edition (Their blog The Caucus does pick it up eventually). The Washington Post runs a story in their print edition about the White House being quiet about the controversy.
  5. Sunday, September 6—no mention from The New York Times or The Washington Post early print editions (the story breaks overnight and is too late for print). All evening newscasts pick up the story high in their shows.
  6. Monday, September 7 – The New York Times morning print edition runs its first mention of the story on a front page, under- the-fold piece.
  7. (Note: CNN’s Lou Dobbs references Van Jones on September 3, and MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann airs Beck clips and talks about Van Jones, but largely talks about Beck’s attacks on Rockefeller).

It is clear for many that the large majority of news media outlets have acquiesced to the Democratic Party making themselves the public relations department for the democrats.

On the one hand, the left appear to have bought the pablum of the above so-called news media outlets and hold fast to the notion they are sole providers of truth. On the other hand they rail against Fox News and slam Glenn Beck for the reporting on Van Jones which led to the correct outcome of his resignation. The left seem to have a problem with the press reporting truth.

It would appear that in the liberal world, Nixon would have served out his second term as free from scrutiny from Watergate as they would have for Obama and his minions.

It should be a major concern to all Americans when bastions of truth in reporting represent a minority.

However, if you want the party line then look to CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC, MS-NBC, Boston Globe, New York Times, L.A. Times, Chicago Tribune and their ilk for your news and information… or lack thereof.

Truth is where you find it boys and girls. If you are incapable of processing truth then indeed you have been corrupted. On the other hand, if you are capable of handling the truth, when it stares you in the face you should readily change your mind.

The following representatives and senators are working to re-instate some form of the “Fairness Doctrine”

U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-California)
U.S. Representative Anna Eshoo (D-California)

Senator Richard Durbin (D-Illinois)
Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-New Mexico)
Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan)
Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa)

If they are successful in passing a bill into law perhaps we will see investigative reporting from all media outlets.