Times are tough for the Obama Administration. Healthcare reform is on the ropes, partly because the President has acted like a timid politician rather than a leader. Even the President’s pitch to America’s schoolchildren has backfired. And Afghanistan is quickly becoming “Obama’s war.” Add it all up and the news has sent the President’s approval ratings to the lowest levels of his term, currently around 53%.
There is one area where Obama is still given the benefit of the doubt–the nascent green economy. Obama has promised that millions of green jobs will materialize thanks to his policies, even though the quality and quantity of those green jobs is actually still up for debate. But all things being equal, green jobs could be great jobs for the economy in the long run. That’s why the job of Obama’s “Green Jobs” adviser, currently held by the Yale-educated lawyer Van Jones, is so important.
Unfortunately for the Obama Administration, Jones has been dogged down recently by two controversies. Conservatives have always been skeptical of Jones. And now they have their ammo. There’s a tape on the web which catches Jones calling Republicans “a**holes.” And if that wasn’t bad enough, it turns out Jones signed a 9/11 Truth petition which questions whether the Bush Administration allowed the terrorist plot to happen. Thus far, Jones has apologized for his past and the Obama Administration has weakly supported their green jobs advisor, saying “he continues to work in the administration.”
But as long as Jones works for the White House, entertainers like Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity are going to have a field day with the controversy.
Do you think Jones needs to resign for the sake of the Presidency and the green economy? Or should the Obama Administration stand up and defend its team? Share your thoughts below.
