OK, I've found out that it was a "big oil" lobbyist behind the Van Jones smear campaign

[Turborama]

I've been following Van Jones since his http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x364847">Power Shift speech, and have been excited by the real change he was behind.

Then Glenn BecKKK came along and started his smear campaign and we all know what happened after that. Initially I thought it was http://thinkprogress.org/2009/08/29/beck-defense-site/">being a co-founder of Color for Change, that's calling for http://colorofchange.org/beck/">a boycott of Glenn BecKKK's show that instigated this. Then I realized that this must go much deeper considering BecKKK has also got the http://apolloalliance.org/apollo-productions/weekly-updates/what-does-the-fox-news-channel-have-against-green-jobs/">Apollo Alliance in his sights.

Just now, I carried out some research to find out where this all began and discovered that it was http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Kerpen">Phil Kerpen from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_for_Prosperity">Americans for Prosperity" who started it all. He's boasting about it on Faux's website right now...

How Van Jones Happened and What We Need to Do Next

Now that Jones has resigned, we need to follow through with two critical policy victories. First, stop cap-and-trade, which could send these groups trillions, and second repeal the unspent portion of the stimulus bill, which stands to give them billions.

The Van Jones affair could be an important turning point in the Obama administration if we use it as a window to understand the structure of the left and to stop the huge power-grab now taking place in the name of green jobs. It's also one of the most significant things I've ever had the honor of being involved in. Here's how, from my perspective, it happened and what it means.

I was an unlikely Van Jones expert. It started July 9, when "FOX & Friends" asked me if I'd come on the show the morning of July 10 to explain what "green jobs" are. It meant an early morning the next day, but I was glad to do it, because exposing the green jobs scam is critical to fight cap-and-trade, my top legislative priority for the year. The producer asked me if I knew anything about green jobs "czar" Van Jones. I didn't but said I would find out.

I e-mailed a friend who follows the green groups and he said he thought Jones was socialist. -- I doubt he had any idea how deep it went. A couple Web searches later, I couldn't believe what I found in an article from the alternative San Francisco newspaper the East Bay Express. The man was a self-professed communist, with ties to ACORN and a radical Maoist group called STORM. His real name was Anthony, with "Van" made up in college because he thought everyone cool has a one-syllable name.

There was so much material there, but what really stood out is what I used the next day on F&F: the "green jobs" concept was merely a new face on the old ideology of central economic planning and control, an alternative and a threat to free market capitalism.

As soon as I got back to the office, I e-mailed the East Bay Express article to one of Glenn Beck's producer, saying: "Please share with Glenn this article about green jobs czar Van Jones, a self-described communist who was radicalized in jail. Confirms "watermelon" hypothesis."

The bragging continues (I've saved it as a PDF in case it gets pulled): http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2009/09/06/phil-kerpen-van-jones-resign/

So, I then went on to find out where the money comes from for "Americans for Progress" and my suspicions were confirmed:

The Big Money behind Americans for Prosperity

Kevin Grandia
26 February 09

An organization called "Americans for Prosperity" has been working overtime to fight government action on climate change and greenhouse gas reduction strategies. You might remember their State-by-State grassroots "Hot Air Tour".

The Hot Air tour's tagline was "Exposing the Ballooning Costs of Global Warming Hysteria." More recently the AFP ran a $140,000 TV ad campaign in Viriginia promising to "expose the hypocrisy and outrageous economic costs of so-called global warming regulations, taxes, and green energy plans."

So who's behind the AFP? And why are they so bent on seeing further delay in government action on an issue that the top scientists at the nation's best institutes are saying needs to be dealt with now?

Our research team at DeSmog has put together a briefing note on the AFP, their history and most importantly who funds them

AFP, and its former incarnation the Citizens for a Sound Economy Foundation, are the third largest recipient of funding from the Koch Family of Foundations, which is run by the ultra-conservative oil baron Charles G. Koch. The Koch Family of Foundations has been a major funding source for many of the think tanks that are in the business of delaying action on climate change issues.

http://www.desmogblog.com/big-money-behind-americans-prosperity">What follows is the information we've pulled together on the AFP and the Koch Family of Foundations

A big thank-you to Beaverhausen for her http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8632013&mesg_id=8632265">tip on Kreep which led me to this discovery.

Edited to add:

We need to send everything we find in to Keith, he's asking for our help: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6479255">Keith Olbermann:SEND Me Everything You Can Find About Glenn Beck

If we all inundate Rachel and Keith with this info surely they'll run with it?

[e-mail]

[e-mail]

[Sarah Ibarruri]

1. We need to fight back. When are we all going to fight back? Never? nt

[IndianaGreen]

2. When has appeasement ever worked?

I don't mind losing after fighting hard, but I hate to surrender without firing a shot.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

14. I totally agree. We need to fight, but not our own. We need to fight those who are right wing

The GOP crashing Townhalls, the freaks talking trash on TV and hate radio, etc.

[ihavenobias]

3. K & R n/t

[lbrtbell]

4. That's the wrong e-mail address for Countdown!

For info on the Glenn Beck project, Keith is going to announce a NEW e-mail address on Tuesday's edition of Countdown:

Tuesday we will expand this to the television audience and have a dedicated email address to accept leads, tips, contacts, on Beck, his radio producer Burguiere, and the chief of his tv enablers, Ailes (even though Ailes' power was desperately undercut when he failed to pull off his phony "truce" push).

Source: Keith's post at Daily Kos
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/9/6/777880/-Send-Me-Everything-You-Can-Find-About-Glenn-Beck

[Turborama]

5. It's the generic email until he gives out the dedicated one

I can't wait until Tuesday, this info. needs to get out there now before the dust settles.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/

[Melinda]

6. It doesn't matter who smeared Van Jones, it's who failed to defend him that counts.

*Bush would have and did defend/protect his advisors. So far I'm not so much liking the kind of change that Obama has brought. Not. One. Bit.

[Turborama]

7. It does matter because there's a bigger picture thing about this

They are actually going after the http://apolloalliance.org/category/new-apollo-program/executive-summary/">Apollo Alliance & Van Jones was their 1st scalp...

What Does The Fox News Channel Have Against Green Jobs?

July 31, 2009
By admin and admin
Apollo News Service

This week, the Apollo Alliance and our allies had a run-in with Fox News talk-show host Glenn Beck. For those of you who aren’t familiar with him, Beck is a conservative commentator who specializes in ranting against the Obama administration, labor unions and progressive causes in general.

Perhaps taking a cue from conservatives in Congress and their elaborate health-care flip charts, Beck did a segment on the Apollo Alliance this Tuesday, during which he mapped out on a dry-erase board Apollo’s organizational structure, which he referred to as “the vast left-wing conspiracy.”

Frankly, we genuinely appreciated the attention Beck gave us on national television. He even credited us for helping design the economic stimulus package! (Many of the proposals from the Apollo Economic Recovery Act we released in December 2008 were incorporated into the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act enacted in February, including a two-year “down-payment” of more than $100 million for green-collar job creation.)

But our influence on the economic stimulus package was one of the only things that Beck and his guest, Phil Kerpen of Americans For Prosperity, got right. And that’s too bad for Fox News Channel viewers, because we think if Beck had given his viewers an accurate portrait of Apollo and what we stand for, many of them would agree with our message. To set the record straight, here are some of Beck’s false claims, followed by the truth: http://apolloalliance.org/apollo-productions/weekly-updates/what-does-the-fox-news-channel-have-against-green-jobs/


Read the entirety of this one to see what Phil Kerpen says he & Faux News "need" to do next: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2009/09/06/phil-kerpen-van-jones-resign/

[ElsewheresDaughter]

22. I concur

:mad:

[Freddie Stubbs]

31. So, Obama should be more like Bush? Bush left office with a record low approval rating

[QC]

8. Now that this guy has collected a scalp, and done it so easily,

he will be back for more.

We can be certain of that.

[prostomulgus]

9. Let's call this what it is ... a race-based lynching

Like Sirota said in his HuffPo piece yesterday:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-sirota/taking-the-movement-out-o_b_278411.html

As he says in that article: "When lynch mobs in the Old South lynched someone,... that didn't calm down - it only intensified their bloodlust because it made them believe they could be even more successful in the future."

Jones is just the first -- but they're already stringing rope for the next ones.

[populistdriven]

20. As much as I disagree with Sirota on Obama..... Sirota nailed it there. nt

[debbierlus]

10. Absolutely - everyone forward to Rachel & Keith

[blogslut]

11. I cannot stress this enough

Americans for Prosperity is hosted on SMARTECH servers:

http://whois.domaintools.com/americansforprosperity.org
http://whois.domaintools.com/afphq.org

SMARTECH is the official host for the RNC/GOP. SMARTECH is/was the host of the infamous @gwb43.com email domain - the email domain that was used by Bush White House employees in order to conduct off-the-record business:

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=SMARTech_Corporation
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Gwb43.com

Americans for Prosperity can call themselves non-partisan but that is a lie. They are an appendage of the republican party.

[Turborama]

15. So, the big oil guy that played an integral part in bringing down VJ is working for the GOP too?

Thanks for that information. I really hope Rachel and Keith get their teeth into this.

[blogslut]

18. It's a subject I would like addressed

On THE AIR - to a member of AFP. Why are they using the same host, the official host of the RNC/GOP?

[ensho]

12. thank you for your excellent research

nt

[Turborama]

16. You're welcome, I hope you find it useful...

Thanks a lot for the compliment, it's much appreciated.

:hi:

I've got the bit between my teeth now because I was/am a big fan of Van Jones' work and the way he was brought down by BecKKK, Faux et all disgusts me. Finding out about all the background behind it shows that the big oil/coal lobbies are getting ready for a big war against the administration and this was just the beginning.

[pleah]

13. K& R

[Overseas]

17. K&R.

Thanks for the information. I suspected as much.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

19. Van Jones is a trending topic on Twitter...

and it ain't pretty. Between Jones, the Very Important Speech, the public option, and Wall Street now gambling with life insurance, I'm in a VERY bad mood and will be joining in on the "fun." I follow Rachel so I'll contact her via Twitter rather than e-mail.

Thanks for the info.

[sabrina 1]

21. More from Jeremy Scahill to add to your excellent research:

http://rebelreports.com/post/181216292/rep-mike-pence-who-led-witch-hunt-against-van-jones

Rep. Mike Pence, Who Led Witch Hunt Against Van Jones, Took $1000s From Extremist Erik Prince

Rep. Mike Pence, an Indiana Republican whose name has been mentioned as a potential GOP presidential candidate (and who is not sure if he believes in evolution), led the witch-hunt to force the resignation of White House Green Jobs advisor, Van Jones,....

> snip

On Friday, Pence, who describes himself as “Christian, Conservative, Republican, in that order,” said Jones’s “extremist views and coarse rhetoric have no place in this administration or the public debate.” Beyond the obvious here (the hate-filled rhetoric we see every day from racist, right-wing wackos, including those in public office), it is an interesting comment considering that Pence is an extremist right-wing evangelical Christian who has taken thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Blackwater’s owner, Erik Prince. Prince has also donated to Pence’s Political Action Committee “Principles Exalt a Nation.”

Beck is just the clown they use to funnel their talking points through. Van Jones, and Obama btw, are up against a very vicious crowd of anti-American thugs.

Caving in to them was the worst thing he could have done. As many said before the resignation, they were not going to stop with Jones. The 'case' against him was trivial compared to what these criminals have done to this country.

If the 'left' doesn't get some courage, doesn't stop caving in to the right, they will be back in power in 2010.

There's lots more on who is supporting Glenn Beck. But making him the focus is a mistake. Van Jones' organization succeeded in getting his advertisers to quit his show. Giving credit to Beck now will only enhance him in the eyes of the faithful.

The battle is against any views in this country that are remotely to the left of Hitler. This is truly an ideological war that requires unity on the part of Democrats and standing by those who come under attack from these thugs.

What will Obama do when they start on their next target? Because they will. And what should we do to encourage him to use his power, that is why he was elected, to shut down their efforts to viciously attack anyone who does not agree with their horrific vision of what this country ought to be?

Eric Prince, a murdering, radical, religious nutcase. And Van Jones who called them what they are (well he was too kind imo) Who should be forced to never have a position in government again? Or receive a dime of our tax-payer $$? Dems need to get some perspective here.

[KT2000]

23. Obama needs to appoint

Van Jones to a new position, new job title, same duties he had before.

[BrklynLiberal]

24. Thanks for this info.

[Oldtimeralso]

25. K & R and want to help find the truth. n/t

[Turborama]

26. A huge thanks to you and everyone else for the recommendations and compliments, much appreciated

I've just started looking into the editing of Van Jones' profile that's going on in Wikipedia land. It's a really heavy scene and I'm sure some of those editors are not just simple hobbyists: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Van_Jones

[Turborama]

27. Excellent! Alternet are on it now.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x478881">Big Business' Hidden Hand in the Smear Job on Van Jones

[Hannah Bell]

28. "stop cap-and-trade, which could send these groups trillions"

who are "these groups"?

in the first section, "How Van Jones Happened and What We Need to Do Next," it appears the writer sincerely believes jones = commie.

something isn't fitting together here for me.

[NecklyTyler]

29. It is Glenn Beck that needs to resign

It is the Republicans who need to apologize. The resignation of Van Jones was nothing more than a smear campaign by the right wing to push our President toward failure.

Astroturffing deniers hopping on the bandwagon to fund the operation; they are all reading from the same sheet of music

[NecklyTyler]

30. Kick, too late to recommend