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Scrapping The Constitution: Van Jones, Capitalism And Progress
By BRADLEY HARRINGTON, For The Bulletin
“Capitalism is not the system of the past; it is the system of the future—if mankind is to have a future.” --Ayn Rand, 1962
Van Jones, “czar” of “green” jobs on the White House Council on Environmental Quality, is now out of a job: “President Barack Obama’s adviser Van Jones has resigned amid controversy over past inflammatory statements, the White House said early Sunday.” Goodbye and good riddance. And maybe, with some luck, Mr. Jones will decide to seek gainful employment in Red China or commie North Korea, the two totalitarian dumps that best practice his stated beliefs: “By August, I was a communist.”
The Leftist establishment has, as you might suppose, come completely unhinged as a result. For example: “The middle-of-the-night resignation Sunday of longtime Bay Area activist Van Jones as a White House environmental advisor left many progressives angry at the Obama administration for buckling to conservative criticism of Jones’ controversial past comments and actions.” And more: “The man behind the 9/11 statement controversy in Washington, D.C., Anthony ‘Van’ Jones, has nobody in the world to apologize to, especially that pudgy idiot Glenn Beck.”
Well, Mr. King, having just turned 50, I’m starting to get a tad pudgy around the waist myself—although I certainly hope that my I.Q. remains superior to the status of “idiot.” Meanwhile, freshmen students of Logic 101 will recognize the fallacy of an ad hominem attack when they see it: name-calling devoid of any intellectual content whatsoever. Those on the Left, apparently, will tolerate just about anything—up to and including support for the murderous crimes of dictatorial states—except any expose of their own tactics and beliefs.
And “progressive?” Excuse me, Webster’s defines “progressive,” in part, as: “of, relating to, or characterized by progress; making use of, or interested in new ideas, findings or opportunities...” Since when did the word “progressive” come to be taken over by the Left, whose morally and politically bankrupt “ideas” of centralization, regimentation, power and control are as old and decrepit as recorded history?
Oh, well, I guess sympathizing with the “progress” of untold millions of individual human beings on their way to the gas chambers, concentration camps and firing squads that characterize such collectivist ant-heaps as Soviet Russia, Nazi Germany, Red China and Fascist Italy is nothing that Leftist commentators like Mr. King or the “progressives” of San Francisco feel merits an apology; it is only the “lies and distortions” of a “vicious smear campaign” that seem to offend their delicate sensibilities.
Rather, it was the new and innovative thinking of America’s Founding Fathers—the ideas of the separation and decentralization of powers, of the rule of law and not of men, and of proscribed limitations on government’s role in society—that represented a social breakthrough of unparalleled proportions. The architects of the United States, quite rightly, viewed government’s monopoly on the use of force as the gravest threat to man’s liberty in existence—and the Constitution was written to reduce that threat to a bare minimum. The result? A level of peace, prosperity and progress never seen before or since.
That same Constitution, by the way, the supposed law of our land, states that: “He [the President]…shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for…” (Article 2, Section 2; my italics.) The Senate, in other words, has the ultimate power and responsibility to confirm any and all Presidential appointments.
Instead of performing their jobs in regard to a proliferation of unelected, unconfirmed “czars” with near-total policy-making power over every aspect of our lives, however, most of the Senate has decided to scrap the Constitution and busy itself with other, more pressing matters—such as trying to figure out a way to stuff the government takeover of health care down our throats without our consent.
When I joined the United States Marine Corps, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. That was an oath I took very seriously indeed. When will our esteemed Senators, and the rest of our elected officials, do the same?
Bradley Harrington is a former United States Marine and a freelance writer from Wyoming.
Van Jones, “czar” of “green” jobs on the White House Council on Environmental Quality, is now out of a job: “President Barack Obama’s adviser Van Jones has resigned amid controversy over past inflammatory statements, the White House said early Sunday.” Goodbye and good riddance. And maybe, with some luck, Mr. Jones will decide to seek gainful employment in Red China or commie North Korea, the two totalitarian dumps that best practice his stated beliefs: “By August, I was a communist.”
The Leftist establishment has, as you might suppose, come completely unhinged as a result. For example: “The middle-of-the-night resignation Sunday of longtime Bay Area activist Van Jones as a White House environmental advisor left many progressives angry at the Obama administration for buckling to conservative criticism of Jones’ controversial past comments and actions.” And more: “The man behind the 9/11 statement controversy in Washington, D.C., Anthony ‘Van’ Jones, has nobody in the world to apologize to, especially that pudgy idiot Glenn Beck.”
Well, Mr. King, having just turned 50, I’m starting to get a tad pudgy around the waist myself—although I certainly hope that my I.Q. remains superior to the status of “idiot.” Meanwhile, freshmen students of Logic 101 will recognize the fallacy of an ad hominem attack when they see it: name-calling devoid of any intellectual content whatsoever. Those on the Left, apparently, will tolerate just about anything—up to and including support for the murderous crimes of dictatorial states—except any expose of their own tactics and beliefs.
And “progressive?” Excuse me, Webster’s defines “progressive,” in part, as: “of, relating to, or characterized by progress; making use of, or interested in new ideas, findings or opportunities...” Since when did the word “progressive” come to be taken over by the Left, whose morally and politically bankrupt “ideas” of centralization, regimentation, power and control are as old and decrepit as recorded history?
Oh, well, I guess sympathizing with the “progress” of untold millions of individual human beings on their way to the gas chambers, concentration camps and firing squads that characterize such collectivist ant-heaps as Soviet Russia, Nazi Germany, Red China and Fascist Italy is nothing that Leftist commentators like Mr. King or the “progressives” of San Francisco feel merits an apology; it is only the “lies and distortions” of a “vicious smear campaign” that seem to offend their delicate sensibilities.
Rather, it was the new and innovative thinking of America’s Founding Fathers—the ideas of the separation and decentralization of powers, of the rule of law and not of men, and of proscribed limitations on government’s role in society—that represented a social breakthrough of unparalleled proportions. The architects of the United States, quite rightly, viewed government’s monopoly on the use of force as the gravest threat to man’s liberty in existence—and the Constitution was written to reduce that threat to a bare minimum. The result? A level of peace, prosperity and progress never seen before or since.
That same Constitution, by the way, the supposed law of our land, states that: “He [the President]…shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for…” (Article 2, Section 2; my italics.) The Senate, in other words, has the ultimate power and responsibility to confirm any and all Presidential appointments.
Instead of performing their jobs in regard to a proliferation of unelected, unconfirmed “czars” with near-total policy-making power over every aspect of our lives, however, most of the Senate has decided to scrap the Constitution and busy itself with other, more pressing matters—such as trying to figure out a way to stuff the government takeover of health care down our throats without our consent.
When I joined the United States Marine Corps, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. That was an oath I took very seriously indeed. When will our esteemed Senators, and the rest of our elected officials, do the same?
Bradley Harrington is a former United States Marine and a freelance writer from Wyoming.
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