The company you keep…

At a Labor Day weekend barbecue in Minneapolis, Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN) hosted some big talent to speak to a crowd of about 50-75 that consisted mostly of union members, public employees and campaign staffers and volunteers. The keynote speaker was self-described communist revolutionary, former Green Jobs Czar for President Obama and “9/11 truther” Anthony “Van” Jones.

Jones was well-accepted by the crowd and spent time before the scheduled program to answer questions and take photos. Though Jones was clearly being measured in his talking points, he was mostly polite and friendly, that is, when he wasn’t calling republicans “assholes,” which he did more than a couple of times.

Various speakers preceded Jones including several candidates for state offices and Senator Amy Klobuchar who is being challenged by Republican Kurt Bills. Klobuchar seemed to blush when praising Jones in her prepared remarks. She told the story of a conference in Chicago at which the two spoke and women lined up just to give him their phone numbers. Almost smitten, she was obviously proud to know and work with him for several years.

Ellison shared in Klobuchar’s fawning and began his introduction of Jones by saying that when he looks for progressive policy advice, he turns to Jones’ books, Green Collar Economy which extolls the idea that wealth should be redistributed via green initiatives, and Rebuild the Dream which focuses 4 chapters on the Occupy movement. Ellison said he turns to Jones’ work in magazines and other publications because in Ellison’s opinion, Jones is the “leading intellectual force in this country when it comes to progressive politics.”

Ellison is the Co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus which lists among its many socialist goals a commitment to the UN Millennium prjoect and redistributing wealth via legislation, to nudge companies and individuals into a green economy.

Jones, who has in the past said, “white polluters and the white environmentalists are essentially steering poison in to the people of color communities because they have a racial justice frame,” spent about 20 minutes delivering typical democrat talking points, claimed republicans want dirty air and water, and highlighted his speech with accusing republicans of allowing people to drown.

Comparing republicans to life guards without a job and the president as the currently employed life guard, Jones said this election is like a tsunami on the beach.

“We were watchin’ the flooding; … and I’m still praying for our friends in the Gulf… It would be like you had a big tsunami coming through, and people were drowning. And you sit back and say, ‘the more bodies on the beach, the more likely they gonna fire the lifeguard. And I’m getting the life guard’s job.

… Rather than coming together during the emergency, and helping my country… Imma going to try to hurt. Imma cut the lifeline. Imma stand on the oxygen tube… Because the more bodies on the beach, the more likely they are to fire the life guard.”

On the heels of disgraced and recently fired Yahoo News chief David Chalian’s comments about republicans being “happy to have a party while black people drown,” one has to wonder if Jones prepared his remarks to keep that narrative alive.

Following Jones’ address, the crowd was treated to some live music. In honor of Labor Day, the crowd was handed laminated lyrics sheets and joined in singing labor songs including “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody,” a song about racial divide and Jim Crow.

Minnesota is no stranger to communists and radical leftists. Even the governor has ties to the likes of Van Jones. Do the people of Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District know the company their representative is keeping?

See the VIDEO here.