This diary is for the edification of all my fellow Kossacks, but it is primarily for the Obama campaign, which tirelessly scours the net like any good campaign should. The underlining thesis of this diary is simple. General James Jones cannot be VP.
Earlier this morning, NBC released the following bit of information via Chuck Todd:
So you think you know who's on Obama's veep short list? Well, think again. According to sources on the Hill, Obama veep vetters -- specifically Jim Johnson and Eric Holder -- have been asking Dem members of Congress this week their input about potential running mates. The conversations are free-flowing but one name the vetters are inserting in the conversations is one that is not a household name... Ret. Gen. James Jones, the former Marine-turned-NATO Supreme Allied Commander.
Jones, a Vietnam vet born in Kansas City, MO (swing state alert!), was a career military officer rising to one of the highest posts possible. Now retired, Jones has been critical of the number of troops currently in Afghanistan. He's been appointed to independent posts by both the Democratic Congress and the Republican-run State Department
Jones currently is the president and CEO of the Institute for 21st Century Energy, which is an affiliate of the US Chamber of Commerce, not exactly the type of organization a typical Democrat gets involved with. Potentially problematic is that he's on Chevron's board. He also serves on the boards of Boeing and Invacare, a manufacturer and distributor of medical equipment. (Invacare’s slogan, ironically, is: "Yes, you can.")
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/...
At first glance, Jones looks good. He's kind of like another Wes Clark at first glance, right? Well, not quite.
An acquaintance at another board I frequent was horrified at the thought of Jones. He posted the following:
General James Jones came across as one of the most racist, belligerent people I've had the displeasure of having to film. He gave the opening keynote at a conference I was filming and made some of the most offensive remarks about Muslims and Europe I've heard.
He went off about "frightening statistics" that we should be aware of, and gave these two specific lines: that in Belgium, last year, more children were born with Muslim surnames than Christian surnames, and that in a couple of decades, the Muslim population would reach 20-30%.
Seriously, I'm going to pull up the clips and youtube them today, hopefully we can get him out of the running. No way should he be allowed anywhere near the ticket.
I posted this in an earlier comment, and got called out (and rightfully so), for how tenuous it was to quote without linking to an anonymous comment from an unnamed board.
Thankfully, the poster has supplied video.
http://wacsf.vportal.net/...
The comments are from the Asilomar Conference of 2008. Jones gave the Keynote address.
The clip above is in RealPlayer format and is the entire speech. To see the offending and unacceptable comments about Muslims, go to 1:01:30 in the video.
It's as simple as that. General Jones cannot be VP. Spread the word.