Excerpts from Rev. Jeremiah Wright Interview with Bill Moyers

I've been sent by Bill Moyers' people excerpts from his interview with Rev. Jeremiah Wright, which will air tomorrow night on PBS. This is the first major Wright interview since the Obama "controversy" broke last month.

REVEREND WRIGHT:
The persons who have heard the entire sermon understand the
communication perfectly.

When something is taken like a sound bite for a political purpose and
put constantly over and over again, looped in the face of the public,
that's not a failure to communicate. Those who are doing that are
communicating exactly what they want to do, which is to paint me as some
sort of fanatic or as the learned journalist from the New York Times
called me, a "wackadoodle."

It's to paint me as something: "Something's wrong with me. There's
nothing wrong with this country...for its policies. We're perfect. Our
hands are free. Our hands have no blood on them." That's not a failure
to communicate. The message that is being communicated by the sound
bites is exactly what those pushing those sound bites want to
communicate.

BILL MOYERS:
What do you think they wanted to communicate?

REVEREND WRIGHT:
I think they wanted to communicate that I am unpatriotic, that I am
un-American, that I am filled with hate speech, that I have a cult at
Trinity United Church of Christ. And by the way, guess who goes to his
church, hint, hint, hint? That's what they wanted to communicate.

They know nothing about the church. They know nothing about our prison
ministry. They know nothing about our food ministry. They know nothing
about our senior citizens home. They know nothing about all we try to
do as a church and have tried to do, and still continue to do as a
church that believes what Martin Marty said, that the two worlds have to
be together. And that the gospel of Jesus Christ has to speak to those
worlds, not only in terms of the preached message on a Sunday morning
but in terms of the lived-out ministry throughout the week.

BILL MOYERS:
What did you think when you began to see those very brief sound bites
circulating as they did?

REVEREND WRIGHT:
I felt it was unfair. I felt it was unjust. I felt it was untrue. I
felt for those who were doing that, were doing it for some very devious
reasons.

Excerpt 2

BILL MOYERS:
Did you ever imagine that you would come to personify the black anger
that so many whites fear?

REVEREND WRIGHT:
No. I did not. I've been preaching since I was ordained 41 years ago.
I pointed out to some of the persons in Chicago who are in all of this,
new to them that the stance I took in standing against apartheid along
with our denomination back in the '70s, and putting a "Free South
Africa" sign in front of the church put me at odds with the government.
Our denomination's defense of the Wilmington Ten and Ben Chavis put me
at odds with the establishment. So, being at odds with policies is
nothing new to me.

The blowup and the blowing up of sermons preached 15, seven, six years
ago and now becoming a media event, not the full sermon, but the
snippets from the sermon and sound bite having made me the target of
hatred, yes, that is something very new and something very, very
unsettling.

Excerpt 3

BILL MOYERS:
Here is a man who came to see you 20 years ago. Wanted to know about
the neighborhood. Barack Obama was a skeptic when it came to religion.
He sought you out because he knew you knew about the community. You led
him to the faith.

You performed his wedding ceremony. You baptized his two children. You
were, for 20 years, his spiritual counsel. He has said that. And, yet,
he, in that speech at Philadelphia, had to say some hard things about
you. How did those words...how did it go down with you when you heard
Barack Obama say those things?

REVEREND WRIGHT:
It went down very simply. He's a politician, I'm a pastor. We speak to
two different audiences. And he says what he has to say as a
politician. I say what I have to say as a pastor. But they're two
different worlds.

I do what I do. He does what politicians do. So that what happened in
Philadelphia where he had to respond to the sound bytes, he responded as
a politician.

Excerpt 4

BILL MOYERS:
In the 20 years that you've been his pastor, have you ever heard him
repeat any of your controversial statements as his opinion?

REVEREND WRIGHT:
No. No. No. Absolutely not.

I don't talk to him about politics. And so he had a political event, he
goes out as a politician and says what he has to say as a politician. I
continue to be a pastor who speaks to the people of God about the things
of God.

Greg Mitchell's new book So Wrong for So Long: How the Press, the Pundits -- and the President -- Failed on Iraq, has been hailed by Glenn Greenwald, Bill Moyers, Arianna H and others, and features a preface by Bruce Springsteen. He is editor of Editor & Publisher.

Comments

[SaddieMcCall]

Obama needs to do an ad in NC using the comments that McCain has said on Fox supporting Obama and declaring that he knows Senator Oabama and that he knows that Obama does not share the views expressed in the Wright's soundbytes. Also, include Huckabee's comments where he says Obama should not be held accountable for someone else's comments, and when he went on to defend the Black men and women's anger as understandable due to the way that they were treated in the segregated South. These were two strong defenders (where was Hillary's defense?) Imagine if all of the candidates running at the time would have clipped this in the bud.

[Sanity01]

Who ya gonna believe? Me or your lying eyes?

[CyrusBeaucephus]

How many of Bush's lies do you still believe? I'm so sorry that an angry black man offends your white male reality. Maybe you should listen to an entire sermon before passing judgement on out of context remarks, but I know that's asking a lot more from you than you are willing to give. Please vote for McCain, like you were always intending to do anyway. If you had even given the slightest consideration to voting Democratic there might be some point in discussing this, but I'll save my comments for open minded people. One look at your profile shows where you are coming from politically.

ps thanks for supporting the Bush disaster, you are a fine American, and I'm sure your flag pin is very shiny

[thatvisionthing]

don't think "an angry black man offends your white male reality" -- I think he piques your guilt, triggers your defensiveness. Everybody comes into this mess with a handicap from history, yet none are slaves or slaveholders now, we're just all holding really bad cards.

You know what I liked about Obama's Philly race speech? He voiced the anger and resentment of both whites and blacks. Everybody's reasonable, now let's be real and move on and work together.

II'm sorry that all soldiers didn't do what Lt Watada did and refuse to serve in this illegal Iraq war. Over there, since there is no foundation of sense to this war and no way to win a lie, it's just people having to kill other people, it's just headless circumstance. And so innocents die and innocents kill, and patriots die and patriots kill, and it can't stop because people here are wearing flag pins and-- and God knows what Pelosi's thinking. The sad thing is that killing in the name of patriotism isn't the soul-satisfying thing that Bush wants us to think. It messes you up. Even as I cry for the killed and tortured, I cry for the killers and torturers, who are committing suicide themselves. It's all grief all around all the time, 24 24 24.

I'm hoping that as president Obama will recognize everyone's pain and help us to validate each other, whoever we are, get out of the muck and move on together.

[FLDem08]

I believe it to be true that if the delegate selection process of the Party were the same as the process used in the November election (you know, the American way) that Clinton would be ahead. She would possibly have clinched the nomination. There are states remaining so Obama may have a chance.

I worked as an election official in the Florida primary. It did happen. I know, I was confined to the polling place for fifteen hours. How did the Dean Rules somehow trump the Constitution?

[MsLiz]

The Constitution does not mention political parties, and in fact does not allow for a popular general election. Legislatures used to select electors, not the citizens. Try reasoning without starting with the desired result.

[FLDem08]

You have made my point, allow Michigan and Florida to select their own primaty date. Certainly we have that small remaining right.

[Daly]

Billy won using the exact same process ; difference is that FL and MI failed to understand how breaking the rules might impact them.

The American way is to know the rules and win the game playing by the rules. Stop Hating

[alwayslearning]

Speaking just for myself, I do not want to see Pastor Wright welcomed into the White House...and perhaps even honored there. That sure would be a slap in the face to every American.

[Bulbul]

I am again a Hillary supporter. I can not make any comments on the rev. unless I see the interview.
But, this is what the Obama supportors have coming in their way.....attacking Hillary with vengence, Chelsea and even their bloggers and supporters.

This man , the rev. has done a lot of good for the community, a war hero etc....and some of his sermons are taken out of context, I understand.

[AntiSocialite]

alwayslearning, have you learned yet that Rev. Wright was already welcomed into the White House... by the Clintons. And who in the hell cares, I'll tell you what's a slap inthe face to every American the constant attention to garbage like this rather than the myriad of other vastly more important issues like the War in Iraq, the economy, and global climate change.

[harriscrl3]

Actually he WAS There when Bill Clinton was President. This is why the American people is so easily controlled and manipulated. They have no clue whats going their media diet is sanitized and they dont bother to learn the truth. I doubt he would be there if Obama is President once again what is a slap in the face to American is the way people TRIVILIZE Wright's history. He is NOT Obama. Obama grew up in a different America than Wright did. He doesnt see America as Wright does. But once again American does NOT want to look at the ugliness within its history from which people like Wright emerge. Thats what people refuse to understand. Your grandparent see a different America than you do. They lived in a different time. My grandmother knows what it is to go without food because of that experience she will not let my mother leave the table without eating everything on her plate. I never had that experience I dont know what its like to be hungry. I dont view food as my grandmother does. Its too sad that common sense isnt common

Carol

[thatvisionthing]

Carol, I would like to see Obama welcome Wright to the White House. And I'd love to be a fly on the wall. And, pardon me if I'm getting this wrong, but are you implying that "people like Wright" are ugly because they come out of ugly times? I don't find Wright ugly at all, I find him intriguing and strong-minded and really a delightful slap-down contrast to the ludicrous monster the media has made of him. Did you see the interview? This is kind of like Ferraro's statements about Obama, where she implied he was a sort of affirmative action candidate who was only being given a bye because of his skin color, lucky him. What none of this recognizes is that challenging backgrounds make for strong people who are the better for it. They ARE lucky -- gifted by their challenges. I think you're kind of saying that -- your grandmother is different than you because of the hard times she came from. Is she so different that you are ashamed of or embarrassed by her, or do you envy her strength and experience?

[arvada]

what have you done for your community compared to wright

you are slapping the face of reverend wright and he doesn't deserve that

[scrutiny]

You're late. The Clintons and others have already done that.

[Bulbul]

More of a reason, Religion , should be very personal, and should not be brought into Politics. The President of this country should be the one who is smart and clever, expert in foreign policies , who should be able to work with both the parties. We have issues...w­ar,economy­, job loss, health care, education, unexpected catrinas,ritas...
Religious people should stay away from politics for the same reasons, and do whatever they think they do...

This is causing a total distraction....

[dutchess2]

MSNBC is at it again...playing snippets out of context of wright's discussion with Moyers,
and demanding Obama explain...­..........­.........

Meanwhile, Hagee REPEATS his claim that Katrina happened because of a gay pride parade to be hosted by New Orleans... and Hannity, O'Riley, Mathews, Scarborough and Limbaugh are silent.

What gives and why do they get by with this.

[IowaKid]

I think when the Rev Wright issue first came out the Media was complaining because Rev Wright wouldn't come forward and speak and now that he has the good ole Media is the first to jump on it and condemn it just to keep there ratings up.

[ObamaSuperDelegate]

I agree with Lawrence O'Donnell on Dan Abrams last night. This is ridiculous! I for one will not read nor listen to it. It does nothing to help this country go forward.

[Stevelagain]

I think getting the truth out to the public about Obama does the public a lot of good. They are now much more informed than when all they could get was that Obama is "change" and "hope" and a "leader on issues of race".

Now we know he lies, he gets discounts from crooks on his house, he smears Christians who don't support him, looks down on all who are not "progressives". And can't even unite his own party.

[Bulbul]

You should know, all of these are the fault of those Clintons. I am out of coffee this morning, yup, those Clintons are to blame....

[CyrusBeaucephus]

He lies? Where did you get that? Also since when did lying eer bother Republican like you?

Speaking of liars, we will all breath a sigh of relief when the egomainiac Clintons drop there desperate attempt for a Third Term

Obama was not my first pick. He is too moderate. But compared to who is left, he is a clear choice for the 80% of Americans who don't like the direction this country is headed in. You know those liberal extremist "81 percenters" who are tired of all this crap and don't want to try to turn the clock back to the good old days (which is why conservatism fails in times of change)

[killlthekingg]

Neither does attacking clinton, yet most BO supporters continue to do so. Double speak!

[Bulbul]

You said the right thing...

[djyman]

You're kidding. Hillary and her supporters have attacked exponentially more.

[AlejandroK]

So this is Obama spiritual guide? Arrogant, unrepentant and sort of an anus orifice. He said that Obama did “the political” thing he criticize his statements. He gave this ridiculous interview. Really Obama’s judgment is really questionable. To had hail this guy to such a high standard, to such a mentoring position. To write about him as if Wright were some sort of icon to emulate. The more we know about Wright to more ridiculous Obama looks. And he lies too...really Obama and him have never discussed politics before? Boy Oh BoY...this is simply ridiculous.

[Stevelagain]

The more we see of Obama the less "brilliant" and "intellectual" he appears. Much like John Kerry who was billed by the radical left as near gifted, then we found out after the election his grades were slightly worse than those of George Bush.

Of course, the left feels anyone who supports radical left propaganda is a genius.

[CyrusBeaucephus]

You far right wing Christian militaristic crusading extremists have done a great job of running America into the ground Steve. What makes you think that your rhetoric has any more credibility than the failed Bush regime you support?

[Daly]

I am willing to bet you did not watch the interview rather you let msm tell you what to think?

[lolola]

The Decline of the American Empire:
- at the bottom of most quality of life indexes in the industrialized world, including health care, education, safety, the gap between the rich and the poor.
- more black men in prison than in college, the highest per capita prison population in the world, competes with China in state sanctioned executions, highest levels of gun violence and death outside of war zones....
- bully foreign policy that invades countries unilaterally and illegally, brutalizes, tortures and denies human rights to whoever the government chooses.
- a corporate media that succeeds in diverting the public from the real issues and manufacturing consent for corporate, military and government corruption.
- a population that represents 5% of the world's population, yet consumes over 25% of the world's energy, without any coherent plan to stop polluting everything
Americans look so stupid to the rest of the world. You're going to hell in a handbasket, and you're ripping each other apart over what a pastor said, or didn't say, or really meant, or really didn't mean, or if he loves America enough, or if he's really a pastor just so he can get a big house when he retires, or whether he's christian enough, or how it doesn't really matter anyway because he'll be the reason Obama loses. And thank God for that, because Lord knows, the last thing America needs is change.

Its all so pathetic and sad.

[iheard3]

Well said, in fact I think that's what Reverend Wright was trying to say. They just don't play that part in the media. In fact, If you were a friend of Obama, the headline would read: OBAMA FRIEND LOLOLA SAYS AMERICA IS PATHETIC AND SAD!

[marthlois]

I swear I did not read this article before I posted this. I won't read the CRAP ANYMORE!!!
I AM MAD AS HELL AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!!!! HAVE YOU HAD ENOUGH???????? I cannot turn on a TV or a radio or pick up a newspaper without seeing the ugly slime being put out there.
THIS IS HOW WE WANT ALL OF THESE NEWLY REGISTERED, EXCITED VOTERS to enter into Politics? This is THEIR time....THEIR time to speak up for THEIR kids and THEIR grandkids and this is what we give them?
OUR government, under OUR watch, gives us 4,000 plus SLAIN men and woman and THEN LIE TO US about the suicide rate from our current VETS??? NOW we find today that the suicide rate is FIFTEEN TIMES more that what the reports were ALLOWED to disclose? That we cannot pass legislation to truly take care of these sons and daughters upon their return?
And yet we think we have the right to talk about Rev. Wright and witness the disgusting philosophies of Hagge?? Or the endless distractions of two democratic candidates? BE ACCOUNTABLE! The media is not worthy of our attention as they spin and keep stories alive. And the worst of the media are those who went through the same slaughter in the 90'!!! You are scared and running now!

[RS]

If you think the 4,000+ slain in Iraqnam so far is bad enough, what about John McCain's admission that "there will be more wars"? Mark my words--If McCain wins in November, THE DRAFT WILL BE REINSTATED PRONTO--I GUARANTEE IT!

[Stevelagain]

I actually enjoy learning who Obama really is. Beats the heck out of only hearing from radicalized fools who pretend he's the second coming of Christ and that he's brillant, etc etc.

Finally we are learning who the man is. How he get a 6 figure discount on his house. What he things of white people. What his pastor has been preaching for 20 years. How he feels about Christians who don't support him....those he should call his brothers but instead calls "bitter".

No, I've not had enough of the truth. Mr Change has not only never made change....he apparently is nothing more that an another old, tired, radicalized, left wing nut job.

[AjicNYC]

do you think roland was threatening WRIGHT , in reference to wrights monday event

Roland on CNN

"I wouldn't be surprised if that event gets cancelled SOME PEOPLE certainly believe that should be the case because why do you want to make this story knocking obama completely off the front page for the next 5 to 7 days"

who do you think SOME PEOPLE are??? The Black Community?? Is this an OPEN threat live on TV????

SOME PEOPLE ????

lets see if it gets cancelled

[timothe]

Here's another full quote...again, you decide if he was taken out of context.

I heard Ambassador Peck on an interview yesterday, did anybody else see him or hear him? He was on Fox News, this is a white man, and he was upsetting the Fox News commentators to no end. He pointed out, did you see him John, a white man, and he pointed out, an ambassador, that what Malcolm X said when he got silenced by Elijah Mohammed was in fact true, America’s chickens are coming home to roost. We took this country by terror, away from the Sioux, the Apache, the Arowak, the Comanche, the Arapahoe, the Navajo. Terrorism. We took Africans from their country to build our way of ease and kept them enslaved and living in fear. Terrorism. We bombed Granada and killed innocent civilians, babies, non-military personnel. We bombed the black civilian community of Panama with stealth bombers and killed unarmed teenagers and toddlers, pregnant mothers, and hardworking fathers. We bombed Qaddafi’s home and killed his child.

[SethBullock]

This is NOT a full quote. Timothe is a liar. See for yourself on You-tube

[timothe]

Seth...settle down now. HuffPost has a maximum of 250 words.

Your immediate reaction to Rev. Wright's words speak volumes.

[timothe]

(continued)

Blessed are they who bash your children’s head against a rock. We bombed Iraq. We killed unarmed civilians trying to make a living. We bombed a plant in Sudan to payback for the attack on our embassy, killed hundreds of hardworking people, mothers and fathers who left home to go that day not knowing that they would never get back home. We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon and we never batted an eye. Kids playing in the playground, mothers picking up children from school, civilians, not soldiers, people just trying to make it day by day.
We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and Black South Africans and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back to our own front yards. America’s chickens are coming home to roost.

[pacats]

Timothe,

nice work, we need more people just like you.

[SethBullock]

Oh, and even in your edited quote--was anything THERE not true?

[DWX]

For once Bill O’Reilly was right that Rev. Wright should have stayed off the air and kept his mouth shut until after the election. Rev. Wright is just being selfish and self-righteous by giving interview and stirring up the controversy again especially at this point in time when Obama’s campaign is at a crucial stage.

[timothe]

You decide for yourself if anything was taken out of context.

The British government failed, the Russian government failed, the Japanese government failed, the German government failed, and the United States of America government, when it came to treating her citizens of Indian descent fairly, she failed. She put them on reservations. When it came to treating her citizens of Japanese decent fairly, she failed. She put them in internment prison camps. When it came to treating her citizens of African descent fairly, America failed. The government put them in chains. She put them on slave quarters, put them on auction blocks, put them in cotton fields, put them in inferior schools, put them in sub-standard housing, put them in scientific experiments, put them in the lowest paying jobs, put them outside the equal protection of the law, kept them out of their racist bastions of higher education, and locked them into positions of hopelessness and helplessness. The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three strike law, and then wants us to sing God Bless America — no, no, no
Not God bless America, God damn America. That’s in the Bible, for killing innocent people. God damn America for treating her citizens as less than human. God damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme. The United States government has failed the vast majority of her citizens of African descent. Think about this, think about this.

[timothe]

(continued)

For every one Oprah, a billionaire, you’ve got 5 million blacks who out of work. For every one Colin Powell, a millionaire, you’ve got 10 million blacks who cannot read. For every one Condoskeeza Rice, you’ve got 1 million in prison. For every one Tiger Woods, who needs to get beat, at the Masters, with his cap, blazin’ hips playing on a course that discriminates against women. God has his way of bringing you up short when you get to big for your cap, blazin britches. For every one Tiger Woods, we got 10,000 black kids who will never see a golf course. The United States government has failed the vast majority of her citizens of African descent.

[Betrayedcitizen]

Timothe....you are an angry mixed up kid. Some of what you say is true. Most of our Wars were unnessary as many writers like Pat Buchanan writes.

But you have to understand one thing regarding Blacks in America which is the greatest and finest country ever assembled.....If it were not for your Black slave ancestors, you'd be suffering poverty, ill health and a short lifespan in dear ole Africa where living conditions are deplorable.

Be advised that 400 years ago about 65% of the worlds population was in some sort of slavery...and this country ended it here about 150years ago.

Remember that there are two types of people in the world...de­cent...and­..indecent­.

Don't try to infect more people with your hate and ignorance......

....and don't go where you're not wanted.....(I don't)

[nomobull]

again youtube not media version

[SethBullock]

Was any part of that incorrect?

[timothe]

That wasn't the question, Seth. Rev. Wright said he was taken out of context. Was he taken out of context or wasn't he?

[AjicNYC]

BUT WHY SHOULD WE LOOK AT THIS OBAMA HAS DENOUNCED AND REJECT THIS!!! DID YOU NOT LISTEN O HIS SPEECH!!!!

[NCGuy]

here is what i take from the context of this

Where is the government giving out drugs? Is this a government program I'm not aware of?

Also, what was the context for Rev Wright's claim that the government developed the AIDS virus to kill black people?

[robtomorrow]

He was probably referring to the cocaine smuggling that was done by the Contra's to fund the war in Nicaragua with the C.i.A's collusion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_and_Contra's_cocaine_trafficking_in_the_US

[Davwbaird]

So true god damn all you heartless rich creeps.

[fayted]

what about politicians that go to the catolic church? should they be questioned why are they still going to there service, week after week, after all the years of raping and hushhush from the priest, that enable those despicable actions to continue for years, all religions, churches are more like enables more than any other thing

[NCGuy]

Y E S

[Betrayedcitizen]

Why do hate that church" Over two (2) billion people attend . Pedophillia is in other Churches as well but they being married masks things.

People go there in good times and in bad times. They pray for help...for thanksgiving.... and for other people.

Ministers who preach hate and anger spread the same.....that's offensive and not in the spirit of peace and shelter from an often 'tough world.

[NCGuy]

The Catholic church would be fine if they had handed over the guilty priests to the law to face justice. But instead, they hid them and covered up for them.