Thoughts on Van Jones

Reading all the various coverage on the Van Jones firing, I noticed a few things that I thought warranted pointing out.  I think they show some interesting things about the left.

• One word used across the board is "smear."  As one poster at The Corner pointed out, a "smear" used to mean an untrue, false attack on someone.  An example given is Ted Kennedy's rant against Robert Bork, which had no basis in reality.  In contrast, the Van Jones attacks, at least by Glenn Beck, were essentially playing videos, reading words, and doing research.  No one is disputing the facts - that he signed a 9/11 Truther petition, is a self-avowed Communist, that he said some not-nice things about Republicans, or any of the other radical quotes and statements.  These things are therefore accepted as true and real.
• In fact, continuing the above point, the progressives seem to actually be defending some of those statements, or at least they are not bothered by them.  What this essentially means is that they at the very least find acceptable his views on race, redistribution of wealth, Communist revolution, and perhaps even entertaining the idea that Bush was behind 9/11.  This from a group of people who go to great pains to deny they are socialists, Communists, and Marxists.  With the spirited defense of Jones' views, they are essentially agreeing to them.
• Further, the whole Van Jones story makes it very clear, and freely admitted by progressive defenders, that the environmental/green movement is intrinsically political and deeply tied in with Marxist notions of "social justice."  This is a point that has been made many times, each time denied by the left who claim that it is simply about protecting the Earth.  Now it is clear in both his open statements and their defense that this is not really a contested issue at all.
• Finally, the whole issue of race, both in regards to the progressive mindset regarding it as well as Obama's own views, comes into focus greatly.  Van Jones made no secret that he favored widespread reparations - he just decided to pursue them under the "green movement."  Even more, he clearly bought into the same anti-white ideas screamed by Jeremiah Wright - that whites deliberately poison minorities.  This backwards mindset is alien to most Americans and very destructive, and Obama clearly at the very least finds it acceptable in several cases.

In short, I think both the selection of Van Jones initially, as well as the progressives strong defense of him and his ideals, shed an incredible light on their true beliefs.  They are perfectly at peace with radical, socialist views on the environment, race, and economics.  They find the 9/11 Truth movement to be legitimate and with merit.  They admit the green movement is political in nature.  And perhaps most importantly, they do not dispute a single quote, or offer any factual defense of anything Van Jones has said.  I think this is a crucial moment where the left has finally shown its true colors.