Goodness Knows

I've shot a few emails back and forth with John McWhorter in the past (not about politics) and I was surprised at his stance on the Van Jones controversy:

So why when the same sorts, out of the same gestural, performative brand of animus, start dogpiling on Van Jones is there any reason to take them seriously? To allow sandbox trash talk like this to hound a man out of his job is, indeed, to take it seriously.

Jones was wrong, actually, in disavowing his support for 9/11 conspiracy theory. He signed the document, which can only mean that he supports the idea that 9/11 was planned, or that the Bushies knew something more than they have said, or at least that the charge is plausible enough to require investigation.

But support for that idea is hardly unknown among people of the left – and often gestural in its own way; look one of these types in the eye and ask “Do you really think George Bush and his cabinet engineered the murder of thousands and have kept the secret for eight years?” and watch the nervous pause and the look off into the distance. Speculations in this vein hardly meant that Jones was not sincerely committed to working within the government to do good.

Come on, John.

In general, Van Jones' politics tended toward the radical, but they didn't force him out of a job--the Obama White House was quite happy to have him around. But being a Truther? There are a bunch of crackpot beliefs out there--on both the right and left--that, while all too popular, also mean the person isn't acceptable to serve in the White House.

Anyway, Jones was not hounded from office. That implies the complaints finally got to the White House. That might happen to an official the left attacks. If the right attacks, that wouldn't make Obama's people uncomfortable--unless they agree, or perceive him as a liability. They're the ones who forced him out.

Worst is McWhorter stating "Speculations in this vein hardly meant that Jones was not sincerely committed to working within the government to do good." This is meaningless. No one doubted that Jones was committed doing good. So what? When Bush and Cheney knowingly allowed thousands to die on 9/11, they were doing it because they sincerely believed they were working within the government to do good, too.