Van Jones Resigns

Van Jones, what are you doing this Labor Day Weekend?

RESIGNING.

He's no longer a part of Obama's administration.

Kiss the controversial "green jobs" czar goodbye.

Update "The 2009 TIME 100" piece on Van Jones.

From the Associated Press:

President Barack Obama's adviser Van Jones has resigned amid controversy over past inflammatory statements, the White House said early Sunday.

Van Jones, an administration official specializing in environmentally friendly "green jobs" with the White House Council on Environmental Quality was linked to efforts suggesting a government role in the 2001 terror attacks and to derogatory comments about Republicans.

...The matter surfaced after news reports of a derogatory comment Jones made in the past about Republicans, and separately, of Jones' name appearing on a petition connected to the events surrounding the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. That 2004 petition had asked for congressional hearings and other investigations into whether high-level government officers had allowed the attacks to occur.

"On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me," Jones said in his resignation statement. "They are using lies and distortions to distract and divide."

Smear campaign?

How can Jones' own words be a smear campaign?

He's the 9/11 truther.

No, this was no smear campaign. It was an enlightening exercise. The truth about Jones was revealed.

Given the fact that the Van Jones controversy has barely received any coverage at all from the mainstream media, I'm surprised that he's whining about the alleged "smear campaign." The media did what it could to keep a lid on the matter.

Controversy? What controversy? Van Jones? Who is Van Jones?

...Jones said he has been "inundated with calls from across the political spectrum urging me to stay and fight."

But he said he cannot in good conscience ask his colleagues to spend time and energy defending or explaining his past.

What political spectrum is Jones talking about?

That very far Left one?

Jones flatly said in an earlier statement that he did not agree with the petition's stand on the 9/11 attacks and that "it certainly does not reflect my views, now or ever."

As for his other comments he made before joining Obama's team, Jones said, "If I have offended anyone with statements I made in the past, I apologize."

His apologies did little to quiet Republican demands that the resign.

Jones' name was on the petition.

He's not being honest about his views, "now or ever."

It really doesn't matter how Jones tries to spin this. What matters is that Jones is gone.

That's good.

What's not good is that Obama appointed Jones, the 9/11 truther, to be the "green jobs" czar. What's not good is that the radical extremist Jones served as an adviser to Obama. What's not good is that the Obama administration stood by Jones as the controversy swirled.

Even with Jones' resignation, the White House is standing by their man.

...Nancy Sutley chair of the council, said in a statement released early Sunday that she accepts Jones resignation and thanked him for his service.

"Over the last six months, he had been a strong voice for creating jobs that improve energy efficiency and utilize renewable resources," she said. "We appreciate his hard work and wish him the best moving forward."

What's really not good is that the White House didn't fire Jones.

Obviously, Obama is sitting on the fence again. He's trying not to appear to be abandoning Jones and the radical Left, but it's politically expedient for Obama to distance himself from Jones.

Accepting his resignation is a cowardly way for Obama to cut Jones loose.

It's not enough for Jones to apologize for his statements. Obama should apologize for embracing someone like him. Obama should apologize to Americans for lying when he passed himself off as post-partisan.