Smart: The Nation on Van Jones:
What finally felled Jones was a right-wing blogger turning up his name on a 911truth.org petition from 2004. Jones has repudiated his signature and said the petition’s wording didn’t then and doesn’t now represent his views. In a more sane political environment, that would have been the end of it. It was stupid and wrong to sign the petition, but let’s put this in perspective, shall we? By far the most deadly conspiracy theory of recent times was the insidious contention that Saddam Hussein gave material aid and support to the 9/11 hijackers. And yet Stephen Hayes, the main propagandist for this baseless and deadly view, is currently employed by CNN.
I think Jeffrey Goldberg is guilty of the same error. And a bunch of other folks. What hurt us more?This demonstrates Krugman’s law, that to be taken seriously in Washington you have to have supported the Iraq war. Though that might be changing.
