Van Jones Resignation Rattles the White House

The resignation of White House environmental adviser Van Jones, which handed President Obama an unwelcome distraction at a tough time, again showed a lapse in the administration's vetting, reports the Washington Post. Support for Jones, considered a highly skilled advocate for the green energy revolution, eroded over the weekend as more controversial connections emerged—his advocacy for convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal, and involvement with with a now-defunct Bay Area radical group called Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement.

Republicans and allies first targeted Jones because of his signature on a petition questioning whether George W. Bush allowed the 9/11 attacks to happen as a pretense for going to war, and a speech in which he called Republicans "assholes." An organization Jones founded led the push to encourage advertisers to boycott the Glenn Beck show after Beck called Obama a racist. Jones wasn't vetted as thoroughly as other advisers because his position didn't require Senate confirmation.
(More Van Jones stories.)