Jones, One More Time

I frequently tune in (via Internet) to Keith Olbermann, just to find out what the other side of the collective national brain is up to. He is, of course, a totally shameless apologist for the Democrats, liberals, and Obama... and a fairly astute critic of the Republicans, Bush, Cheney, et al. His weak suit is that he truly does not understand the hopes, dreams, and life styles of anyone west of the Hudson River, and makes merciless fun of them at every opportunity. Well again, ho hum, what else is new? But what fascinates me is the gigantic red herring he and his colleagues have dragged across the path to the truth about the Van Jones dismissal. As far as they're concerned, it's all about "racism", and nothing more, and it's all the fault of "right wingnuts" like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh. What's the problem with these arguments? Well, I'm sure that Jones was one of many score blacks adorning the upper levels of the Obama administration... and yet how much "racist" pressure is there to dismiss any of the others? The gripe that Beck, Limbaugh, et al, had was mainly centered on Jones' professed communist leanings and his zesty criticism of the Republicans and George W. Bush. But as I've said, communism, or ex-communism, among liberals is totally not news... and criticism of Republicans and Bush is an entry-level qualification for the Obama team. Plus -- hey, if the major critics of Jones were all "wingnuts", why didn't Obama just ignore them? Huh?? If Olbermann is right, and they are all nutso and not to be taken seriously, and do not represent the feelings of most Americans, why is Obama taking them seriously and thowing Jones under the bus? There is obviously something missing here.

The truth -- as I've already pointed out -- is that Obama couldn't care less what Beck or Limbaugh or anyone else from that side of the divide thinks... and he also couldn't care less about anyone on his team having flirted with communism, to say nothing of using colorful terms to describe the Republicans and Bush. No -- the "black ball" -- so to speak -- when it came to Jones was his allegedly "unexplained" connection to a 9/11 "truther" petition. But the less said about that the better, right? So Jones had to resign in order that his programs would live on, yadda yadda.

But how about Olbermann et al? Why can't they even bring themselves to mention the 9/11 connection? Why, for the very same reason -- this is the newest forbidden topic... the new "third rail" of American politics, and political commentary as well. All lips are sealed on the topic and will remain so for a long time to come... and the reason is that they all have too much to lose and nothing to gain by bringing it up. And of course they all, ultimately, work for the same entity... and that entity has marked off the topic of 9/11 as off limits.