VAN JONES CHIMES IN ON SHIRLEY SHERROD CONTROVERSY

Talk about dis-ingenuousness. This is revisionist history on steroids. None other than Van Jones has written an op-ed for the New York Times and in it, he attempts to ride the coattails of the Shirley Sherrod controversy, comparing her plight to his. While he does point to differences between their stories, placing her on a slightly higher pedestal, the gall of the comparison is striking as Jones implies that he was the victim of a smear campaign based on a swear word and a 9/11 conspiracy petition on which his name was listed as a signatory.

Via the New York Times:

Last year I, too, resigned from an administration job, after I uttered some ill-chosen words about the Republican Party and was accused — falsely — of signing my name to a petition being passed around by 9/11 conspiracy theorists. Partisan Web sites and pundits pounced, and I, too, saw my name go from obscurity to national infamy within hours.

Isn't it convenient how Jones makes no mention of his avowed communism, his ties to a radical group called STORM, his support of cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal, his quote about dropping the radical pose for radical ends, and countless other anti-American stances / views.

It should be clear that the left and the Obama administration is getting very concerned about the power of the alternative media. Just take a look at this argument from Jones:

Life inside the Beltway has become a combination of speed chess and Mortal Kombat: one wrong move can mean political death. In the era of YouTube, Twitter and 24-hour cable news, nobody is safe. Even the lowliest staff member knows that an errant comment could wind up online, making her name synonymous with scandal.

The result is that people at all levels of government are becoming overly cautious, unwilling to venture new opinions or even live regular lives for fear of seeing even the most innocuous comment or photograph used against them, all while trying to protect and improve the country.

The victims aren’t just government employees — the public as well is hurt. The imperative to immediately and constantly churn out news on even the most minor bit of controversy leads news organizations, and partisans posing as news organizations, to cross the line from responsible reporting to dangerous rumor-mongering.

Something tells me Beck will be reading this op-ed and responding to it tomorrow.

Read it all.