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Glenn Beck vs. Van Jones: McCarthyism Enters the 21st Century

Submitted: September 9, 2009 - 8:53pm
Originally published: September 9, 2009
Last updated: September 9, 2009 - 8:54pm

[Commentary] When Fox News' Glenn Beck called President Barack Obama a "racist" and claimed that he had "a deep-seated hatred for white people" an African-American netroots group, ColorOfChange.org, organized a successful boycott of Beck's corporate sponsors. It wasn't long until fifty seven of Beck's sponsors jumped ship lest they be associated with Beck's own "deep-seated" white supremacy. Burned, Beck and his right-wing Republican producers sought revenge by using his slice of the echo chamber to go after Van Jones, one of President Obama's most important advisers on green jobs, who could be linked to ColorOfChange. Beck and his buddies viewed Jones as the low hanging fruit of the Obama White House and launched a focused smear campaign against him. During one of his many conspiracy-laden tirades Beck asked: "Will progressive pigs fly right out of Van Jones' butt and pedal bicycles to" replace coal power? It didn't take much time under the glare of Beck's assault for Jones to make the politic move and resign his official post. The Beck vs. Jones saga illustrates that even with the Republicans out of power their control over a propaganda ministry called Fox News, combined with their domination of the AM radio dial, still allows them to frame the debates within our wider political discourse.

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Glenn Beck vs. Van Jones: McCarthyism Enters the 21st Century

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Van Jones will do more for the Green Revolution outside government than inside. It was great to see a visionary person with proven implementation ability inside the administration, but I think we will see a lot of Van Jones over the next 5-10 years and most of it on the winning side of whatever battles he choses to fight.

This article is an important illustration of the impact of the media skew and the rabidity of the right wing, which seems to have more foam at the mouth when out of power. The good news is that the longer they are out of formal power, and the more they realize it, the more clear their true character becomes - guns at town halls and the likes of Beck are just the beginning of an obnoxious bright flare that will burn itself out. That said, this incident points out how important it is for the Obama administration to frame the issues first, often and last. If they don't, they leave room for those who prey on paranoia to frame issues, and nothing drives human motivation more powerfully than fear.

RonDV
ron@solutionsRDV.com

Submitted by RonDv on September 10, 2009 - 10:55am.

The tragedy of this event is not that Glenn Beck made hay out of Van Jones' statements and positions prior to Jones' appointment to the administration, but that the President let him resign.

Seriously, what Jones said is just not that big of a deal, and certainly wouldn't hang around as a mainstream media issue. So why did Obama let him leave? With the right lost to Obama already and the left enamoured of Jones (I mean, c'mon, have you heard him speak? He's great!), the issue seems to hinge on the "independent" middle, and they seem unlikely to be swayed by Fox News and AM Radio (again, have you tried to watch or listen for more than ten minutes? It's just not reasonable).

I can't say why Obama let Jones leave, but it suggests that he is willing to sacrifice some of the more visionary aspects of his agenda to the spirit of compromise that seems to drive him more than his opponents. Van Jones alone would not have brought about a green economic revolution, but his voice was more valuable than what Obama got for letting him go.

Submitted by PeterEckart on September 10, 2009 - 9:32am.

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