This guy created the position "faith czar"
I want to begin with an apology. This post is way to long. You might want to stop reading now. Also, I am sorry to post about politics so quickly. But, all this fox news ranting about Obama’s mighty “czars” is really beginning to annoy me. I prefer writing about food and vikings and pirates and stuff, but I really want to set the record straight with this czar nonsense. Here we go:
First off, according to my one stop knowledge shop, wikipedia, President George W. Bush appointed 35 czars over his career, and Obama has only appointed 31. To be fair, Obama has been in there for a short period of time, and will likely beat Bush’s record, but its not as if Obama started this game. Before bush the highest number of czars was 12. Where were you, fox news, with your rants about big government, when Bush began this trend of appointing Czars?
I think I know. The czars which bush appointed were ones you liked. You don’t like Obama’s czars. Lets take a look at Bush’s noble appointees:
This jerk was the all-mighty abstinence czar
Would you believe this? Bush appointed an “Abstinence Czar.” There was actually a guy working for the Whitehouse, who was responsible for curbing the global aids outbreak, and his chief weapon was the “A-B-C” method. First off, we aren’t in kindergarten. Secondly, are you f***ing serious? For those of you not familiar with your A-B-C’s, it stands for Abstinence, Being Faithful, and Correct and Consistent Condom Usage. His genious plan is don’t have sex. If it were that simple we wouldn’t need a czar. Then he says once your in a committed relationship, you can have sex but don’t cheat. Finally, if you’re forced into having sex outside of a committed relationship, consistently and correctly use a condom. This guy seriously needs his head examined. If you’re forced into sex what are the odds you stopped by the liquor store, grabbed some rubbers, and then convinced your rapist to put them on. Get real dude.
And, as if it isn’t surprising, this married man was forced to resign after he got caught screwing hookers. Think he consistently and correctly used a condom during these escapades? I doubt it. So much for this czar.
And the next outrageous Bush czar is: Bird Flu Czar!
Okay, so this guy isn’t so outrageous, I just really like the name they gave him on wikipedia. Anyways, it would be pretty tough to beat out the abstinence czar in the realm of outrageousness. Bird Flu Czar was accused by some of being unqualified but the accusations didn’t hold up well. He was pretty qualified. I didn’t get the bird flu. Really though, I think this animal flu stuff is more of a scare tactic and I’m glad Obama has no Pig Flu Czar (yet).
Next Bush-era czar is: Faith Czar!
This guy isn’t super bad but he did co-author a school text book which was widely circulated and claimed that:
Global Warming is not real, it is merely a product of activist scientists (scientists agree it is real).
Praying in school was outlawed by the Supreme Court (it never was).
The constitution was crafted around the Christian idea of original sin (it is clearly a secular document).
Additionally, the whole idea for a faith czar is dumb. We don’t need one. This is supposed to be a secular government. I’m quite disappointed that Obama kept this position.
Anyways, that’s enough about Bush’s czars. He has many more but the rest are less controversial and I’m tired of researching them. Lets check out some of Obama’s recent appointments:
The first one I looked into is Obama’s “WMD czar.” This position was called for by at least four separate commissions, all of which (I think, don’t quote me) were bush era. Bush clearly didn’t want to appoint another czar so he opted for a troop surge and must have figured they could handle the WMD’s (I guess it worked, since there were none to be found in iraq). So, Obama appointed a WMD czar, who was said to be qualified by a fox news article. Now, I’m not too big on this whole war on terror, but it does seem logical to have a dude who’s job is to make sure ‘terrorists’* are not getting their hands on WMD’s.
*SIDE NOTE: I quote 'terrorists' because its a silly rhetorical term. Anyone who uses fear to make you do something you don't want to do is technically a terrorist. This includes all police officers and all soldiers.
Terrorist or dutiful public servant?
Next Obama Czar: Regulation Czar: This guy seems drastically needed. His job is to regulate recipients of bailout cash. The biggest problem with the bailouts is that CEO’s use it for private jets and vacations while the common worker is still getting screwed. The government actually needs more people doing this job. I don’t care if you call them czar or king or chief. Just don’t let those corporate assholes drink margaritas in the Caribbean with my tax money.
Adding to the list – Obama appointed a tech czar. Being that Obama is likely the first president capable of using the internet, this is a fitting thing to do. The government is way behind on this one. By now, any organization with a drive for efficiency has fully embraced the technological revolution. If the government is ever going to effectively serve its people, this is something that needed to be done. I hope she will embrace the internet to offer transparency, efficiency, and open communication with constituents. Good move.
Next, we have the middle east peace czar, which seems like a good idea to me. Finally we have someone who is trying to resolve our conflicts with negotiations rather than explosions. It seems like this kind of approach might improve our image a bit overseas. Additionally, other than being a big corporate hot-shot for Xerox, Walt Disney, and the Boston Red Sox, this czar has a pretty decent track record, and played a large roll in ending the local violence in Northern Ireland through a treaty.
Next Czar: Guantanamo Closure Czar. This is something that the president promised to do, really ought to do, and is trying to do by appointing this czar. I don’t see anything wrong with making one guy responsible for getting this task done. It needs to be done, appoint a czar if you like, end of story.
Moving on – and heres the big one – Obama appointed Anthony Van Jones to the position the media would go on to call the “Green Jobs Czar.” This really pissed off fox news, and is another position I think is important. We are currently destroying this little planet of ours, and Van Jones had a plan to go green the American way – with good old fashioned capitalism. I say had, because, as you probably know, Glenn Beck and all the good folks over at fox news stirred up enough controversy that this old chap was forced to resign.
What was wrong with him, you may ask? Was he not qualified? Lets check it out:
This guy really isn't as bad as they make him seem
According to the infallible source wikipedia, Jones has been both dedicated to and honored for his position regarding the environment. He began promoting eco-capitalism in 2005, started a “Green Collar Jobs Campaign,” and created Green For All, an NGO dedicated to providing environmentally friendly jobs to poor people. Additionally, he served on the board for at least 6 nonprofit and/or environmental organizations.
Then, in October of 2008, he published his first book, titled The Green Collar Economy, which supposedly laid out plans for fixing our economy and the environment. Sounds like a good idea to me. Despite having little resources for marketing, the book reached #12 on the New York Times bestseller list.
Clearly, he was overly qualified for a position as “Green Jobs Czar.” Why then was he forced into resignation? Two reasons. First, he was a communist. Second, Glenn Beck.
Personally, communism is not my cup of tea. I’m a fan of Karl Marx, and much of his writing I consider brilliant, but the economic system he invented, while good natured, always fails because there is absolutely no incentive for humans to get off their asses and work. This shouldn’t be news to anyone.
Communism is definitely not Glenn Beck’s cup of tea. In fact he completely despises anyone associated with it, and probably does not understand it. I doubt he’s read much Marx in his life. I actually doubt he’s read much of anything in his life.
Anyways, Glenn Beck essentially got Jones fired after the following information was exposed:
- Jones supported Mumia Abu-Jamal. We won’t get into this, but lets just say it’s not something a presidential appointee should be supporting.
- Jones signed a 9/11 truth petition. I have no problem with this. I think that every official story should always be questioned, regardless of the administration or the emotional strings attached. The official story is fishy, check it out for yourself, demanding answers is not a bad thing.
- Jones was caught giving a speech at Berkley where he said that Congressional Republicans were assholes. This is true. They are. So are most of the democrats. This shouldn’t be big news to anyone.
- Jones has a past of being involved with a radical Marxist group called STORM which is not much different than any other radical group. They are basically communists who have some quite legitimate social concerns.
Now, you might think this is good reason to get Jones fired. I don’t agree. Here’s what I’m thinking:
Jones was appointed to make sure companies are taking a turn towards environmentally friendly products and policies. He is probably the best qualified person in the country to do this, and I don’t think his radical ties have any impact on his ability to do this job.
If, on the other hand, Jones was appointed “Chief of Economic Policy” or something similar, you can bet I would protest his appointment. But, he was not. He was appointed to help businesses be environmentally friendly. He is dedicated to that cause, and I think he is the best person to do it.
Additionally, while I do not support his communist endeavors, I understand how he got to that point. Our country really has a long way to go to fix the institutionalized racism which is unfortunately ingrained into our system. Jones was illegally arrested at a Rodney King protest. He witnessed (as I have) rich white kids doing drugs semi-publicly with little to no consequences while urban and poor black kids were sent to jail for doing the same thing. This is a real problem, not some radical conspiracy. It is understandable that when a system treats you and your peers unjustly, a basic human response is feelings of anger, distrust, and rebellion.
Jones also founded PoliceWatch, an internet database for keeping track of all reported police brutality. I think that police brutality is too common and under-reported. Also, when reported it is under prosecuted. Starting this database was a heroic and democratic way of returning the power to the people and he should be honored for these actions.
Anyways, back to the original topic. Obama’s Czars are not all that bad. They are way better than Bush’s and most of them are doing important jobs. By assigning people to the many jobs which need to get done, the obama administration is demonstrating their willingness to execute some of their campaign rhetoric and make progressive changes now. Although I still think the administration is not doing the best job, can we please quit ranting about these czars and focus on Obama’s actual mistakes? Hasta Luego Otra Vez,
-andy
P.S. to view some completely absent minded entertainment, check this out.