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Van Jones: End of Beck’s show is ‘triumph of American values’

Alec Jacobs Contributor
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Van Jones gave the keynote speech yesterday at the Netroots Nation conference in Minneapolis. But the real fireworks came in an interview with Talking Points Memo.

The site asked Jones how he felt about the end of Glenn Beck’s show on Fox News, and Obama’s former green jobs czar didn’t disappoint.

“It’s a vindication of the basic decency and dignity of the American people. And it’s a vindication of, in some ways, of the way that the free enterprise system can self-correct.”

Jones and Beck have somewhat of a sordid history. Jones was working in the White House in 2009 when Beck began to discuss Jones’ past on his Fox show. Beck accused Jones of being a socialist and highlighted a petition he signed in support of a 9/11 conspiracy theory. Jones also came under fire for a video that surfaced of him calling Republican opponents “assholes.” (Young progressives honor Van Jones, ex-’green jobs czar’ denies bad blood with Obama)

After weeks of relentless scrutiny, Jones finally resigned from his White House post after apologizing for both the petition and the disparaging remarks made about Republicans. He has since joined the Center for American Progress as well as the teaching staff at Princeton University.

“If you violate the principles of good discourse and fair play in America,” Jones continued to tell TPM, “good American businesses will not stay with you and you won’t stay in the public square very long…So it’s not just a triumph of American capitalism. It’s a triumph of American values.”