van rode out of town

obama had a guy named van jones working for him. by all accounts, he sounded like a cool dude. his thing was trying to create green gigs. in short, a progressive. so, the dirt was dug. once, he referred to republicans as assholes. once, he stated that black students wouldn't have created the carnage at columbine. once, he signed a statement requesting a look into governmental collusion in the crime of 9/11
the right wing hacks started blogging. these supposed lovers of freedom never seem to love freedom of speech, when that speech runs counter to their regressive ideology. what is to keep obama from pointing this out? if these protestors can draw hitler mustaches on obama's face, call his health care plan socialist, and refer to him with the n word, why can't van jones speak controversial thoughts out loud? what would the reactionaries do if obama gave a press conference and said "if my opponents value freedom so much, why are they condemning others for practicing the very same freedom they claim to love so much?" what would their response be?

well, i suppose you know how this went down. van was shown the highway. yep, a one way ticket to ride far, far out of town. obama didn't speak up for him. not one word. and the thing is, he's in power now. remember when the big o hung his pastor out to dry? there were those who said he needed to win the presidency. well, he's got the gig now! what's his excuse? why can't obama stand up to power when he is in power?

my hunch is, if obama went on tv and made the kind of challenge to his crtics that i propose, a lot of people would like it. but, the game is not played that way. in the u.s., right wingers can say the most bizarre things, and no one forces them to resign. in fact, they get tv shows! but if you make radical statements from the left, your job will run away faster than a criminal from a cop.

and the cat who represents change won't do a damn thing to stop it.

so, here we stand, with two right wing parties, one more reactionary than the other. of course, the dead pile up under both of them. those afghanis killed as they tried to gather fuel likely felt no better that they died from bombs dropped with the okay of democrats. as this is the case, one could argue with good cause that van jones had no business doing business with criminals of this caliber.

but, just this once, now that the dude is in charge, wouldn't it have been nice if he told his fascist critics to fuck off?

that ain't gonna happen.

not with an election in 2012, and even a few fascist votes helpful to the cause.

and, let's remember that obama is not a fighter. he can't fight fascism, for one needs to recognize a problem before one can fight it.

and if you are too busy creating problems, you will never be able to solve them.