Initially I thought it was being a co-founder of Color of Change (who are having some success with their call for a boycott of Glenn BecKKK's show) that instigated this. Then I realized that this must go much deeper considering BecKKK has also got the Apollo Alliance in his sights.

http://apolloalliance.org/

I carried out some research to find out where this all began and discovered that it was Phil Kerpen from "Americans for Prosperity" who started it all.

Go here for the result of the research (with embedded links) that I posted Sunday night on Democratic Underground:

http://www.democraticunderground.com...

Here's another article on The Reid Report that cites the research I posted on DU...

The truth about Van Jones

A DUer posts an interesting find. Jones, it seems, wasn’t pushed out by Glenn Beck. Beck was just the vehicle. The real pushers were anti-climate change advocates from, wait for it, the oil industry. From this DU post, which identified Phil Kerpen from “Americans for Prosperity” as the man “who started it all.” Apparently, he even bragged about his role on Fox News yesterday, and also issued the following boast on his website: How Van Jones Happened and What We Need to Do Next

Now that Jones has resigned, we need to follow through with two critical policy victories. First, stop cap-and-trade, which could send these groups trillions, and second repeal the unspent portion of the stimulus bill, which stands to give them billions. The Van Jones affair could be an important turning point in the Obama administration if we use it as a window to understand the structure of the left and to stop the huge power-grab now taking place in the name of green jobs. It’s also one of the most significant things I’ve ever had the honor of being involved in. ... =snip= Americans for Prosperity is also the group that sent buses around the country to town hall dust-ups, where its speakers compared healthcare reform to the Holocaust, and its proponents hung members of Congress in effigy (they’re also connected to the Jack Abramoff web of intrigue and tangentially, to the birthers) but their main issue is climate change — or rather climate change denial, for the purposes of stopping any reform that would cost its financial benefactors money. Continues: http://blog.reidreport.com/...

Funding

From Desmogblog.com The Big Money behind Americans for Prosperity =snip= AFP, and its former incarnation the Citizens for a Sound Economy Foundation, are the third largest recipient of funding from the Koch Family of Foundations, which is run by the ultra-conservative oil baron Charles G. Koch. The Koch Family of Foundations has been a major funding source for many of the think tanks that are in the business of delaying action on climate change issues. Full details: http://www.desmogblog.com/...

Alternet are on it too...

Big Business's Hidden Hand in the Smear Job on Van Jones

By Adele M. Stan, AlterNet. Posted September 8, 2009. How Americans for Prosperity, the astroturf group that organized town-hall thuggery, teamed up with Fox News to force out Van Jones. Continues: http://www.alternet.org/...

This story needs to get out to as many media contacts as possible, please pass it on to any you may have. Keith Olbermann was talking about it being about race earlier, which quite possibly may play a part in it, but it goes much much deeper than that.

Update

Brave New Films' new film...

Carl Pope and Van Jones (episode 1) In any other profession, Carl Pope might be considered a "company man." He has worked loyally and tirelessly in the name of the Sierra Club for thirty years, running the organization – the largest of its kind in the country – since 1992. Van Jones has founded several organizations within the last decade, including The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and Green For All. They both live in the Bay Area. They both care intensely about saving the environment. The thing is, they use very distinct methods, although the lines differentiating those methods are blurring as we race further into the 21st century. From the environment to the economy, from old fashioned door-to-door fliers to streaming internet video, Pope and Jones discuss the myriad elements effecting our lives today and the many possible solutions that are nearly within reach. From: http://bravenation.com/...

& BNF's new FB group:

I’m Sick of Right-Wing Smears

Van Jones' career as a social and environmental justice activist is legendary. That's why he became the victim of a vicious right-wing smear campaign from FOX News' Glenn Beck, which forced him to resign from the White House over the weekend. We know that Beck and FOX have other targets in the Administration lined up. The question for progressives is: What should we do to prepare for the next round?

http://www.facebook.com/...

Update 2

Cenk's on it now, too:

Update 3

Phil Kerpen is now bragging about it on CBN, and, as you'll see, CBN have followed Faux's lead and are also enabling Americans for Prosperity's agenda...