What did the White House know about Van Jones’ Trutherism and when did they know it? Charles Krauthammer asks this question and calls the revelation about the Green Jobs Czar “devastating,” much more so than an epithet directed at Republicans that most of us have used at a wide range of people. Does Barack Obama believe that it’s acceptable to have paranoid conspiracists in high-level appointments, or was the White House simply too incompetent to properly research Jones in the vetting process? Because it comes down to those two options, and regardless of what we think of Jones, the blame for him being in the White House falls squarely on Obama (via RedState)

Meanwhile, Jim Hoft, who broke the story originally, finds evidence that this was not just a mistake in not reading the petition, as Jones tried to spin it yesterday. Jones also took part in a rally in 2002 that included some of the Truther conspiracy theories. He’s got screen caps of the rally information and Jones’ endorsement (#6 on the list), but here’s the heart of their protest (emphases mine):

Who created, trained and funded the Al Qaeda Network? What is the relationship between Bin Laden, his family and the Bush family and the Carlyle Group? Why were no fighter planes dispatched to intercept the four hijacked planes on September 11h , in violation of standard procedures? Who actually was in control of the “hijacked planes”? What is the U.S. relationship with Pakistan, and especially with its intelligence service, the ISI? Why did the then director of the ISI have $100,000 transferred to the man whom the FBI now calls the ringleader of the Sept. 11th attacks, and why does the U.S. not pursue this question? Did the CIA have foreknowledge of the attack, who tried to profit with put options on American, United, Merrill Lynch stock just before the attack? Why were the FBI told to not investigate the Bin Laden family links in the US? If the CIA met with Bin Laden last July, why didn’t they try to arrest him? If the US is serious about ridding the world of terrorism, why do we continue to fund and train terrorists? Why are we bombing Afghanistan, when none of the alleged bombers actually came from there, could there be another reason for our presence in that region, like oil? Is the war against Afghanistan illegal? What are Bush’s, Cheney’s and Rice’s connections to the oil industry? What are Bush’s and Cheney’s connections to the drug industry? Why is the evidence being destroyed when an investigation of the World Trade Center collapse is needed? Why seal Presidential records? Why intimidate professors from speaking out against this war? Why has the U.S. military been establishing working relations with the Uzbek military for several years? What other military involvement does the U.S. have in the Central Asian Republics? Why are U.S. military personnel or material assistance going to the Philippines, Indonesia, and Colombia as well? What relationship did various U.S. agencies and their contractors have with the Taliban, either directly or through Pakistani or Saudi agencies or contractors? Why does the U.S. overlook Pakistani drug lords who refine and export half to two-thirds of the world,s heroin despite its avowed determination to rid the world of drugs? Why has the Dept. of Justice stopped its investigation of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International despite its admitted heavy involvement in laundering drug money?

This may not have been an explicitly Truther event, but the kernels of paranoid conspiracy can certainly be found — and were certainly endorsed by Jones.

Van Jones has to go, and for more than just the reason that paranoid conspiracists of this type don’t belong in the White House, and certainly not as a “czar” of anything. Barack Obama will start trying to push the idea that he’s a moderate in order to rescue health-care reform, and reportedly he’s even willing to battle the left wing of the party to do it. No one will buy the idea that Obama is a moderate while he’s employing a man who thinks that George Bush murdered 3,000 people so he could grab oil and poppies from Central Asia. The man who knowingly employs a nutcase as one of his close advisers will look much more like a nutcase than a moderate.

Expect Jones to suddenly discover a desire to spend more time with his family, and soon. I’d guess Jones will be gone no later than Monday, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see his resignation get announced in a “Friday afternoon document dump.”