Van Jones: “Sleep is for Mortals”
So who sports the super-patriotic cuff links? If you guessed Van Jones from CNN’s Crossfire, you win! Actually none of you guessed Van Jones, so none of you win. But that’s okay, even the man himself admits they’re uncharacteristic.
“My liberal friends get mad at me for wearing them,” he told us through a mouthful of chicken tacos after his 6:30 show last night.
He’s not exactly a wrap-yourself-in the flag kinda guy after all. Indeed, his appeal on Crossfire is as an unapologetic, anti-war, anti-gun, pro-social welfare Progressive. Add to that a stint as Obama’s “Green Jobs Czar,” and detractors are quick to label him as one of those people trying to “destroy America.”
Van himself isn’t bothered by such accusations. “You know, I think there are only two parties in this countries -the ‘Give a Damn’ Party and the ‘Don’t Give a Damn’ Party. Me and everyone I work with, we’re part of the ‘Give a Damn’ Party.”
We asked Van where co-star Newt Gingrich fell on that spectrum. “Oh Newt is great! You know I think I’m the only other person in the country besides his wife, Callista, who has read every single one of his books.”
Even the alternative fiction? “Okay, every non-fiction book.”
Van Jones on His Transition From Obama Insider to Outsider
(The Root) -- Van Jones is the co-host of CNN’s recently revived political-debate program, Crossfire. Back on the air after it was canceled in 2005, the show will put him at the center of what the network says will be “America’s great debates.”
But he’s no newcomer to strong political views. Jones, who got his start as a progressive activist, became President Obama’s green-jobs advisor in 2009. After resigning when he was wrongly accused of signing a 9/11 truther petition, he founded Rebuild the Dream, a political organization designed to counter the Tea Party movement. His book of the same name gives his take on the administration’s first term.
In other words, he’s seen the Obama presidency from more angles than just about anyone.
“On my Twitter feed, half the time I'm being called a traitor to Obama, and half the time I'm being called a puppet for Obama,” Jones has said.
So, on the five-year anniversary of President Obama’s election, we asked the insider-turned-outsider-turned-conversation-shaper about his assessment of the state of the presidency, his plans to make sure Crossfire is a dialogue instead of a taking-points-fest and the work he’s doing that has nothing to do with politics.
The Root: President Obama was elected five years ago. What do we know now that we didn't know then?
All who opposed Iraq War must oppose Syria strike
(CNN) -- The situation in Syria would break the heart of anyone who has one. That is why progressives desperately want peace in Syria, an end to the chemical weapons attacks and aid for the millions of refugees. Additionally, most of us support President Barack Obama and want him to have a successful presidency.
But we must be consistent. We have a worldview that requires the right thing to be done -- in the right way. That is why those of us who opposed President George W. Bush's war in Iraq have no choice but to oppose Obama's proposed attack on the Syrian regime.
One Way to Fight Guns
Richard Biennestin was only 20 years old when he was shot and killed on April 13. Jessie Leon Jordan was 23. Sione Fakatoufifita was 19. Titania Mitchell was only 13. Of the nearly two dozen people reported killed that day, about half were under age 30.
Sadly, this tally is not rare.
According to the Children's Defense Fund, guns kill twice as many kids as cancer while Congress remains stalemated. A bill to pass gun reforms failed in the Senate on Wednesday. As CNN has reported, 13 young people between ages 10 and 24 are the victims of homicide every single day. Firearms account for 80% of those deaths.
Martin Luther King And The Call To Direct Action On Climate
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” wrote Martin Luther King Jr. from a Birmingham jailon April 16, 1963. “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.”
The Atlanta-based King was explaining why he was in prison for nonviolent demonstrations so far from home, responding to a critical public statement by eight Southern white religious leaders. His words are timeless and universal in part because King was a master of language but primarily because he viewed civil rights through a moral lens.
Why Obama's base is angry at him
(CNN) -- Democrats spend so much time defending President Obama, it is easy to forget that even the most beloved presidents make mistakes and missteps. His new budget, which proposes a method of calculating inflation that will reduce increases in Social Security payments, is a doozy.
Reps. Keith Ellison and Raul Grijalva, co-chairs of the Progressive Caucus, have been raising the alarm for months. Reps. Alan Grayson and Mark Takano circulated a letter firmly pledging to vote against any social safety net cuts. As of this moment, 33 representatives have signed.
Obama needs to lay out a plan on climate crisis
(CNN) -- In his second inaugural address last month, President Barack Obama forcefully articulated a case for confronting the climate crisis. In his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, I encourage him to lay out a plan on it.
I realize Congress can be an obstacle. A few years ago, the right and left discussed how best to tackle the climate crisis. Today, it has become an article of faith among some conservatives to ignore science and deny there is a human-made crisis at all. Just last week, Sen. Marco Rubio, the oft-touted 2016 GOP savior who will deliver the Republican response to the State of the Union, falsely claimed there was "reasonable debate" on the issue.
Don't focus on Chris Dorner's politics
In the wake of Chris Dorner's death, much of the talk has already turned to his political views.
In the wake of a tragedy, it is understandable to ask why this happened. It is appropriate to discuss ways to keep it from happening again.
But we should draw the line at suddenly giving an exalted place in our national discourse to the political rantings of a murderer.
President Obama should address black Americans in State of the Union
(CNN) - Tonight, our nation's first black president will deliver the first State of the Union of his historic second term. The time has come for him to say something about the disproportionate pain that his most loyal voting bloc - black Americans - are experiencing today.
Winning two successive elections hasn't just proven that this nation is great enough to rise above the racial discrimination of its very recent past. It's also opened the door to more frank conversations about continuing racial challenges in America.
Nothing stops a bullet like a job
(CNN) -- Our gun debate continues to revolve around measures to prevent deranged people from using military-style weapons to massacre innocent people. This is a worthy goal. We should do all we can do, within the limits of our Constitution, to reduce the number and deadliness of these tragedies.
But I am increasingly concerned that the debate will never evolve to include deeper sources of gun violence in our country. After all, most people killed by guns in the United States are not killed in school massacres by villains carrying AR-15s.
