Van Jones Quits... But Does that Mean Anything?

The controversial advisor to President Barack Obama, Van Jones, resigned earlier today, after controversy arose surrounding some of his policy. Although it has been known for months that he describes himself as a communist, the straw that seemed to have broken the camel's back was the revelation, announced on the Glenn Beck program last week, that he was a 9/11 Truther, or someone that believes that the government, or at least the Bush administration, was involved in the terrorist attacks that took place on September 11th, 2001. Although Van Jones resignation will probably be cheered by many conservatives, it is a little early for them to cheer. Obama still has many more radical, unelected, special advisors in his administration.

Aside from his belief that President Bush was involved in killing more than 3000 Americans in the September 11th terrorist attacks, Van Jones has many other radical ideas. In March 2009, he spoke at the Powershift Conference, which focused on green energy. He remarked that the country couldn't just stop with green energy. The United States needed to change "the way we deal with toxins," "the way we treat each other," and "the way we treat sister and brother species." His agenda went far beyond clean energy, reaching into social engineering. Regarding the Native Americans who own a lot of land that could be used for solar and wind power, he remarked "give them the respect that they deserve! We owe them a debt!" In April of 2009, he remarked that the Green movement was not just about energy, but that it would lead to a transformation of the entire society. Transforming the United States to eco-capitalism would not be enough for him. Van Jones' resignation has lessened his influence, and perhaps removed his agenda, from the Obama administration.

Van Jones is not the only radical advising the President in the Obama administration, and his resignation doesn't change the agenda of the others in the Special Advisor position. Other advisors to the president include Cass Sunstein, who believes that animals should have the ability to have humans represent them so that they can sue people in court. He currently advises the president in the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. John Holdren advises Obama in the Office of Science and Technology. Some of his ideas include forcing abortions on women who already had two children, in the event that the population was too great. He also is an advocate of putting sterilants in the drinking water. Mark Lloyd is the Chief Diversity Officer at the Federal Communications Commission. He supports more localism and diversity in the public airwaves, and proposes a 100% tax on the operating budget of radio stations, which would cripple them and probably create more damage than the Fairness Doctrine.

Although Van Jones' resignation is probably a good thing for America (unless he is replaced by someone even more radical), there are still many people that are advising the President that have crazy ideas that do not represent the American people. Conservatives should not feel like they have achieved total victory.

Sources:

Glenn Beck Show, various dates.

"Obama's Green 'Czar' Van Jones quits amid controversy." The Times of India, 6 September 2009.