Beck made the comments after an article was published at Big Government on March 25, 2011, reporting about a videotape of Jones’ statement at the rally where he said America deserved the attacks.

Jones’ lawyer, Joseph E. Sandler, also claims that Jones had nothing to do with the rally, except that he spoke there. Sandler says that Jones “does not agree with the hateful, misguided statements” by some speakers featured in the video of the rally. If true, it would appear to be the first time Jones has chosen to disassociate himself from the speeches that cheered the attacks. At the time, Jones was reported to have praised the “wise…inner-city youth” at the rally. The lawyer does not say if Jones includes his own hateful statements in his present-day denunciation.

Jones comments at the rally were first reported at Indybay.org in the early of hours of September 13, 2001, shortly after the rally at Snow Park in Oakland, California ended:

A recurring theme of the speakers was the brutal violence committed by or supported by the United States government on a daily basis. “The bombs the government drops in Iraq are the bombs that blew up in New York City,” said Van Jones, director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, who also warned against forthcoming violence by the Bush Administration. “The US cannot bomb its way out of this one. Safety at home requires justice abroad.”

And:

“Everyone should be as wise as these inner-city youth here today,” Van Jones concluded. “We all have more in common with the working people of the earth than we do with George Bush or Colin Powell.”

A YouTube video of the rally posted by Bizzy Blog on September 8, 2009, captured statements by Jones and other speakers cheering the attacks and/or saying the U.S. deserved the attacks. The video was posted several days after Jones resigned from his Obama administration position as Green Jobs czar. Given the timing of the posting, the video did not draw much notice until Big Government reported on it in the March 25, 2011, article. The Bizzy Blog video went from a few hundred views on You Tube to nearly 23,000 views and was featured on Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity’s shows on Fox News.

Bizzy Blog transcribed Jones’ statements included in the video:

(at 4:38) “It’s the bombs that the government has been dropping around the world that are now blowing up inside the U.S. borders.”

And:

“We’ve got something stronger than bombs, we have solidarity. That dream of revolutionary change is stronger than bombs.”

The Bizzy Blog video also featured this statement from the rally by an unnamed male speaker:

“We’re always seeing America dropping bombs on people. Now the chicken is coming home to roost, as Malcolm say. (Cheers from the crowd.) We gotta deal with it. They got people so dedicated they gonna commit suicide to make their point. We gotta understand there’s a war going on that people are fighting for their own life, for their land. Right? We gotta support those people. We cannot let the lies of the media take our spirits down. We don’t want to see our people dying, innocent people dying. But in fighting a war, they don’t have the army to fight and block our warfare with the American people. Don’t call them cowards. They’re heroes that died. And they’re the people that we have to support in this case. The people of color are rising here and we gotta understand that. I just want to say we gotta support and don’t let this thing turn your spirits down. Turn ‘em up!” (transcribed by Kristinn Taylor)

Bizzy Blog also transcribed these remarks by a speaker at the rally cheering the attack on the Pentagon:

(at 4:10) “But when we knew what those places represented, we were kind of also glad that there’s a place called the Pentagon where, where, military strategies which have killed millions of people around the face of the world (unintelligible). We know, to see that place burnin’, there was some satisfaction to it.”

The Indybay article reported more anti-American statements at the rally cheering the attacks:

In a diverse international community shocked by recent world events, deep feelings about the United States government were expressed. A young Puerto Rican person said that “the belly of the beast had something back to eat.” A young Filipino human rights activist said that “when we found out what kind of place got hit, we were kind of glad to see the Pentagon burning. But we also know that thousands of Puerto Ricans, Haitians and other workers were in those buildings.” An African-American man who works on gentrification issues in West Oakland said that “we’re always seeing Americans drop bombs on people. We watch the Vietnamese get bombed, Iraqis get bombed, Palestinians get bombed, now it has come home to roost.” Japanese-Americans spoke about internment camps and the nuclear holocaust brought on by US militarism.

Violence and repression within the United States was also talked about. A representative of TransAction said:

“We know what it’s like to experience police violence on a daily basis.” Mesha Monge-Irizarry, the mother of Idriss Stelley (who was killed by SFPD in June), also spoke: “We pray for many lives killed by this government, of black people, and of innocent black people in the third world who will be slaughtered with this terrorism retaliation.”

United States support, in the form of arms and funding, for apartheid in Israel was also discussed. “You want to know why they hate us?” asked one woman. “Forty Israeli tanks just entered Jericho tonight.”

Those present were determined to make their voices heard in an increasingly hostile, war-mongering climate scripted by the government and recited by corporate media. They also vowed to fight within their own communities against racism and hostility towards Arab-Americans. Everyone sensed that this was an important time in history, and that the struggle against injustice requires international solidarity. “Everyone should be as wise as these inner-city youth here today,” Van Jones concluded. “We all have more in common with the working people of the earth than we do with George Bush or Colin Powell.”

Jones’ lawyer claims Jones did not organize or lead the rally. That claim appears to be contradicted by a press release issued by Jones’ Ella Baker Center promoting the rally in which Van Jones is quoted:

“Anti-Arab hostility is already reaching a fever pitch as pundits and common people alike rush to judgment that an Arab group is responsible for this tragedy,” said Van Jones, national executive director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. “We fear that an atmosphere is being created that will result in official and street violence against Arab men, women and children.”

“No matter who ultimately is to blame for these bombings, we cannot tolerate stereotypes and blanket attacks against any ethnic group,” said Raquel of STORM. “And we especially don’t want Asian-American, African-American, Latino or Native American communities getting pulled into a frenzy of hatred toward our sisters and brothers. We must stand together.”

Though people of color in particular will be invited to speak at the gathering, but everyone is welcome. (sic)

The Indybay article described the rally as:

Organized by youth and people of color in Oakland and San Francisco, solidarity speakers included supporters of Palestine, people returning from the WCAR in South Africa, police brutality activists, anarchists and socialists, anti-gentrification activists and other people representing dozens of cultures and ethnicities. International solidarity was the theme as community and activist groups stood together against the threat of more US violence.

Excerpt from Sandler’s letter to Fox News’ executive vice president for legal and business affairs, Dianne Brandi, from pages 5 and 6. The claim about the rally is the sixth of six complaints:

(6) “Jones organized/attended an Anti-America rally on 9/12/01″

On his program on FOX News Network on April 5, 2011, Mr. Beck stated, “we have recently found a videotape of what Van Jones was doing the day after 9/11. Where were you on 9/12?…[T]heir lives were lost because of our government, inhumane foreign policy…at what our country does around the rest of the world that leads us not to be safe her (sic)…Van Jones had similar words. That’s where he was on 9/11…Here he is the day of 9/11 at that same rally…It’(sic) the bombs that the government has been dropping around the world that are now blowing up inside the U.S. borders…When you see where he was, and what he said…when you hear what he was saying on 9/12/01, you might want to reconsider…This is a question you must ask yourself now. Do I see American (sic) the same way as these communists, radicals, revolutionaries and Islamists see America?”

Mr. Jones was one of many speakers at a small gathering in Oakland on Sept 12th 2001, convened to express shock and horror at the atrocities committed on 9/11. Mr. Jones did not organize or lead the gathering.

Mr. Jones does not agree with the hateful, misguided sentiments of some of the attendees featured in this clip and has never endorsed or adopted any such sentiments. His comments at the rally were for all people to eschew violence and pursue change through peaceful means. As with any political figure, he is often forced to share the stage with people with whom he strongly disagrees.

On behalf of Mr. Jones, we demand that the FOX News Network (i) immediately cease and desist from further dissemination of the above quoted statements or any statements similar in substance and (ii) broadcast on the Glenn Beck Program an express and specific retraction of these statements…

Jones’ lawyer does not dispute the veracity of the tape nor does he claim Jones was misquoted or quoted out of context. It’s hard to understand what Sandler’s claim is regarding Beck’s comments on the rally. Jones’ organization issued a press release on behalf of the other organizers with a quote from Jones on the purpose of the rally. That would undermine his claim that Jones did not organize or lead the rally.

Jones’ statement praising the rally belies the claim by Sandler that Jones was “forced” to share the stage with people he “strongly disagreed with.”

Jones’ own statements at the rally that are similar in tone to those by other speakers who cheered the attacks and said America deserved it make a mockery of Sandler’s claim that Jones has never “never endorsed or adopted any such sentiments.”

Jones is heard at the end of the rally video making a call for leftist revolution, destroying Sandler’s complaint about Beck’s characterization of the rally as “communists, radicals, revolutionaries and Islamists.”

Jones: “We’ve got something stronger than bombs, we have solidarity. That dream of revolutionary change is stronger than bombs.”

Photo collage by New Zeal blog

Jones, an anti-American communist radical who has rebranded his image as a “patriot” after being adopted by the leftist elite, has come a long way from being a 9/11 cheerleader and record producer for cop-killer Mumia Abu Jamal to striding the halls of power in Washington, D.C. and Princeton while traveling the country as a motivational speaker serving heaping helpings of eco-pablum to crowds of adoring liberals.

Jones was appointed in the Spring of 2009 by President Barack Obama to be his ‘green jobs czar’ but resigned his position several months later after hints of his radical past were exposed. At the time, Jones said he was a victim of a “vicious smear campaign” of “lies and distortions.”

Jones stated on Twitter his belief that the passage of time (but apparently not repentance) will make it harder to hold him accountable for his actions as a thirty-something Yale Law grad.

The older I get, the harder it will be for the Right to throw my past views in my face. Or mock my contributions. – 29 Mar (2011)

In the same conversation on Twitter, Jones spoke of his plans to join corporate boards.

Now I’m in process of launching private ventures+joining corporate boards. Will the Right will be glad? Or mad? – 29 Mar (2011)

Jones does not say which corporate boards he is considering joining. He served on the board of the leftist Rainforest Action Network alongside fellow Obama ally Jodie Evans in the mid-2000s. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the environmental group 1Sky.

Jones is also listed on several advisory boards for liberal education and environmental outfits.

Jones may have ruled out serving on the boards of these companies in a Tweet he posted Wednesday:

SO sad. RT, @TheNewDeal: GE, Exxon, BofA, Chevron, Boeing, Goldman, Citi, WellsFargo etc PAY NO TAXES & GOP Gives Them Tax Cut! #WIunion #p2 30 Mar

Corporations vetting Jones to sit on their boards will have to consider if having someone who less than ten years ago cheered the 9/11 terror attacks with a hate-America rally held the day after the attacks is suitable. They will also have to factor in the support Jones gave to Mumia Abu Jamal, a leftist radical convicted of murdering Philadelphia police officer Daniel J. Faulkner.

Jones went so far in his support for Mumia that he produced and appeared on a post-9/11 anti-American propaganda album narrated by Mumia called “WarTimes, Reports From the Opposition” that was released by Jones’ record label, Freedom Fighter Music.

The album contains virulently anti-American screeds such as this ditty reported by Big Journalism:

F*** the government, they never done s*** for me
For my people their defeat is a victory
“The man” wants the whole world under his thumb,
Plunders the globe and tries to buy us off with the crumbs…
That’s not your flag, not your government
Not your war, not your President
Now is not the time to be silent
Raise your voices, raise your fist
Against the real terrorist – Uncle Sam.

Jones also appears on the album in comments where he identifies himself as part of the “global struggle against the U.S.”:

About three minutes forty-five seconds into the highlight video, there is a brief interview with Van Jones at an anti-Israel demonstration where Jones criticizes Israel and calls for Palestinian ‘right of return’ and then unloads on the United States:

“We see violence against poor people and poor people of color within the U.S. border, at the U.S. border, and beyond the U.S. border and you see U.S. tax dollars funding all of it. And so we have this now global struggle against the U.S. led security apparatus and military agenda that impacts people here and impacts people around the world and I think that we need to see our problems as linked.”

The WarTimes album was part of an anti-American propaganda campaign ginned up by Bay Area leftists to undermine the post 9/11 war effort by the United States.

Jones served on the organizing committee for the proposed War Times biweekly newspaper to undermine the war effort.

The prospectus for War Times began:

The terrorist attacks of September 11 marked the beginning of a new and frightening period in our history. Thousands of people died that day, and their families along with the country as a whole are still struggling to recover. But President Bush’s response of “permanent war against terrorism at home and abroad” has further endangered the lives and liberties of millions of people everywhere.

The world’s most powerful nation has mercilessly bombed Afghanistan and is installing a neo-colonial government of its own choosing, although that country has never attacked the U.S.

The prospectus fails to mention the Taliban government of Afghanistan allowed al Qaeda to operate from Afghanistan and protected Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda after the attacks.

The prospectus describes another of the goals of War Times was to “build a mass movement against U.S. interventions abroad and link to it the struggles for social justice. The security and livelihood of people across the globe depend on success in this fight.”

The day after the 9/11 attacks, when the rest of the country was still in shock over the cold blooded mass murder of thousands of Americans, Jones led a rally that cheered the attacks and praised the terrorists as “heroes.”

Jones was videotaped at the rally saying America deserved the attacks:

(4:38) “It’s the bombs that the government has been dropping around the world that are now blowing up inside the U.S. borders…We’ve got something stronger than bombs, we have solidarity. That dream of revolutionary change is stronger than bombs.”

One speaker at Jones’ rally praised the attacks:

(4:10) “But when we knew what those places represented, we were kind of also glad that there’s a place called the Pentagon where, where, military strategies which have killed millions of people around the face of the world (unintelligible). We know, to see that place burnin’, there was some satisfaction to it.”

Another speaker (and the crowd!) cheered the attacks and called the terrorists “heroes.”

(3:06) ” We’re always seeing America dropping bombs on people. Now the chicken is coming home to roost, as Malcolm say. (Cheers from the crowd.) We gotta deal with it. They got people so dedicated they gonna commit suicide to make their point. We gotta understand there’s a war going on that people are fighting for their own life, for their land. Right? We gotta support those people. We cannot let the lies of the media take our spirits down. We don’t want to see our people dying, innocent people dying. But in fighting a war, they don’t have the army to fight and block our warfare with the American people. Don’t call them cowards. They’re heroes that died. And they’re the people that we have to support in this case. The people of color are rising here and we gotta understand that. I just want to say we gotta support and don’t let this thing turn your spirits down. Turn ‘em up!”

The rally was organized by Jones for “people of color.” According to the press release for the rally issued by Jones’ Ella Baker Center, white people were tolerated at the rally, but they were not invited to speak.

“Though people of color in particular will be invited to speak at the gathering, but everyone is welcome.” (sic)

Blatant racism and anti-Americanism such as that practiced by Jones at the rally would automatically disqualify anyone from serving on corporate boards, as would cutting a record with a cop killer. However, Jones is supported by the liberal elite.

Presently Jones serves at Princeton as a“distinguished visiting fellow in the Center for African American Studies and in the Program in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.”

Jones also was appointed a “Senior Fellow” at the Democratic party front group Center for American Progress after leaving the Obama administration.

Van Jones (Photo East Bay Express via zTruth)

When Obama administration Green jobs czar Anthony “Van” K. Jones resigned late Saturday night, September 5, 2009 over the long Labor Day weekend, a storm of breaking news about his radical anti-American history was being reported by conservative bloggers. One such storm was about the racist, hate-America rally Van Jones held the day after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the United States where speakers cheered the attacks and Jones himself said America deserved it.

World Net Daily was first to report on the rally, on August 28, 2009.

However, it was Powerline’s post the evening of September 3rd (and expanded on at Free Republic), hours before Jones’ resignation was announced, that included the first mention of what Jones said at the rally. The Powerline article was based on a leftwing report made at the time of the rally.

A YouTube video of the rally reported on by BizzyBlog on September 8th captures some of Jones’ remarks at the rally. (The quote from Jones is similar in nature to that quoted in the leftwing article. However, no context is given so Jones could have said both lines, or been accurately characterized but misquoted.)

Jones is featured twice at the end of the five minute video. BizzyBlog transcribed his comments:

(4:38) “It’s the bombs that the government has been dropping around the world that are now blowing up inside the U.S. borders.”

And:

“We’ve got something stronger than bombs, we have solidarity. That dream of revolutionary change is stronger than bombs.”

One unidentified speaker on the video praised the 9-11 attackers as heroes (transcribed by Kristinn Taylor).

“We’re always seeing America dropping bombs on people. Now the chicken is coming home to roost, as Malcolm say. (Cheers from the crowd.) We gotta deal with it. They got people so dedicated they gonna commit suicide to make their point. We gotta understand there’s a war going on that people are fighting for their own life, for their land. Right? We gotta support those people. We cannot let the lies of the media take our spirits down. We don’t want to see our people dying, innocent people dying. But in fighting a war, they don’t have the army to fight and block our warfare with the American people. Don’t call them cowards. They’re heroes that died. And they’re the people that we have to support in this case. The people of color are rising here and we gotta understand that. I just want to say we gotta support and don’t let this thing turn your spirits down. Turn ‘em up!”

An article posted by “gkt” at the leftwing site Indybay.org in the early hours of September 13, 2001 reported on the rally held just hours before in Oakland, California’s Snow Park:

A recurring theme of the speakers was the brutal violence committed by or supported by the United States government on a daily basis. “The bombs the government drops in Iraq are the bombs that blew up in New York City,” said Van Jones, director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, who also warned against forthcoming violence by the Bush Administration. “The US cannot bomb its way out of this one. Safety at home requires justice abroad.”

In a diverse international community shocked by recent world events, deep feelings about the United States government were expressed. A young Puerto Rican person said that “the belly of the beast had something back to eat.” A young Filipino human rights activist said that “when we found out what kind of place got hit, we were kind of glad to see the Pentagon burning. But we also know that thousands of Puerto Ricans, Haitians and other workers were in those buildings.” An African-American man who works on gentrification issues in West Oakland said that “we’re always seeing Americans drop bombs on people. We watch the Vietnamese get bombed, Iraqis get bombed, Palestinians get bombed, now it has come home to roost.” Japanese-Americans spoke about internment camps and the nuclear holocaust brought on by US militarism.

Violence and repression within the United States was also talked about. A representative of TransAction said, “We know what it’s like to experience police violence on a daily basis.” Mesha Monge-Irizarry, the mother of Idriss Stelley (who was killed by SFPD in June), also spoke: “We pray for many lives killed by this government, of black people, and of innocent black people in the third world who will be slaughtered with this terrorism retaliation.”

United States support, in the form of arms and funding, for apartheid in Israel was also discussed. “You want to know why they hate us?” asked one woman. “Forty Israeli tanks just entered Jericho tonight.”

Those present were determined to make their voices heard in an increasingly hostile, war-mongering climate scripted by the government and recited by corporate media. They also vowed to fight within their own communities against racism and hostility towards Arab-Americans. Everyone sensed that this was an important time in history, and that the stuggle against injustice requires international solidarity. “Everyone should be as wise as these inner-city youth here today,” Van Jones concluded. “We all have more in common with the working people of the earth than we do with George Bush or Colin Powell.”<

The article described the gathering as:

Organized by youth and people of color in Oakland and San Francisco, solidarity speakers included supporters of Palestine, people returning from the WCAR in South Africa, police brutality activists, anarchists and socialists, anti-gentrification activists and other people representing dozens of cultures and ethnicities. International solidarity was the theme as community and activist groups stood together against the threat of more US violence.

The comment by one of Jones’ “wise inner-city youth” cheering the attack on the Pentagon appears on the video and was transcribed by BizzyBlog:

(4:10) “But when we knew what those places represented, we were kind of also glad that there’s a place called the Pentagon where, where, military strategies which have killed millions of people around the face of the world (unintelligible). We know, to see that place burnin’, there was some satisfaction to it.”

A press release for the rally issued by Van Jones’ Ella Baker Center and STORM, bluntly stated the groups’ leftist race-baiting agenda:

Anti-Arab hostility is already reaching a fever pitch as pundits and common people alike rush to judgment that an Arab group is responsible for this tragedy,” said Van Jones, national executive director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. “We fear that an atmosphere is being created that will result in official and street violence against Arab men, women and children.”

“No matter who ultimately is to blame for these bombings, we cannot tolerate stereotypes and blanket attacks against any ethnic group,” said Raquel of STORM. “And we especially don’t want Asian-American, African-American, Latino or Native American communities getting pulled into a frenzy of hatred toward our sisters and brothers. We must stand together.”

Though people of color in particular will be invited to speak at the gathering, but everyone is welcome. (sic)

The groups behind the instant racist hate-America rally were listed in the press release as:

the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Let’s Get Free, Youth Force Coalition, JustAct, Bay Area PoliceWatch, Underground Railroad and STORM/Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement.

Van Jones was a founder of STORM.

Newsbusters was the highest profile outlet to report on Jones’ remarks. After he resigned from the Obama administration, reporting on Jones’ background ceased. Even when he was picked up by Princeton and the Center for American Progress, the media swept his radical past under the rug.

In forthcoming articles, we’ll be picking the rug up to show more of what we and others found and reported about Anthony “Van” Jones that momentous Labor Day weekend of 2009.

The headline read: Sarah Palin Uses Alternate Facebook Accunt to Praise Sarah Palin.

The article, posted in Slate’s “Slatest” section, is based on an article from Wonkette titled, Sarah Palin Has Secret ‘Lou Sarah’ Facebook Account To Praise Other Sarah Palin Facebook Account, that in a rare show of class for Wonkette does not use the sexist slur in the article.

Several commmenters at Slatest criticized Slate for the slur. Others, however, cheered: “”Accunt” lol, Perfect. No accident.” And “Accunt is a just made up word — like refudiate.”

Given Slate’s prominence as a respected part of the mainstream media with professional standards to uphold, an innocent typo of this magnitude with this subject is highly unlikely. (For the benefit of Media Matters senior blogger Eric Boehlert, try to imagine Slate “accidentally” doing the same to Michelle Obama or Nancy Pelosi. It wouldn’t happen.)

A check of the home pages of Slate and Slatest revealed perfection in dozens of headlines–except for the one about Sarah Palin. The layout of Slate features an above the fold box with the latest headlines from Slatest which means that the “Accunt” headline was prominently featured yesterday Slate’s homepage.

Slate editor David Plotz issued a statement to Big Journalism Wednesday morning stating the headline was a “mistake” and “not intended.”

“It’s embarrassing. It’s a mistake, and of course we didn’t intend it. It slipped by our corrections monitoring yesterday night. We’re correcting it now.”

The headline has been corrected and a notice appended to the article admitting the use of the slur:

“Correction, Feb. 23: This post’s headline originally included a profanity. It has been fixed.”

No apology to Palin was issued by Plotz or Slate.

During the 2008 presidential campaign, liberal activists paraded in public wearing t-shirts emblazoned in large lettering, “Sarah Palin is a c***” with the c-word fully spelled out.

Last month, as reported by Big Journalism, Slate’s parent company The Washington Post engaged in online political activism against Sarah Palin by launching an anti-Palin Twitter campaign accompanied by an anti-Palin logo.

The Slate article itself does not bear a timestamp, but the comments begin at “Yesterday, 5:18:42 p.m.” indicating the article with the offensive headline was up for approximately eighteen hours before being corrected after being queried about it by Big Journalism.

Palin denied having a secret Facebook account, writing on her official Facebook page “On a side note, there’s always buzz about fake Sarah Palin Facebook and Twitter accounts. Please know that this is my only authentic Facebook account and SarahPalinUSA is my only authentic Twitter account. Pay no attention to the fake accounts and their fake messages.”

Our Capitol Hill Insider Elizabeth Letchworth is keeping us up to date with Congress’ attempts to give the President an Internet kill switch.  Tea Party Nation’s Judson Phillips is warning against it.  From the Honorable Elizabeth Letchworth of GradeGov.com:

“The Senate Leader introduced this bill as a placeholder for the 112th Congress. He wants to use it to push Judiciary, Commerce, and Homeland Security committees to write cyber security legislation. Don’t be surprised if the Senate has a vote on this soon to show that cyber security is important to Congress, especially given the Egypt situation and the closing down of the internet. As always, the devil is in the details and S. 21 is vague to say the least.”

In an effort to resolve the rules impasse that stalled the opening day house-keeping organizational resolutions in the U.S. Senate, the two Senate leaders engaged in a colloquy (formal discussion or conference) on Jan. 27, 2011. In this colloquy, the two leaders conceded the following:

Senator McConnell:

“And, in my Caucus, I have many Senators who have complained that the Majority Leader has abused his ability to “fill the amendment” tree, preventing Senators from offering and debating amendments that they believe are important, especially when a matter has not gone through committee or cloture is filed too quickly.”

Senator Reid:

“As we have discussed, in the interests of comity and more open process in the Senate, we have agreed that we should use these procedural options of filling the amendment tree and filibustering the motion to proceed infrequently.  And, we’ll do our best to ensure that other Members of our caucuses respect this colloquy, as well.”

It is with this colloquy in mind that the Senate could see more bills introduced that will have the same bland tone as was included in the text of S. 21. The text states the obvious, outlines a serious national problem, but doesn’t address any resolution to that problem.

The idea is that the Senate would first vote on the vague expression of the problem, like the language used in S. 21 bill. Once the Senate has voted on the “expression of urgency” wording included in bills similar to S. 21, a vote in support of would serve to insulate and protect Senators from criticism when they ultimately support follow-up legislation with “teeth”,  and resolve to address whatever serious issue is facing our nation.

Here’s the vague wording of Senate 21:

GRA11045 S.L.C.

112TH CONGRESS ST SESSION
S21

To secure the United States against cyber attack, to enhance American competitiveness and create jobs in the information technology industry, and to protect the identities and sensitive information of American citizens IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES:

Mr. REID (for himself, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. KERRY, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, and Mr. BINGAMAN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on llllllllll A BILL To secure the United States against cyber attack, to enhance American competitiveness and create jobs in the information technology industry, and to protect the identities and sensitive information of American citizens and businesses.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cyber Security and American Cyber Competitiveness Act of 2011’’.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Malicious state, terrorist, and criminal actors exploiting vulnerabilities in information and communications networks and gaps in cyber security pose one of the most serious and rapidly growing threats to both the national security and economy of the United States.

(2) With information technology now the backbone of the United States economy, a critical element of United States national security infrastructure and defense systems, the primary foundation of global communications, and a key enabler of most critical infrastructure, nearly every single American citizen is touched by cyberspace and is threatened by cyber attacks.

(3) Malicious actors in cyberspace have already caused significant damage to the United States Government, the United States economy, and United States citizens: United States Government computer networks are probed millions of times each day; approximately 9,000,000 Americans have their identities stolen each year; cyber crime costs American businesses with 500 or more employees an average of $3,800,000 per year; and intellectual property worth over $1,000,000,000,000 has already been stolen from American businesses.

(4) In its 2009 Cyberspace Policy Review, the White House concluded, ‘‘Ensuring that cyberspace is sufficiently resilient and trustworthy to support United States goals of economic growth, civil liberties and privacy protections, national security, and the continued advancement of democratic institutions requires making cybersecurity a national priority.’’

(5) An effective solution to the tremendous challenges of cyber security demands cooperation and integration of effort across jurisdictions of multiple Federal, State, local, and tribal government agencies, between the government and the private sector, and with international allies, as well as increased public awareness and preparedness among the American people.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that Congress should enact, and the President should sign, bipartisan legislation to secure the United States against cyber attack, to enhance American competitiveness and create jobs in the in formation technology industry, and to protect the identities and sensitive information of American citizens and

(1) enhancing the security and resiliency of United States Government communications and in formation networks against cyber attack by nation states, terrorists, and cyber criminals;

(2) incentivizing the private sector to quantify, assess, and mitigate cyber risks to their communica

(3) promoting investments in the American in formation technology sector that create and maintain good, well-paying jobs in the United States and help to enhance American economic competitiveness;

(4) improving the capability of the United States Government to assess cyber risks and prevent, detect, and robustly respond to cyber attacks against the government and the military;

(5) improving the capability of the United States Government and the private sector to assess cyber risk and prevent, detect, and robustly respond to cyber attacks against United States critical infrastructure;

(6) preventing and mitigating identity theft and guarding against abuses or breaches of personally identifiable information;

(7) enhancing United States diplomatic capacity and international cooperation to respond to emerging cyber threats, including promoting security and freedom of access for communications and information networks around the world and battling global cyber crime through focused diplomacy;

(8) protecting and increasing the resiliency of United States’ critical infrastructure and assets, including the electric grid, military assets, the financial sector, and telecommunications networks against cyber attacks and other threats and vulnerabilities;

(9) expanding tools and resources for investigating and prosecuting cyber crimes in an manner that respects privacy rights and civil liberties and promotes American innovation; and

(10) maintaining robust protections of the privacy of American citizens and their on-line activities and communications.

—

Judson Phillips of the Tea Party Nation cautions that as riots grow in Egypt and debate rages whether Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak can remain in power, American citizens need to be watching closely.

“The lesson we in the Tea Party movement need to be paying attention to is Egypt and the Internet. In response to the crisis, the Egyptian government has cut off almost all Internet access to the country and has disrupted cell phone service.  They understand, if the opposition cannot communicate, they cannot be effective.”

The Internet was critical in getting the tea party movement going, connecting concerned citizens through social media such as Facebook, and communicating information about rallies via email and Twitter.

“As conditions in America continue to go from bad to worse and the possibility of new, large demonstrations against the regime loom, do you think Obama would not hesitate to pull the Internet kill switch?” Phillips asks.

The Internet has revolutionized freedom and democracy.  Tell our Senators they must not tamper with the free flow of information on the Internet, no matter the circumstances.  You can reach them  – all 100 of them — directly via their personal email box through GradeGov.com.

“We hope the Egyptians get so annoyed they just want to get rid of us.” Jodie Evans, Cairo, December 29, 2009

Code Pink co-founder Jodie Evans meets with President Barack Obama weeks after meeting the Taliban, Oct. 15, 2009.

One year ago, Big Government reported the anti-American global left, led by Code Pink, traveled to Egypt to undermine the blockade of Hamas-controlled Gaza.

President Barack Obama funder and Code Pink co-founder Jodie Evans, accompanied by Obama’s Hyde Park friends and neighbors –  the former Weather Underground terrorists Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn –  organized an inside-outside game of political theater to bring pressure on the Mubarak regime to allow the aid for Hamas to be delivered though Egyptian checkpoints.

On one hand, Evans and Code Pink lobbied Mubarak’s wife for assistance, as well as the U.S. embassy in Cairo. On the other hand, the group led hundreds of Western leftists in challenging the Egyptian government with boisterous street protests.

Code Pink was not shy about its support for Hamas. The group bragged that Hamas terrorists guaranteed their safety in Gaza.

At the same time, Code Pink had also allied itself with the Muslim Brotherhood. Code Pink took out banner ads on the Muslim Brotherhood’s official English language Web site asking jihadis to “join us in cleansing our country” of so-called war criminals which included former President George W. Bush and wife Laura.

The Muslim Brotherhood is banned in Egypt and is widely considered to be the father of the modern Islamic terrorist movement.

It is telling that the protests Friday in Egypt were dubbed by the Muslim Brotherhood, a “day of rage.”

The Brotherhood said its members will demonstrate “with all the national Egyptian forces, the Egyptian people, so that this coming Friday [today] will be the general day of rage for the Egyptian nation.”

“Days of Rage” is what the Weathermen called their violent, riotous protests in Chicago in 1969.

The question is begged: What have Obama’s allies Ayers, Dohrn and Code Pink taught the Muslim Brotherhood and other anti-Mubarak organizations in Egypt about using protests, riots and the modern social media to coordinate their actions to undermine the Mubarak regime?

Being that they have common enemies–the United States, Israel, and governements allied with them–it is understandable that they would be allies. It must give them encouragement that President Obama has yet to disavow Jodie Evans and Code Pink, but instead continues to do business with them as Evans and Code Pink act as conduits between terrorists and Obama.

In a Thanksgiving Day message posted Nov. 25th on her Facebook page, Palin opened her post with a tongue in cheek send-up of President Barack Obama in which no fewer than ten of his verbal gaffes and misstatements were included and sourced.

My fellow Americans in all 57 states, the time has changed for come. With our country founded more than 20 centuries ago, we have much to celebrate – from the FBI’s 100 days to the reforms that bring greater inefficiencies to our health care system. We know that countries like Europe are willing to stand with us in our fight to halt the rise of privacy, and Israel is a strong friend of Israel’s. And let’s face it, everybody knows that it makes no sense that you send a kid to the emergency room for a treatable illness like asthma and they end up taking up a hospital bed. It costs, when, if you, they just gave, you gave them treatment early, and they got some treatment, and ah, a breathalyzer, or an inhalator. I mean, not a breathalyzer, ah, I don’t know what the term is in Austrian for that…

The point Palin was making was that though everyone occasionally goofs up — including the President, you might not remember hearing about his, “because for the most part the media didn’t consider them newsworthy,” Palin wrote.

Such is not the case when it comes to Palin who in the course of a radio interview with Glenn Beck, mistakenly referred to South Korea as North Korea, but then quickly corrected herself.  Media Matters blogger Oliver Willis, writing at his personal blog, posted the audio clip of Palin’s slip.  Willis is one of several liberal bloggers who met recently with President Obama at the White House.

Responding to Palin’s “57 states” comment, Media Matters’ Eric Boehlert wrote “Palin Concocts More Media Sins“.  Boehlert uses a search of Nexis to make Media Matters’ disingenuous case that Palin has overblown media coverage of her “We have to stand by our North Korean allies” flub made during the interview with Beck on his radio show last Wednesday.

Boehlert smears Palin, describing her as being nuts in some manner or form, “self-obsessed” and imagining things.

“Fox News’ Sarah Palin is now so consumed with every real or imagined media wrong against her that she’s to the point where she’s attacking the press for stuff they don’t even do.”

Even though Palin’s slip was reported in headlined stories by American and international wire services, as well as major news sites across America and around the globe, Boehlert claims “major American newspaper(s) did not turn the Palin/North Korea gaffe into a “major political headline,” did not treat it as news, and did not even mention it as news when it occurred .”  Boehlert changes Palin’s assertion of major political headlines to major newspaper headlines, a sleight of hand that allows Boehlert to use Nexis to list major American news outlets that supposedly did not report on Palin’s slip:

“New York Times; Wall Street Journal; Los Angeles Times; Washington Post; New York Post; Houston Chronicle; Philadelphia Inquirer; Newsday; Denver Post; Arizona Republic; Minneapolis Star Tribune; Dallas Morning News; Cleveland Plain Dealer; Seattle Times; Chicago Sun-Times”

Boehlert also claims broadcast media did not cover Palin’s slip:

“What other news outlets ignored Palin’s verbal gaffe when it occurred? All three major networks–ABC, CBS, and NBC–as well as CNN, Fox News, PBS and NPR.”

However, Boehlert fails to note the story exploded on major news sites on the Web within hours of Palin’s slip.

Boehlert also conveniently fails to note that the faux scandal was initiated by his fellow Media Matters writer Oliver Willis.

A Google News search reveals the following global reporting trying to paint Palin as ignorant for what a transcript of the interview with Beck reveals to be a simple slip of the tongue.

The Associated Press article Palin Draws Fire With North Korea Gaffe was published at 162 news sites according to Google News, including The Washington Post; Newsday; CBS News; The Miami Herald; The Kansas City Star; and The Huffington Post.

Another wire service, AFP, headlined their article, In Gaffe, Palin Supports Our North Korea Allies’. UPI titled their article Palin Silent on North Korea ‘Ally’ Gaffe.

Newsbusters reported that ABC News mentioned Palin’s slip on Good Morning America.

Also contrary to Boehlert’s shoddy propaganda is this Wall Street Journal report titled, Sarah Palin Says US Must ‘Stand With North Korea Allies’ and a Los Angeles Times piece titled, Why Make a Big Deal Out of Sarah Palin’s ‘our North Korean allies’ Gaffe which concluded the media should make a big deal of it.

In addition to carrying the AP article, CBS News did a stand alone article titled, Sarah Palin Mistakenly Calls N. Korea an “Ally” which drew 1075 comments.

Political news sites played up Palin’s slip, including MSNBC; The Hill; Politico; and The Atlantic Wire, which gleefully headlined their article, Quote of the Day: Palin Sticks With ‘North Korean’ Allies.

The story quickly went around the globe. British news outlets reporting Palin’s slip included: The Guardian; the BBC; Sky News; and The Daily Mail.

The Daily Express headlined their article Let’s Back North Korea Says Blundering Sarah Palin.

Palin’s slip was also reported in Korea; China; Hong Kong; Malaysia; India; New Zealand and Australia.