There is no place in a constitutional democracy for the criminalization of policy.

First, either Mr. Jones actually believes this or he signed the petition for political reasons.  If he actually believes it, he is either a fool, an idiot or mentally ill, any of which should disqualify him for any office in government.  If he signed the petition as a means of political score-settling, that is not much better.  There is no place in a constitutional democracy for the criminalization of policy.  The United States would quickly devolve into a banana republic marked by back-room deals or military coups if this Obama-Jones Chicago-style criminal investigation of the prior administration keeps up.  Does Obama and his Czars somehow believe they are immune?  When the next attack comes, do they believe that the American people will not, this time justifiably, hold them accountable for distracting those responsible for protecting us with countless investigations, hearings and accusations of events long settled.

Second, accusing the government of complicity in events of the magnitude of 9/11 undermines the people’s faith in government.  It goes beyond partisan politics and attacks the very fabric of the social compact.  Whether you are a Republican or Democrat, your sworn obligation is uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States, and that obligation includes the protection of its people and their traditions of representative government–regardless of your nihilistic politics and anti-corporate blood lust.  Van Jones’s–and the environmentalists–hatred for all things corporate and all things traditionally American have distorted their senses and perverted all sense of reason.  If you don’t believe me, Exhibit A is this (allegedly unauthorized) ad for the World Wildlife Foundation, comparing 9/11 to the Christmas Eve Tsunami: (there was also a video version, no longer available online)

Finally, in a (hopefully) vain attempt to salvage his career, Van Jones now denies being part of the Truther movement, and says he didn’t read the letter carefully.  Oh, marvelous.  Just like Eric Holder and Timothy Geithner, Obama has decided to hand the reins of power to a man who cannot be bothered to pay attention to details.  That, too is a disqualification for office.

One other point, last night on Special Report, Maria Liasson tried to make the comparison between “Birthers,” those who believe President Obama was born in Kenya, and “Truthers.”  The comparison, I’m sure, has been made elsewhere. To her credit, Liasson, made clear, she was making the point that the people who believed these things were on equivalent ranges of the fringe, not that the magnitude of the purported hoax would be equivalent. Nonetheless, the comparison is ill-advised. First, Birthers are harmless.  As noted above, accusing the government of complicity in the death of thousands is a serious act of treason that undermines peoples faith in government.  Questioning the birth of a sitting President is a pointless act of futility.

As to the race card, which Obama’s supporters and the media (but I repeat myself) love to play, I would bet my last donut that, had McCain won, we would hear all sorts of similar nonsense about whether McCain was born in Panama City or not and what that meant. Second, and more importantly, the Birther controversy can be solved very simply by Obama complying with the one simple demand being made by the movement, such as it is: release his original birth certificate.  He refuses to, and I suspect for good reasons.  By refusing to release an original birth certificate, he knows he can foment this controversy over his birth and when necessary point to the Birthers and say, “look, the Right wingers are bunch of nut cases, who you gonna believe on [healthcare][cap and trade][card check][stimulus], them or me?”  Unlike the Birther movement, there is no way to disprove the crackheaded theory that Bush knew about 9/11 anymore than FDR knew about Pearl Harbor;  King Prium knew about the Trojan Horse or Throg knew about the jawbone under Grog’s loincloth.