Reverend Wright: Raw and Un-Cut

Has anybody actually taken the time to watch Rev. Wright's much maligned sermon in its entirety? The one that the MSM's diced and sliced and handed out like amphetamine-laced communion to its maddeningly impressionable flock? It's there, right on that cyber-commons otherwise known as YouTube.

Yeah, there's all manner of dross there too, banal sub-porno and pubescent moronics woven in alongside clips of Sid Caesar and W.C. Fields (that make anything referring to itself as comedy these days as pallid and lifeless as...well...a really pallid and lifeless thing); pimply teens wrestling and gawking and guffawing can be found and viewed, if that's your idea of a good time. It's a glimpse into our own misapplied youth and it's freakin' embarrassing. It's the Crap Drawer in our kitchen we have to wade through to find the one working flashlight when the fuses pop.

But the sermon's there, the latest in a series of unholy grails, and it's in a context that turns the media-manufactured controversy on its ear.

The Fourth Estate is as troubled as real estate, both suffering from an onslaught of unreliable vendors and lenders, both victimizing their customers through empty half-truths and brazen fraud. Fox and CNN's co-opting of Rev. Wright's incendiary text in order to convert their respective congregations into holy rolling glossolaliacs (that means, like, speaking in tongues, you know?) is as much a reason to lose faith in the democratic process as tampering with vote tallies in a national election. And it's edited with as much heart-stopping pizzazz as an action sequence in a '70s chop saki flick.

In spite of the Rev. Wright's arguably righteous anger spewed from his pulpit, and Obama's eloquent disengagement, the MSM knows fuel when it smells it, knows how to stoke the coals when they begin to cool. They take a moment of rage and imply a lifetime of hate. They depend on -- as much as any preacher does -- the crowd's susceptibility to rapture and the likelihood of its being swept up in the fervor of a moment or in the inspiration of a movement. And if they so choose they can take the upward trajectory of a people's hope and nudge it just enough to crash it into a ditch.

It's how information is disseminated these days; the responsibility to sift through the news, advice, guidance, whatever, has been all but abdicated by the individual and entrusted to those that might not be worthy of such a trust. Blessed are they that put their trust in Him. But even then, you might not be getting the whole picture.

Comments

[Abo]

Hillary's fat cats must've also sent a letter to the MSM managers to make Clinton's de-bunked "experience" claims disappear and the Wright attacks resume.
Because that is exactly what happened. Clinton's desperate opposition research gets round-the -clock hammering, while any investigation to Clinton's numerous false claims from Northern Ireland to health care for children are ignored.
Expect the attacks on Wright to continue, Clinton admitted she anticipates it hobbling Obama and it is all she has. She can't build a case for herself because the risk is she may be called on her lies--so all she can do is pull the strings to attack, attack attack.
With Clinton it has always been about winning by default as the only hope.

[GEA232]

Yes, largely because in this country what can be said about white people, including women, cannot be said of black people because it is "RACIST."

[realpolitic]

Fox News is an embarrassment to America. What kind of news organization can an outfit be that begins with the assumption that dissent is disloyalty? That is the opposite assumption than a news organization should have. CNN has taken a cartoon tone between Lou Dobbs and Anderson Cooper, that is some attempt to mimic the excesses of Fox, while not have its singularity of purpose. The sole purpose of Fox is as an advertisement for the GOP.

[Kahawa]

Just wondering, Steve, why you don't say you listened to his sermons yourself. Did you?

[peaceplez]

I'm relatively new to the Huffington Post and so grateful and inspired by this open forum. There is something amazing going on here. There are so many people also reading this. Yes Reverend Wright was slammed and profoundly taken out of context BUT the word IS getting out. There was the post of his sermon, this blog and the NY Times letter. In spite of Wright's anger anyone who chooses to look can SEE depth, nuance and profound love in this man. Hillary says he wouldn't be her pastor. Well, what does that say about Hillary?

[realpolitic]

Well said!

[TRYKER]

That Hillary has had to REPEAT endlessly this supposed horrible utterance of a preacher as her main claim to the presidency shows how SILLY the whole thing is and how shallow her perceptions.

No where is the preacher's utterance as profoundly disagreeable as a woman lying about too many parts of a non-existent "record" as her basis for leadership of America. Its absurd. Dodging snipers, indeed!

What, we should elect Hillary because a black preacher complains about the racist white elites and the foreign policy of a lying bunch of crooks that brings trouble back on America? Yeah, right.

So Barack, because he is black, is now responsible for all words that all black people say...if some haughty white soul can bang that drum loud and long enough? Sorry, not going to work...peo­ple are above that.

While Hillary proudly trumpets "she wouldn't sit in that church for 20 yrs listening to that man"...may­be Barack should say, "he wouldn't stay in that sinful marriage for 20 yrs and listen to that lying philandere­r"...but he didn't.

In reality Hillary would sit anywhere she thought the power and money reigned no matter what.

More power to the preacher and every man and his right to free speech. If whitey can't handle the truth....

[Imhotepsings]

Hear, hear. Very well said indeed...

[Chris7982]

MSM loves the sensationalism and you know what people believe everything they see and hear without saying that it is time we see the whole speech or sermon...s­nippets gives the right sound bitew they want to project and it gives ratings...­it is allabout that and they do not care about the issues...t­hat is why we will end up with MccAin as President and another 100 years f war...if they had paid attention to the WH and dug deeper we would not have gone to war in the first place...so much for great journalism!!! we were failed by them all...sham­e on MSM!!!!

[wilhelmR]

They (Fox, CNN and even MSNBC) don't want to give us the RAW news and therefore they are great deceivers.

[FreedomLoverX]

Rev. Wright story was hyped up propaganda. At this point, every educated person knows it.

Why is this not covered more:

pastor James David Manning of New York's ATLAH World Missionary Church

Hillary gave this clown 1.5 million of our tax money - earmarks

Manning: "Harlem must destroy itself."

[Bobzmcishl]

That's why I watch CNBC. They haven't shown any Wright video's in over a week. Fox and CNN seem to be in a fight as to who can show over and over ad neaseum the same old stuff. You really have to wonder what the hidden agenda of these two networks are. I sort of expected this from FOX but not CNN.

[Rose52]

CNN is in the tank for Clinton.

[ann1]

Mr. Weber, thank you for a piece that challenges the human mind to think!!!!!!!! I'm so disgusted with CNN. I thought they were above tabloid journalism, but they're really no better than Fox.

[Molarity1983]

I would have to agree with you ann1 about CNN- my new nickname for them is Crappy News Network.

Mr. Weber- I just started reading your blog and love how well written and right on the dot it is. It is a shame that more people are not as insightful as you are and that many people chose to be manipulated/drawn into the sleaziness of the media rathar than face blatant truths that you present. Thank you for great commentary.

[ByersL]

I am white, over 50, wealthy and female. I still don't understand all the fuss over Reverend Wright. With the exception of the statement about AIDS virus being spread by the govt (although they did infect African American men with STDs in Alabama years ago..so who knows for sure?) I don't see anything wrong with what he said. Actually, he often quoted many scholars in his statements, so why is this so scary to Americans? It's good to have someone challenge us! I would hate to think that we aren't up to it!!

[donaldw6]

They're afraid because they can pick through his words and find evidence of racial scars. They're there, no question about it. The attempt to graft Rev. Wright onto Barack Obama has failed, and further attempts will fail abysmally, because Barack Obama is obviously his own man. People also don't want to think that there are African-Americans who were in their prime during the Civil Rights era who speak forcefully about their experiences, and that those who do aren't always able to fully overcome the pain of those experiences. The more complete Rev. Wright, as I have found in my few hours of further research, does appear to be deeply flawed, but not bad by any means, and with many redeeming features.

I'm a 60-year-old white guy, and hardly an expert about these things, but I see an African-American with many good qualities and some failings that speak to his background. They aren't the same kinds of flaws you might find in a Southern white minister, but they're certainly of the same degree if you take the time to understand people just a little bit.

They'll keep pounding on Rev. Wright, and we'll have to say yeah, that wasn't too cool what he said there, was it, thank you for pointing it out. But at some point it says more about the one finding fault than the one faulted.

[gtt]

I seem to recall that Congressman Ron Paul made the same statement regarding the cause for 9/11 as Rev. Wright - that being that the attack was the result of American intervention and aggression overseas coming home to roost. Paul, who is an isolationist, intook some abuse for his comment during the republican debates, but not nearly so much as Wright. Odd that none of the MSM commentators has noted this common theory in order to put it in proper perspective. Commentator are like politicians, none wants to even report on the side of any issue that my be unpopular at the time. They are always in competition for fans. I would like to see the video of Congressman Paul's comment played along side of Rev. Wright's and then a reporter interview Paul to make him generally admit that he agrees with the conclusion of Rev. Wright. Then note that few made a big deal over his comments at the time.

[AlphaDoc]

I'm white, over 50, not wealthy and female. While I do understand the fuss over Reverend Wright, I sure as hell don't agree with it. There is anger in EVERY community--black, white, rich, poor, gay, straight, Jewish, Christian, etc, etc, etc--and the sooner Americans face up to that fact, the better off we'll be. Cripes, why else are so many people on mood-altering drugs, if not to curb their negative feelings? Reverend Wright was expressing thoughts and feelings relative to his community, like most of the rest of us do when we are among those who best understand where we're coming from.

> With the exception of the statement about AIDS virus being spread by the govt<

In the past, I have read that the HIV virus was born in a lab in Philadelphia . . . and that it first turned up in a batch of vaccines that were sent to Africa. Maybe Reverend Wright read the same article that I did. Is it true? Who really knows anymore? Can we believe what the government tells us?

I wish I had a better internet connection so that I could listen to the Pastor's sermons. I'm not at all religious, but I'd certainly like to hear what he's got to say. Listening to each other is the only way we're ever gonna hope to climb out of the mess this country has gotten into. And giving each other a hand up wouldn't hurt, either.

[newworldman777]

Allow me to dispel a common myth. The government did not infect African American men with STDs (syphilis). The men had already become infected through their own actions, and the government decided to feign treatment of them, while they were actually allowing the disease to progress unchecked and untreated, to study the effects. This in itself, of course, is just as dispicable, and the government will receive its just rewards for their sins.

[iswearington]

exactly my sentiments. by the way...how many jews got into trouble for saying "godamn germany "when they were being gassed and burned in ovens? what kinds of things do you think jewish rabbis would be saying in the synagogues if the allies had left them in the kz s and jails...an­d hitler and himmler and goebbels and the rest had been left in power over jews in nazi germany after the 2nd world war ended...th­e way blacks were left under the absolute control of the most rabid racists in history in the southern united states after the emancipation proclamation? but that never happened to the jews like it did us did it? the jews were released from the jails and concentration camps. the nazi ringleaders were tried at nurnburg and the germans were forced to pay reparation­s...while in the confederate south not one shiny black soul was let off a georgia chaingang.­the ring leaders not only were not put on trial..but they ran for president. imagine goebbels running for the german presidency 5 years after the war ended like george wallace did right after the civil and voting rights acts were passed in the united states.the word reparation s when applied to those left under the boots of the racist south is a cuss word.

[gerireig]

ByersL and iswearington: Ruminations like yours are what Corporate Media is trying to extinguish. They shepherd minds toward intolerance, ahistorical conclusions and emotionalism. They constantly push the idea that flag-waving and loyalty tests define patriotism. It is a fascist conglomerate featuring eighteen people who sit on each other's boards. Unfortunately the hyenas (Republicans) and the trembling chihuahuas (Democrats) would rather play the game than show some courage. P.S (unrelated): Senator Biden said that if the Bush administration bombs Iran, he will start impeachment proceedings. For 25 points, what's wrong with this approach (hint: horse left barn), and why do some people think that he's real smart?

[Gem4Obama]

Those who would quiet Obama and his Pastor do not understand the Black Experience. They forget that although slavery ended in 1865, some 143 years ago, I cannot to this day, complete a family geneaology chart because of it. The farthest I can go back is the early 1800s. They only started taking census records of Blacks in 1880 (the first record).
Those folks who would quiet Wright and Obama seem to want to sweep under the rug, their own insidious hate for persons who are not like them. The same kind of hate that begat slavery in Europe and THIS hemisphere.
They still want to perpetuate the MYTH that white supremacy is the glue that keeps everyone else in "line". Whether its systemic, individual, or institutional ITS WRONG. THEY feel they have the right to call this man a racist. They are in fact PROJECTING.
Those folks were not enumerated in a United States Historical Document (The Constitution) as being considered 3/4ths human. Those folks did not have to endure the highest court in the land say that they were inferior, and as such deserved NOT to be considered a citizen like the "typical American citizen".

[lostonechampion]

3/5ths. Not 3/4ths. 3/5ths.

Read "Dark Bargain". It's an excellent book. Southern whites didn't want to be taxed at all for their "property" but they did want their property to given them representational benefits within the new government. Of course Northerners wanted tax revenue from this "property" and didn't see why this "property" should produce representational benefit any more than cows or chickens.

The stalemate that resulted almost eliminated the possibility of a "United" States of America. In the end, all parties (at the Constitutional Congress) entered into the "Dark Bargain".

The slave owners would be taxed at a rate of 3/5ths for each slave. And in turn they would be granted the representational weight of 3/5ths of a citizen.

And there you have it. It's just math. ....mere math. Like book keeping. ... or is it? Shame on Wright? or Shame on those pointing the finger? Hmmmmmmm..­...

[Gem4Obama]

I have a bit of a problem with folks screaming about Wright being 1) A Black Nationalist 2) Anti-American 3) An Anti White Racist.
First and formost those folks are talking about HIM being anti-American, but what about a litlle concept called FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION?
The irony here is that all of the media is in favor of 1st amendment rights, yet slammed this man into the ground with their incessant frenzy of playing those 10 second clips as infinitum (translation: until they got bored with the topic).
This man expressed what he feels, experienced and undoubtedly studied in all of his years. The man did not lie. The problem with our country is that we would like to leave issues of racism simmering on the back burner and virtually ignored. Wright on the other hand decided to bring it to the forefront (albeit a bit hyperbolic) and tell his congregation what HE percieves to be the truth. Wright is a scholar, a pastor and an ex-marine. The demonization by the press of both Obama and Wright was such a swift-boat job. Now the man had to cancel all personal appearances because of death threats. This is a sad commentary on mainstream news and mainstream America.

[AlphaDoc]

>First and formost those folks are talking about HIM being anti-American<

What bothers me most about that particular bit of nastiness is that people seem to forget that Reverend Wright IS an American. From the way some of them speak, it's as though he is a foreign enemy of some kind--you know, not "one of us." (wink, wink) Makes me want to put my foot through the tv screen.

[calirighty]

So in your "freedom of expression" it is ok to LIE? What he PERCEIVES to be the truth and what IS the truth are two different things.

[lostonechampion]

Actually, those were not Wright's words. He was speaking them, but they were not his words. The MSM skillfully cut that part out of the video clip that they keep looping.

US Ambassador Peck made those statements on Fox news. He's white by the way. So that kinda makes him not a Black Nationalist or Anti-white racists. Peck made those comments while being interviewed by the venerable Bill O'Reilly.

The majority of the people commenting on Wright don't even have their facts together. That puts them in the feeble-minded and ignorant category. Use Google. Learn something. There is nothing better than complete and unfiltered information.

Peep these links:

Comparison of MSM Edited Video and Original Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOdlnzkeoyQ&feature=related

Article at Daily Kos about the MSM Hit Job on Obama
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/3/21/9599/74572/652/481424%3C/p%3E

[HippyLadyLib]

Our media has a tabloid mentality and anyone who listens to soundbites from any source without listening in entirety has a mentality no better than the greedy moguls who are in charge of what the sheeples see and hear.
Think outside the translation box and read the book of Luke, Chapter 6, verses 22 - 24 and realize that Rev. Wright was pretty much on target.
I am really tired of folks listening to the MSM as if they were anything other than self-serving sheep who care nothing about anything except the sound of their own baa, baa, baa.

[calirighty]

Actually that goes to show that you don't understand the bible when you read it. What Wright was talking about had NOTHING to do with that verse. It states: 22 Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. 23 "Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets. 24 "But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Read it again. Jesus states blessed are those that are hated BECAUSE OF ME. Jesus was NOT saying that the rich "are bad" and or "deserve to be resented". He was saying that those accept riches OVER God have already received their reward. What Wright does is preach contempt of ALL people that have made their lives successful, whether they follow God or not. Refer back to the insults over Tiger Woods. People like Wright resent ANY black man that has actually done well in life. Wright has the right to say anything he wants. But when he steps away from the gospel and preaches the hate that he preaches he then loses ALL credibility as a preacher.

[milo9]

Fox and CNN are airing the political rantings of a tortured soul. Not the Reverend that gave Obama spiritual advice in dealing with our Universal fall from grace.

[December7]

When we have a president who claims is on a crusade and takes a nation to war based on falsehoods and lies, it is hard to understand Americans outrage on Rev Wrights rants which are not relevant on the issues at hand.

Is it so difficult to comb through Obamas record as a politician for any evidence that he subscribes to whatever Rev Wright says?

[hoopesaz]

Most Amaricans can actually be outraged at more than one thing at a time. Perhaps that will help clear up your confusion.