Kerry Rips MSNBC On Wright: 'You People Need To Let Go Of This'

Today, John Kerry officially became the 87,436th person to receive one of the three or four versions of the same Reverend Wright question MSNBC has been asking everyone it comes in contact with, including their plants and pets. Kerry, who's maybe a little sensitive toward these sorts of issues, wasn't having it, and his displeasure manifested itself in the closest thing Kerry does that resembles losing his ever-loving mind. That said, it sort of worked! Kerry changed the conversation all right, but Alex Witt opted to just ask one more question ("I would like to get your concerns about the unity of the Democratic party as the Republican party was able to coalesce around its nominee, John McCain. How concerned are you?") before shutting the whole thing down.

[WATCH.]

WITT: Okay. He said it. A 20-year relationship. Reverend wright married him. He is the one who baptized a god parent. How personally painful is this for him?

KERRY: Can I say something to you? Obviously it is painful and he said it. You folks need to let go of this. Television needs to stop dwelling on something that is in the past. I thought Barack Obama yesterday gave America his second big presidential moment of this campaign. The first when he spoke out about the issue of race. The second yesterday, when he made it clear, every one of the statements of the minister are just unacceptable. They're not the person that he knew before. Now let's move on to how we'll put people to work. How are you going to give people health care? How are you going to create jobs in america? What Barack Obama is offering in this gas price issue is real leadership. I mean, do we want people who sort of put their fingers in the wind and throw out an idea for the short term that is sort of politically pleasing, or do you want a here who stands up and says, no, what we need is to really lower gas prices by having a real energy policy, an intelligent policy that puts in place the incentives for renewable fuels and alternative fuels. That's what Barack Obama is doing. And it is you guys have to focus on the thing that really matter to the American electorate. The other thing is just worn out, old history now. This guy had his narcissistic moment and it is finished.

WITT: Okay. Point well taken. Did I say to begin, can I just say, sir, I knew you weren't going to like that question. On the record.

KERRY: Let's move on to the thing that really matter to people. I think people in America are tired of this stuff.

WITT: Okay.

Comments

[johnsnakecusak]

In re: Probus.....
" I wish you could have been our president, our country would have been in a much better state than it is now."

John Kerry could have been our president, and I agree that the country would be in much better shape, but in order to win, you have to fight. What he's doing here for Obama is the same kind of whining too late to do any good that he did in his own campaign.

We need a fighter, not a whiner.

[mairs]

That was not whining, that was the truth. Move on for crying out loud. What exactly did you want him to say to the blonde bimbette?

[Hopefor08]

Kerry did not want to step out on the stage in defense of Obama because he has also been so vilified by the media that he knows he won't be fairly respected by the media even if he defends Obama appropriately and honestly. The media republicans are a sorry lot and knowing that republicans own these news networks it makes it hard to fight against. They have no shame when they ruin a candidate or when they twist and distort the news either.

[TMAN]

Most commendable Senator, no cloying, no nonsense.

Truth be told MSNBC needs to be brought up on charges as a not so subtle attempt at an electronic LYCHING. Nothing more nothing less. Want the source, MSNBC a n extension of NBC is owned by General Electric, which corporation rakes in millions a year in military/ industrial complex contracts. CEO of GE a huge contributer to Rethug party. These vampires have lots to be afraid of if Obama somehow gets elected. Paridigm change, They're terrified. They're attempting to knee cap Obama, plain and simple.

[superduperandy]

I really enjoy MSNBC, especially Hardball and Countdown, but this whole Rev. Wright fiasco shows that MSNBC has a serious sweet-tooth for sensationalism. And it's sort of hard to blame them because everything on television needs ratings and ever since the voting lull running up to the Texas/Ohio vote, things have been slow. If I were an Icy, anything-to-win nominee who didn't care what damage I was causing the party - the media right now would be a perfect weapon for negative sensationalism against my opponent. We know that this works from the Swift Vote gag!

What we really need to do is respond with bordom by turning the channel. In TV-land, ratings are votes.

[TMAN]

Thanks for the reply Superandy and I agree on your point, I also loved Olberman but I believe it is a much darker truth -an agreed upon agenda by a few media moguls and "captains of industry" who are at the helm of 90% of all viable media in this country. You can thank Raygun and the neo-conservative Republican party agenda (de-unionization and deregulation) for that. We are a basically an uninformed public attempting to maintain a functioning democracy. Ripe for manipulation.

My choice of words were not idle, in this "virtual" electronic world choking the life out of Obama's campaign by manipulation and misdirection of perceptions while failing to cover real time "news" affecting us all is not merely sensationalism but veritably a LYCHING of the truth.

[Independent007]

Now that I believe! Thanks for the excellent post!

[Soundofthunder]

The media has never been shy about hiking its skirts to whatever sensationalistic story gets its knickers wet. But in the course of covering the Rev. Wright story, the media has surpassed mere whore status to crazy whore. Get some help, media. You have an addiction to banality and trivia and an unwholesome fear of covering substantive stories or addressing relevant issues of the day such as the Iraq war, the soaring price of gas and the sagging Bush economy.

SOT

[frappe]

Way to go, Senator Kerry! Thank you! Once again we have a dysfunctional mainstream media that is doing everything in its power to distract voters from the central issues impacting life in America. I wish that John Kerry was as emphatic when the mainstream media was "Swiftboating" his candidacy 24/7 when he ran for president in 2004.

[dora rice]

when Kerry exchanged his Vietnam combat boots for a job in Washington and a rich widow, he also
became a wuss. He proved he is a wuss when he didn't stand up to the swift boat morons and just
turned the other cheek. Now he has a chance to enter the limelight again very likely because he is coming up for election to the senate in the near future, and wants to piggy back on Obama into the senate again. What the guy says doesn't mean one ioda and the pensylvanians proved this to be true.
So now he is not only a wuss but also a traitor of a different kind. I believe he was a sinere soldier during the vietnam war, nd I believed he realized that this war was for nothing. But Vietname was never crucial like the middle east has become, , and although moron Bush invaded and unloaded on this country unending misery we still have to find a honorable way out. Kerry is not willing to protest more against the war, he just wants to be Obama;s megaphone for his own gains.

[rodnacious]

"But Vietname was never crucial like the middle east has become, , "

Have you ever asked yourself... What were our reasons for going to war in Viet Nam? Few people know the real answer.

Here are your clues...
1. Chief export of Viet Nam during the fifties and sixties.
2. The American Automobile Industry
3. The economic boon brought on by the end of the Korean conflict.

Your hint... we always use force to control commodities that we want exclusively for American industries.

[Butterfly8]

I thought that turning the other cheek was a Christian and honorable thing to do...! But no, the president has to be a macho man.... This is sickening - think for yourself man, don't let others think for you.... NOBODY is talking about the war - the media keeps asking the same stupid questions about Rev. Wright ALL the time.... It's nauseating! It's not Kerry's fault that he had to talk about the guy. Ask yourself, why are the important issues not being questionned by the so-called newsrooms. Because all they're interested is in thrashing people. And doing like Bush: repeat nonsense all day long until it suddenly becomes the only truth! And that happens because people like yourself follow the lead instead of thinking for themselves....

[Hopefor08]

Leave Kerry alone. He fought the good fight, but was not prepared for what he was up against. The most ruthless demonic forces who did everything they could from smearing and backstabbing and lying with total cooperation of the media, to suppressing the vote, not counting votes, and rigging voting machines. That is the republican way of campaigning - ruthless, evil, demonic and ready to get in there any way possible and wreak havoc.

[Vergadoce]

If only Kerry could've shown his balls like this in 2004...he'd be president

[mmelodee]

Thank you, John Kerry! I wish more people would follow suit and reply to these tired and overdone questions posed by unimaginative journalists and talking heads the same way Sen. Kerry did.

[carol]

What happened to MSNBC last week? This Wright imbroglio cropped up and the lot of MSNBC anchors went bonkers....kicking the dead horse....scrounging around like scavengers to find yet another angle to the Wright story after most rational Americans had put it behind them. I stopped watching Mathews altogether after one too many "I know the common folks / Catholics (pick one) in Pennsylvania better than god" (Who gives a shit, Chris? ) And after Buchanan one too many times magnanimously tried to hide his racism by tossing out some patronizing comment about Obama. And David Gregory's monomania about Wright borders on mental illness. Even his panel had trouble finding anything to say that hadn't been said ad nauseum. Give it up, guys! There's a big world out there.

Thanks Senator Kerry.

[w&cheneysuck]

Agreed! This crap has got to stop. Sensationalism is the best that the MSM can do? We are all in trouble if that's the case.

Thanks Senator Kerry!

[Raymondf]

Should have been a 100 more times.

[RRH]

John Kerry is pathetic. All is fair and especially the Rev. Wright controversy as it goes to character and judgement. I think if Kerry showed this kind of strength with his own campaign we wouldn't be having election. Kerry has become a hateful Obama surrogate. It saddens me to see these Senators like Kerry who has worked longer with Clinton become another backstabber. The most respectful super delegates are those who have delayed endorsement. It allows the process to be fairly worked through.
Kerry sounds like another Jack Cafferty who CNN refers to as part of the best political team on television, yeah, right!

[BlackWidowPilot]

RRH,

the only think pathetic to this independent voter is your transparent attempt to spin this into a Kerry-bashing session. Senator Obama has been doing his level best to actually address the serious issues facing our country, despite the endless spin doctoring of the corporate press.

Your transparent attempt to misrepresent Senator Kerry's intelligent and articulate response to the tabloid questions of this MSNBC "presstitute" Witt(less) reads like something straight from the Karl Rove/"Bushevik" manual for loyal "Repedophile" party hacks.

Did it ever occur to you that (a) maybe Senator Kerry is backing Senator Obama because he in fact may very well be the better candidate, or that (b) transparent attempts to bash Senator Obama without empirical evidence at best makes you look like a blind Clinton loyalist, or at worst, just another troll from the "Gang of Pedophiles" trying to stir up trouble in the ranks of the "Dinocrats!"

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

[littleblackcat]

WOW! Thank you and I take off my hat to you, BlackWidowPilot! I can't think of a thing to say that would add to your concise and on-the-money reply to RRH. (Rich Republican Hack?)

[speechteach]

Thank you for your comments. Perhaps it is precisely because so many of the Senators have worked closely with Clinton and Obama that they are leaning towards Obama. The same can be said for so many of those who worked in Bill Clinton's White House, who have jumped to the Obama side. The insiders have a bird's eye view and are making their opinions known.

[arrogant1]

well put ,Leland

[Agave]

What serious issues has Senator Obama been trying to face and to discuss? I can't think of a single issue or probelm this country faces that he has done anything more about than spin out some fanciful and pretty-sounding speeches that contain no solution, hold no suggestions. We cannot live forever on cake.

And the grande speech on race-relations? That was no more than a dodge of the original question -- many weeks ago -- asking how the Reverend Wright could be his closest spiritual advisor. Sure it was a fine speech, and sure the topic needs to be addressed front-on, but damn! The wqhole reason the Reverend Wright issue remains a topic of discussion is because he didn't answer it long ago.

So get off MSNBC's ass and quit thinking Senator Kerry is high-minded. Obama isn't in a position to cast stones -- and neither are his surrogates.

[dugan45]

RRH, Sidney Blumenthal and John Gibson are looking for a devout intern. Sounds to me as though you fit the description they're looking for. Apply now. You might make less money than you would stealing US materiel and selling it on e-Bay by working for KBH, but I understand the climate at those two organizations poses less risk.

[superduperandy]

"All is fair" - Despite any and all damage that it may cause? Now that's the spirit, Hillary!

Also, obsessing over some guilt-by-association is not telling of judgement and character. If it looked like Obama was considering Wright as a cabinet member, then fine that's a different story - but Wright is just a personal connection who turned into a nutty attention-whore shooting for a shock-value response from the audience when he get got the national spotlight.

He's a pastor - what do you expect? When your life is discussing man's relationship with a magic man in the sky with a father/son/holy-spirit set of multiple personalities that constantly needs money and sends people to burn forever in a firery pit but also loves everyone - logic must take a back seat sometimes.

[mairs]

If Hillary deserved the loyalty of the party members who instead went to Obama, she would have gotten their loyalty, but Hillary is not Bill Clinton. She doesn't have an ounce of Bill's (now past) ability to bring people together. Since when do we have to be loyal to the wife of someone who led us. This is no dynasty. Get over the fact that the top party members who liked Bill don't necessarily like HER. Stop whining about it.

[Sneakerface]

Dear RRH - your post that "Kerry has become a hateful Obama surrogate" is incorrect. Please correct this error.

[foxflood]

Alex Witt should be embarrassed to ask that kind of question. MSNBC should be embarrassed. Thank you, Senator Kerry, for telling it just like it is.

[champislove]

Thank you John for tell the media what they aleady know to be the truth. These people only keep going what they want to keep going. MSNBC won't say any thing about what Pat (The racist) Buchanan said a few weeks back. They just want to push that under the rug. But this thing with Obama just keep going and going and going. This is just there way to try to knock the black man out of the race. Helping there man John (the same as Bush McCain) to be president because there is better press if he runs against Cinton. M.S.N.B.C. STANDS FOR ......MOST STUPID NEWS BOARDCAST NETWORK.

[booker52]

Good for Kerry, the media is like a dog with a bone and just don't or won't let go!!!!

[Raymondf]

John Kerry may be a questionable, war hero, I don't really think he is, but I know one thing he is not Presidential material, and he's a jurk.

[peacebro]

John Kerry is a beautiful human being. By the way: 'Jerk' doesn't have a 'u' in it.

[booker52]

Good for you!!!

[djelimon]

"John Kerry may be a questionable, war hero, I don't really think he is"

The swift boat allegations were slander FYI

To quote John McCain

"Among the first to question the first ad was Republican Senator John McCain, a Bush supporter, Vietnam veteran, and former POW. He said, "I condemn the [SBVT] ad. It is dishonest and dishonorable. I think it is very, very wrong"

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/TheNote/story?id=120364&page=1

Just because Kerry isn't a hawk doesn't take away his service in Vietnam. Unless you think guys with blogs know more about this sort of thing than the US army...

[Dannydel]

"JURK?"

[Tedderdog]

He is not a war hero , the real war heroes are clearly the deferment queens with their flag pins and patriotic fantasy talk.

[dugan45]

They're the same pussies who escaped the draft back then by hiding on university campuses and teaching: all mouth muscle.

[Abycat]

With the exception of Olberman (who is GOD) it seems that MSNBC's talking heads have an agenda. When Hillary was in the lead, it was attack Hillary. Matthews was relentless. Now that Obama is in the lead, it's attack Obama. I'm left with one conclusion. The MSNBC's gas bags want McCain in the White House. They never attack him. Especialy for long periods. Think of it ths way. McCain will maintain the Bush tax cuts. This will save the MSNBC talkers allot of money.

[5thGenDem]

Do you really think Chris Matthews has lightened up on Clinton? I sure haven't noticed it! They seemed to be worshiping Obama until the San Francisco gaffe and Rev. Wright's emergence, which gave them something to bash him with.

Other than the conservative heads (e.g. Scarborough, Buchanan), I don't think they favor McCain, but they do like the extended nomination process. What would they have had to talk about if both parties had settled on their candidates two months ago?

[booker52]

McCain is selling what little soul he has left in this bid for the WH.

[dugan45]

Matthews prefers older daddies.

[Sneakerface]

Your post cynically assumes that MSNBC's actions can only be motivated by what could be done to elect a certain candidate. Many people would take your premise - that they are attacking Hillary when she is in the lead, and Obama when he is in the lead - and conclude that their motivation for doing this is based on a bias towards keeping the race going longer and therefore making more money by having more conflict to report about.

[DontBeFoolish]

Way to go Senator Kerry. That's the second MSNBC reporter that has gotten RIPPED, that I know of. That station really does need some editorial guidance, between their news and morning Joe(Dickle), you wonder if there is anyone out there actually looking for news to cover at that place. What a tired station.

[JMEB]

Wish he were this ballsy 4 years ago, but better late than never.