Van Jones, the most dangerous man on campus...
I attended two events at UCSD back to back this week, and if only to appease my own personal conscience, I feel an obligation to recount part of the last 48 hours of my life in “print” while it’s still fresh in my mind… Not unlike being jarred awake by a nightmare at 3:30AM, I need to capture and record this experience before the “emotional state” it’s left me in recedes.
“Pre-game”
On Monday, May 10th, I attended a lecture at UCSD, San Diego given by 60′s radical turned conservative, David Horowitz. On Tuesday, May 11th, I attended a lecture at UCSD, San Diego given by self proclaimed communist and would be Green Jobs Czar, Van Jones. The following is my best effort to present that experience as it occurred, sans any partisan leaning… I’ll save that for the end…
Monday morning I did a quick Google search to double check the details surrounding the event with Horowitz… UCSD’s campus can be somewhat confusing, so naturally I wanted to be sure of where I was going, etc. I Googled “David Horowitz appearing at UCSD”, and the top response was hosted by a site called zvents.com. It briefly outlined the event, but it displayed the address as University of California Price Center West – Ballroom B, La Jolla Amago, CA… Huh??? The address and accompanying Google map depicted some patch of dirt off of the 76 near Pala… The Price Center Ballroom is on the main campus in La Jolla, not some place called La Jolla Amago… I looked at the next entry on Google and it was a ning site maintained by a Tea Party protest group, “Stop Obama Now”… There I found the correct address and additional information. I did the same search on Van Jones, the top response on Google yielded a page hosted by UCSD containing a glowing endorsement for Jones and his work with green jobs… http://helenedison.ucsd.edu/eventjones.cfm
Monday evening I arrived at the Gillman Dr. entrance to UCSD, but I still wasn’t exactly sure where it was on campus I was going. I stopped at the visitors center; only slightly more impressive than the type of glass booth often inhabited by gas station attendants and purveyors of movie tickets. There I stood for no less than 6 minutes (I checked on my phone) in front of a closed window while a student on the other side of the glass didn’t even look up from his phone conversation to so much as acknowledge my presence until he hung up. He then gave me a small map and showed me where I needed to go.
Tuesday evening I arrived at the same Gillman Dr. entrance, but as soon as I came upon the information center from the night before, there were signs out on the sidewalk clearly directing traffic to parking for the “Van Jones Event”… There were signs along the entire route.
After finding my way to The Price Center on Monday, I entered through what appeared to be the main entrance, checked in at the will call desk, got my ticket, and waited for them to open the doors to Ballroom B, where Horowitz’s lecture was to take place. On Tuesday night when I arrived for Van Jones, like a trail of breadcrumbs, the same type of signs which directed me to parking directed me to what appeared to be the side entrance to the venue. This was the only way in to see Jones, which, coincidentally(?) took me in the immediate vicinity of an “anti-Zionist” apartheid wall, apparently constructed (I found out it cost 20k) for an antiapartheid week taking place on campus. U2′s “Sunday, Bloody Sunday” was blaring out over a radio, so I figured I’d go ahead and take a moment to go check it out. I had a small handheld video camera with me so I started taking some footage of the wall when I was greeted by what I can only describe as a beautiful Middle Eastern girl wearing a white Hijab. She was friendly to the point of being flirtatious, and was eager to answer any questions I had about the wall. Like a complete fool, I politely declined any “help” and told her I was just taking some video before going in to see Van Jones. She perked up even further at the news and excitedly said that she would be attending as well, and maybe she would see me inside. I should have spoke with her at length regarding the wall and asked her to appear on camera, but my mind was literally racing over the differences I was witnessing already as compared to my experience the night before and I just wasn’t on top of my game… Crap…
“The Presentations”
Apparently, due to the kind of disruptions that have gone on during public speaking engagements in places like Columbia University, all such lectures at UCSD must have a moderator who, if nothing else, is there to turn off microphones during the Q&A portion of the program if someone gets out of line or drones on for too long. Horowitz’s engagement was almost cancelled because evidently, there was no one willing to moderate, save for an unnamed woman who stepped up at the zero hour in order to bring the event off. I don’t know who she was, but obviously, thanks are in order to her for taking the reigns when nobody else would.
Horowitz was preceded briefly, and introduced by two students. Jones was introduced by The Head of The UCSD Extension Division.
Before continuing, I feel it pertinent to mention that I am both a professional videographer/digital media artist, as well as a semi-professional musician… As such, I am keenly aware of things like PA systems, microphones, and other areas of sound reinforcement used in all kinds of events. Horowitz was “tethered” to his position via a small microphone mounted to his podium on a flexible arm. It would not stay in place, necessitating his fiddling with it throughout the entire lecture. Not only was it physically sub-par, but the plosives (“pops” emanating from the microphone when speaking the letter “p”) were at an uncomfortable and unprofessional level for such a presentation. Van Jones was outfitted with a wireless lavalier mic (clips to a tie or lapel) and was free to move about the stage, all the while maintaining perfect audio… No sibilance (harsh s’s) or plosives for Mr. Jones.
Now, content and subject matter aside, watching these two men was like being offered two different modes of transportation… Your grandfather’s Buick, or a new Mustang GT500 (I like to keep it domestic). Again, messages aside, which mode of transportation do you think a college aged kid is going to choose? The safety and reliability of Pop-Pop’s LeSabre, or the white knuckle joy-ride associated with some 400+ horsepower wrapped in a sleek, black paint job? If such a decision weren’t obvious enough, add to the equation the authority figure of your choice standing behind you, encouraging you to take the keys to the vehicle you think you want already… Pop-Pop’s sedan hasn’t got shot in hell… It doesn’t matter that in the Buick, you can go anywhere you want, while the Mustang will take you to a predetermined, inevitable destination from which you cannot deviate… To 90% of these college kids, looking good is all that matters. Herein lies the problem with modern conservatism… No kid wants to be caught dead riding in it, and our future is in serious trouble because of it.
Ladies and gentleman, if WE do not take back some sort of control of our government NOW, during THIS election cycle, I personally don’t see us ever recovering from the mess we’re in. Van Jones comes off like a cross between Bill Cosby and Eddie Murphy, while David Horowitz is just some crusty old dude espousing out dated ideology. As a forty-something year old conservative, I KNOW Pop Pop’s LeSabre is the right choice in this situation, but how are you going to convince children of this when they’re literally being educated at the plant where Mustangs are built?
I was not allowed to film or record Horowitz’s lecture (I should have inquired as to who’s decision that was) but was determined to record Jones no matter what. With that in mind, I ditched my HVX200 (a professional grade camera which constantly draws attention due to it’s size) and opted to bring one of my small consumer grade video cameras to the Tuesday lecture with the hope of flying in under the radar. As it turned out, there was nobody preventing anyone from filming or recording Jones’s lecture. Sadly, with such a small camera and no tripod, the footage I shot was extremely shaky, and I simply couldn’t hold the camera up with one hand for an entire hour. I did, however, get good audio which is available on the link below.
Listen for yourself, but my experience was that much of Jones’s presentation contained an almost hippie-esque undercurrent of “love” for one another and expressions of the need for unity. He basically declared our current economic model dead and buried and spoke in terms which no doubt left these kids feeling empowered with the responsibility of helping to create the “new economy”, when in reality they have no clue such things have already been predetermined should Van and his ilk get their way. That being said, his crowning moment came at the very end with his closing words… “When it becomes hard to love, you’ve got to love harder”… With that, the crowd broke into a standing ovation, and I happened to catch a glimpse of the girl sitting next to me when she rose from her seat. The hairs on her arm were standing on end and she had goosebumps the size chickpeas… It was at this moment that I fully grasped exactly how much trouble we who love freedom in this country are really in. If WE don’t do something today, I have little hope for tomorrow…
Ladies and gentleman, the most dangerous man on college campuses today, is the wolf in Van’s clothing…
Hear Van Jones at UCSD
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Anyway, they would not allow me to film, but I think it must be because my camera simply looks “too professional”, as I saw plenty of people with iPhones and little hand helds getting all the action… I was disappointed to say the least, but my buddy Roger (legendary rabble rouser from various Tea Party events) was armed with a small hand held camera and I will be getting footage from him tonight, hopefully depicting the following:
