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2009-09-08 Home Front: Politix
In Jones Resignation, Vetting Bites Obama Again
The resignation of White House environmental adviser Van Jones has revealed a lapse in the administration's vetting procedures that, nearly eight months into his tenure, delivered President Obama with an unwelcome distraction as he begins an important week on behalf of his health-care reform initiative.
It's not a lapse, it's a design feature for the types of people Bambi wants ...
Except that apparently the White House did not vet Mr. Jones, who didn't have to fill out the form everyone else did.
That's because Val-gal said that Van was cool ...
Jones's resignation late Saturday came as calls for his ouster increased from Republican leaders, who have been critical of past statements and associations that have also taken the White House by surprise. His departure as a top adviser to the White House Council on Environmental Quality leaves Obama's push to create "green" jobs, which he has called an essential element of the more stable economy he is trying to build, without a leader.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs on Sunday explained the resignation on ABC's "This Week With George Stephanopoulos," saying Jones "decided that the agenda of this president was bigger than any one individual." Obama does not endorse Jones's past statements and actions, Gibbs said, "but he thanks him for his service."

Jones, a towering figure in the environmental movement, had issued two public apologies in recent days. One was for signing a petition in 2004 from the group 911Truth.org that questioned whether officials in President George W. Bush's administration "may indeed have deliberately allowed 9/11 to happen, perhaps as a pretext for war," and the other for using a crude term to describe Republicans in a speech he gave before joining the administration.

His involvement with the now-defunct Bay Area radical group Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement (STORM), which had Marxist roots, also emerged as an issue. And on Saturday, his advocacy on behalf of death-row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal, who was convicted of fatally shooting a Philadelphia police officer in 1981, threatened to further deepen the controversy. A White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a personnel matter, said Sunday that Jones's past was not studied as intensively as that of other advisers because of his relatively low rank.
A czar is a low ranking position? Do the other ones know that?
Posted by Fred 2009-09-08 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11130 views ]  Top

#1 It is my understanding that none of the "tsars" are required to fill the paperwork that is needed by those reviewed by Congress (Cabinet, ect). I don't know about the Secret Service background checks, perhaps there are high level "waivers" involved?
Posted by tipover 2009-09-08 01:55||   2009-09-08 01:55|| Front Page Top

#2 They have a vetting procedure? Who would have known?
Posted by JohnQC 2009-09-08 07:56||   2009-09-08 07:56|| Front Page Top

#3 I know just the vet procedure needed, that would calm them down all right.
Posted by Grunter 2009-09-08 08:54||   2009-09-08 08:54|| Front Page Top

#4 Yep, Grunter, it would fix them. And would have prevented the development of our own 'House of Lords' semi-hereditary positions.
Posted by Glenmore 2009-09-08 09:53||   2009-09-08 09:53|| Front Page Top

#5 Jones' vetting hasn't taken a big enough bite out of Obama. My understanding, from a former Secret Service agent interviewed on some program (I don't recall which one), is that all people entering the White House and close to the president are vetted for obvious security reasons by the SS. Only the president can override any questionable persons, but he always seems to have some excuse, cover, or "plausible deniability" when it comes to his associations with radicals. Avoiding personal responsibility and accountability is an ingrained character flaw of the arrogant, but the bigger they are, they harder they fall. Perseverence and patience, my fellow RBrs--it will all come to light, hopefully sooner rather than later.
Posted by Lumpy Elmoluck5091 2009-09-08 10:50||   2009-09-08 10:50|| Front Page Top

#6 I read Jones was selected by zero's wife among others..
Posted by 49 Pan 2009-09-08 16:51||   2009-09-08 16:51|| Front Page Top

09:43 Mullah Richard
09:27 Warthog
09:11 Mercutio
09:07 AlmostAnonymous5839
08:52 Matt
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