Yes, I am still on vacation, but I can’t let this gem pass without some sort of comment. Fox News features a new environmental movement that wants to grant “human rights” to very non-human objects — and in some cases, inanimate objects. Via Greg Hengler, no one will be at all surprised to find out that Van Jones is at the forefront of this effort:

Actually, what this should be called is the Ambulance Chaser Full Employment Act. It would make law schools the center of American civilization, churning out attorneys for literally every object under the sun, including the sun itself. If people think the EPA and the Endangered Species Act act as a sledgehammer to business (especially energy production), just wait until dirt, rocks, trees, and streams suddenly get specific “rights” standing in court. The entire idea targets private property as a concept. In fact, at least philosophically if not legally, the concept of human rights for nature and natural objects turns private property ownership into a form of slavery.

Mostly, this movement is a clumsy enough attack on production and private property that its transparent hostility to traditional American values makes it a dead letter, a cry from the lunatic fringe. But what does it say about Barack Obama that he gave one of its leaders a key spot in the beginning of his administration?