UPDATE: Van Jones Steps Down
"Smear campaign" forces Obama's Green Jobs Czar to quit. More.
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It might not be fair. But when you are the president, everything is on your plate.

If a couple of bumbling journalists cross the border into a hostile nation, the question isn't why did they risk such peril. The question is how will you fix the mess? If you are handed a collapsing yet crucial industry, such as auto production, the question isn't how did it get that way. The question is how are you going to fix it?

The latest mess President Obama is being called on to fix, though, is of his own making: the appointment of Van Jones as green jobs czar. Jones, a respected activist and author, has made comments about the 9/11 attacks and environmental racism that represent a nightmare for the new administration and an absolute dream for Obama's opponents.

Jones' sins? He signed a controversial letter from a 9/11 Truth group that raised the largely discredited theory that the U.S. government was responsible for the World Trade Center collapse.

On the environmental front, Jones has accused white industries of polluting black neighborhoods, a practice termed "environmental racism," in the 1980s.

Personally, Jones' acts don't bother me. You have questions about 9/11? Cool. And although he could have chosen better words to make his point, studies have shown that some large corporations have put their byproducts in communities of color.

The problem for Obama is that his opponents will be able to use Jones, as long as he keeps his job, to weaken Obama's presidency. Just watch a gleeful FOX News talker, Sean Hannity, and his cohorts delight in Jones' "misdeeds" and use them to attack Obama's entire agenda.

Like Lebron throwing baby powder in the air before a game, Obama opponents will throw around charges that Obama employs a black racist in Jones. It will be Jeremiah Wright all over again.

In the same way Obama had to cut ties with Wright to keep the opponents at bay, he should say good bye to Jones.

The decision to dismiss Jones may leave a bitter taste in Obama's mouth. It does mine as well, because as intemperate as some of his comments are, Jones has something to offer the country in developing environmental policy.

It is not fair that Obama, or any president, is responsible for every word, deed and thought of his representatives. But this isn't about fairness, it's about bringing change to America. It's about what's politically expedient. Let Jones go.