Time for Democrats to Jettison Leaky Cargo

The fact that "Green Jobs Czar" Van Jones called Republicans a bunch of assholes doesn't bother me at all. I've heard worse from some of my relatives. The fact that we have a Green Jobs Czar bothers me more than a little. We might as well have a Minister of Fairies.

It turns out that we do have a Minister of Fairies. Here is a note from the Washington Times:

Mr. Jones signed a statement for 911Truth.org in 2004 demanding an investigation into what the Bush Administration may have done that "deliberately allowed 9/11 to happen, perhaps as a pretext for war."

His name is listed with 99 other prominent signatories supporting such an investigation on the 911Truth.org website, including Code Pink co-founders Medea Benjamin and Jodi Evans, comedienne Janeane Garofalo, Democratic Rep. Cynthia McKinney of Georgia and others. He's identified as the executive director for the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights on the statement, which he founded before going to the White House.

Conservatives have been quick to compare "truthers" with "birthers," people who think that George W. arranged the 9/11 attack with people who think Obama was born in Kenya. On one level, the two are indeed equivalent. They are both a bunch of goofballs. On another level, there is no equivalence. Truthers accuse the American government of an atrocity. Birthers accuse Barack Obama of cheating on one qualification for being President. Both are bad. The former is much, much worse.

Mr. Jones has every right to his wacky opinions. He has no business serving in an Administration. This is a very bad job of vetting, and the President should correct it immediately. He doesn't need and unpleasant distraction.

And then there's Charlie Rangel. The Democrats are suffering grievous damage right now and can't afford to have at the helm of one of the most powerful House committees (Ways and Means) an admitted tax cheat. The Washington Post is calling for his resignation.

Mr. Rangel's amended financial disclosure form, which exposes omissions from his 2002 through 2006 records, is a treasure trove of outrage. He neglected to report a checking account with the Congressional Federal Credit Union and one with Merrill Lynch, each valued between $250,000 and $500,000; the tens of thousands of dollars he's earning from dividends from a number of mutual funds and stocks; and the money made from the sale of a Harlem townhouse. As a result, Mr. Rangel's reported net worth doubled, from between $516,015 and $1,316,000 to between $1,028,024 and $2,495,000.

We called on Mr. Rangel to resign his coveted post last November while the House ethics committee probed his contact with a potential donor to a pet project who also had business before the committee. Mind you, that committee already was looking into his using official stationery to raise funds for that pet project, paying below-market rents on four Harlem apartments, failing to report income from a Florida condominium sale and failing to pay taxes on a home in the Dominican Republic. There's another subcommittee investigation into lobbyist-paid trips by Mr. Rangel and four other members of Congress.

Rangel discredits the House leadership. Speaker Pelosi should take immediate action to remove him from his post. It is a sign of dysfunction in the majority party that this hasn't been done long before. If he isn't nudged out now, I think that means that the Democrats are incapable of putting their act together.

Comments

[William]

The current House leadership doesn't even appear to realize just how damaged they are...

[KB]

Actually, I think they have a clue about that. They just don't know what to do about it.

[Miranda Flint]

In some ways Van Jones seems a little bit loony. But he also has some good messages. When a lot of other people were claiming that Obama would save the world, he spoke up and said that no one man could do it. When some complained that politicians and educated people spoke in language that was too complex, he told them to buck up, get over it and to get involved in politics. Those are both good messages.

But neither of those things is good enough to justify the acts you mention. So I agree, he is an embarrassment to the administration. I wish he were not.