Van Jones Replies: Today's News for June 30th

Yesterday, this blog covered the story about Van Jones being allegedly revealed to have denied the TRUTH of the Trump-Russia collusion story. Today, we have his reply:

CNN:

Van Jones: Much ado about nothing (burger) 

Serious question: Is anyone out there still gullible enough to fall for an edited, right-wing propaganda video -- in 2017?

Perhaps, although why does Jones wait until nearly the end of the column to actually respond to the specific allegation? Because he is spending the majority of the piece attacking James O'Keefe. While O'Keefe has had issues in the past, is THIS video inaccurately portraying what Van Jones believes?

Roll the tape, Van:

So let's turn back to the latest video from James O'Keefe, where I was supposedly caught on camera shrugging off the Russia investigation.

Interviewer: "What do you think is going to happen this week with the whole Russian thing?

Van Jones: "The whole Russia thing is a big nothing-burger. There is nothing you can do --"

Did I mean that there is "nothing" to the allegations that members of team Trump colluded with the Russians and then tried to cover it up by firing FBI Director James Comey? No -- and far from it. 

Then Jones tries to shoehorn his views into what he said on the video:

I said in a recent Twitter chat: "I am glad there is a Russia investigation, and I hope they get to the bottom of it. But I think Democrats are fooling ourselves if we think that something is going to come out of this investigation that is somehow going to end the Trump presidency and make everything better. Unless there is a real smoking gun, which there is probably not, it's just going to be a big old mess. Meanwhile we are not talking about jobs, not talking about poverty, not talking about solutions, not talking about the addiction crisis. Let's talk about our stuff."

In other words, no evidence is going to emerge ("THIS WEEK," soon, or maybe ever) that is powerful enough to force the craven GOP to oust Trump. Too many Democrats see the Russia controversy as some kind of magical "get out of jail free" card. They insist that we will be delivered from our misery -- as soon as the next shoe drops and Trump is impeached.

In other words, he likes the conspiracy theory, even though he admits there is no evidence of it, "'THIS WEEK', soon, or maybe ever". So he gets to keep his progressive street credibility, while still admitting what he said is the TRUTH.

If President Trump made this kind of statement, CNN would justifiably call "bull" on it.

In other news from CNN...

CNN:

House passes 'Kate's Law' and bill declaring war on sanctuary cities

House Republicans joined President Donald Trump on Thursday afternoon in declaring war on sanctuary cities -- passing legislation targeting the cities' funding while hammering a message of the dangers posed by undocumented immigrants.

"Kate's Law" is named for Kate Steinle, a young woman murdered on a busy walkway in San Francisco two years ago allegedly by an undocumented immigrant who was deported multiple times. It would increase maximum penalties for undocumented immigrants who repeatedly enter the country illegally after deportation, especially with criminal records. It passed 257-167.

The "No Sanctuary for Criminals Act" would expand what is required of cities regarding federal immigrant enforcement and allow the government to deny jurisdictions federal law enforcement funds if they don't comply. It passed 228-195.

The rest of the article expends much verbiage decrying the "war on sanctuary cities". It doesn't take a genius to figure out CNN likes sanctuary cities.

But if you need more proof, just look at the Fox News take on this story:

Fox News:

House passes Kate’s Law, as part of illegal immigrant crackdown

House Republicans took action Thursday to crack down on illegal immigrants and the cities that shelter them.

One bill passed by the House would deny federal grants to sanctuary cities and another, Kate’s Law, would increase the penalties for deported aliens who try to return to the United States.

Kate's Law, which would increase the penalties for deported aliens who try to return to the United States and caught, passed with a vote of 257 to 157, with one Republican voting no and 24 Democrats voting yes.

Notice how CNN and Fox each emphasize different aspects of the same bill? This is a clear case of biased reporting on both sides.