This extended excerpt from Rev. Wright's 9/11 sermon is also circulating. I had read it but had not seen it. So in fairness to... well, everyone, here it is. (Cap tip, Andrew.)
« A Faint Heart Beats In Michigan | Main | Fundraising Comparisons » The Full Wright21 Mar 2008 12:48 pm Comments (43)
Please also see this Roland Martin piece to give some context to some of Wright's comments: 
Very interesting to see the entire sermon. I wish more people would put in the time to watch it...it seems to me, that the sermon is more of a critique of the cycle of violence and the role American foreign policy plays in that cycle. Although I don't agree with everything Wright says about this, it does put his words into perspective more so than when the controversial parts are played as soundbites. Unfortunately, most of the country won't be watching this.
Audio of the entire sermon on Ronald Martin's blog.
Thanks for posting this. The more people who see the sounds bites in context the better. I'm happy to see they are finally making their way to the mainstream blogs and only hope the readers out there who were so quick to jump on the guy for a few seconds take the time to watch. Just to be fair.
Perhaps we should change the question, "Who would Jesus bomb?" to "Who would Jesus throw under the bus?" I am not Christian. I am not African American. I am going to look up the website for the Rev Wright's church or otherwise find its contact information and then I am going to make a donation to their community programs and write the church a letter of support.
A beautiful sermon. I wish i could've seen it at the time. I would've taken great comfort from it and not felt so alone. I e-mailed the church, though I know they've gotten too many to read, and told them I appreciated what they were doing here.
I know that Richardson and Snoopgate are the plays this morning which is probably a good turn of events - but Obama has taken a tremendous hit from this slander from those who probably can't even access YouTube unless AOL feeds it. What we need is a retraction from ABC News who spawned this with Faux. That may be too much to ask from Clintonopolis and Yapper - we Mansonites don't deserve a vetted story apparently.
Marc - you are one of the few and the fair in the media, meaning that you also treat HRC generally fairly because all of the Obama supporters who are now calling for fair media treatment were likely whooping it up and laughing when out of the 11,000 pages of HRC first lady schedule that was released,Brian Ross and CNN decided to focus on the "blue dress" night. How fair is that? Now, please can you put into Rev Wright context: a) his speech on the US govt inventing the AIDS virus as a "means of genocide against people of color" Here's what then Secretary of State Colin Powell had to say about it: "Today I have instructed our representatives at the World Conference Against Racism to return home. I have taken this decision with regret, because of the importance of the international fight against racism and the contribution that the Conference could have made to it. But, following discussions today by our team in Durban and others who are working for a successful conference, I am convinced that will not be possible. I know that you do not combat racism by conferences that produce declarations containing hateful language, some of which is a throwback to the days of "Zionism equals racism;" or supports the idea that we have made too much of the Holocaust; or suggests that apartheid exists in Israel; or that singles out only one country in the world--Israel--for censure and abuse"
You know, I originally thought Wright was a dingbat who said some loony stuff, but that Obama shouldn't be held accountable for what his preacher says. Having seen this video, I say that Wright is a probably an unusually good man who has been maliciously slandered, and that it's an enormous credit to Obama that he has stuck by his preacher in spite of the potential consequences. I'm a white male, and Jewish, by the way, and I would have no trouble sitting through this sermon and finding it compelling.
Nice, until about half way through. This will probably win it for McCain.
"a) his speech on the US govt inventing the AIDS virus as a "means of genocide against people of color" Maybe you should listen to the thing again, because the parts you put under quotation marks are actually not quotes at all.
The Trinity UCC website is: https://www.tucc.org/home.htm The donation link is down the column on the left side. They have donation categories for social service activities, such as Food Share. And, for bbln (above), there are serious injustices in the US's prison and drug policies, and there are seriosu injustices in Israel that are indeed variants of racism. I am Jewish and you can read more about the existence of serious injustices in Israel by reading Israeli newspapers online than you can from reading American newspapers. Israelis debate this stuff more openly than Americans. Rev Wright is not perfect. No one is. If he said the US govt created AIDS/HIV - evidence of his sayiing this has not come before my eyes yet - then that was a whacked thing to say. I wish we could denounce and reject George W Bush and countless members of Congress for saying and doing things that are 100 times more harmful. Rev Wright has been the victim of a disgraceful campaign of defamation. Is he pure? Is he a saint? Of course not and that is beside the point. Not this time.
In fairness..post the sermon with the comments about the young woman who is presumed dead in Aruba who went missing on her vacation. Let's hear Reverend Wrights comments about her.
Why has it taken a full week for this to get posted? Why did members of Trinity & other obscure websites have to post it instead of any news channel, magazine, or major newspaper? As far as I'm concerned, the media coverage, praise for Obama's speech aside has consisted mainly of: The idea of Barack Obama losing the nomination because he's too much of a scary, angry, hater of America of white people is truly disgusting, & the media is complicit in it, as complicit as they were in the Swift Boat smears. I appreciate your posting this--for a horse race blog you're above average--but as far as I'm concerned it's too little too late. Your profession should be ashamed of itself. You have failed us again, and again, and again.
I would just like to point out that Sean Hannity, the father of the Wright story, never graduated college. His degree is an honorary degree from Liberty University, Jerry Falwell's university. If you recall this is what Falwell said after 9/11:
I would just like to point out that Sean Hannity, the father of the Wright story, never graduated college. His degree is an honorary degree from Liberty University, Jerry Falwell's university. If you recall this is what Falwell said after 9/11:
Amazing that he's quoting someone from Fox News and now Fox News is using his quotes against him. The phrase "intellectually dishonest" doesn't even begin to cover it.
I listened carefully. I don't think this blowup is about race as much as about anti-americanism. In my complex life, varied relationships have informed my poltical beliefs -- the closest of which have (for whatever reason) been with people of ethnicites and relgions different than my own, and the insight gained through each relationship has been profound for me. I am not a pacifist but I hate war. I distrust the government but my job is to help catch terrorists. I lost my best friend to Palestianian terrorism, but I don't think anyone had the right to give Palestine away. I am a leftist libertarian. I listened carefully, but at the end of the video Obama is still just another politican who spins, no better and no worse. Listen to the Reverend speak of war and violence. Do you hate war and violence? For me, the big elephant in the room, the obvious observation that everyone ignores, always, is that most war and violence is caused by men with women, children, and the weak usually the victims. So while I don't agree with every Hillary postion, I will not vote for another man in any election until a woman has become President. It may not help, but the way it's been for 10,000 years is not working.
JSF, Pretty far out stuff. So from now on, you will only vote for women because all war is caused by men? The inescapable irony is that Hillary Clinton has consistently voted for the war in Iraq and Barack Obama opposed it. But have it your way.
I might add that history offers plenty examples of women leading nations into war (rightly or wrongly). Golda Meir, Margaret Thatcher, Joan of Arc, to name a few.
Thank goodness this race discussion isn't completely distorted by all media... Thank you Chris Wallace... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiIK8jh3ZCE
Alex, Yeah, I know, I know. And I don't mean to say that all women are saints and all men evil. But talk about hope, talk about change! Imagine if men agreed to stand down and women's issues and power were, based not on evolution or religion or culture but based on the power of our conscious shared human understanding of all of these things, put to the forefront for say just a generation or two -- imagine the learning would take place. Heh, give it a try!
I listened carefully, but at the end of the video Obama is still just another politican who spins, no better and no worse. JSF-
I listened carefully, but at the end of the video Obama is still just another politican who spins, no better and no worse. JSF-
When I watched this I experienced real sadness for this man because he has been misrepresented and attacked so unfairly. He is a gifted man. I do not go to church but I doubt I would mind going to a church like that. I can easily understand what drew Obama to Rev Wright and this church. I believe most people would agree. Those who don't probably never would consider voting for Obama anyway.
He sounds insane. I could not stand to watch the entire "sermon." If he were an Islamic leader saying these things in an Islamic mosque, he would be on a terrorist watch. It's the truth. Double standard.
Leigh, There's a double standard alright. But it's not the one you suggest.
Thanks so much for posting this. I wish more people would take the time to see speeches in their entirety and not just obsess about one sound clip taken out of context.
Ok, here's my take on this... It's fine for every other group of people under the sun to be proud of who they are except black people. If we are proud and want to help each other in this society, we're labeled separatists and racists. In this country you can wear a "Kiss me I'm Irish!" or "I love being Polish!" T-shirt. You can attend a Chinese Christian Church, a Hispanic Evangelical Church where you won't even be able to understand the service if you don't speak the language. But don't attend a "black" church because then you're a separatist even though black churches only came about because blacks weren't allowed to attend "white" church. Did you realize that some blacks tried to attend "white" churches, but were asked to leave? I'm ashamed that I even fell for this whole charade about Rev. Wright. He is an extremely gifted preacher and teacher. Thank God for him. Boy, what if those religious leaders in the 1700s and 1800s had been such wimps that they wouldn't stand up to the injustice of slavery! Yes, of course, they accused them of being anti-American. Funny how the Southerners who drive around with those "The South shall rise again" bumper stickers and fly the Confederate flag don't seem to get accused of being anti-American. Can you spell d-o-u-b-l-e s-t-a-n-d-a-r-d?
While I don't usually write on blogs because i feel we are just talking to ourselves; this last comment demands a response. George Bush says G-d told him it was ok to invade Iraq. Al Sadr says HIS G-d told him it was ok to kill Americans he considers as invaders of his country. Al-Qaeda says THEIR G-d told them to kill any one not a Moslem. The Israelis say THEIR G-d says the Palestinian people never existed. I am sure the Japanese had a G-d that said it was necessary to bomb Pearl Harbor, slaveowners said THEIR G_d said it was ok to own slaves.......and so on throughout history. The only difference between all these people is that they thought THEIR G-d was the only G-d. Why is G-d being used to justify war and oppression, for the killing of innocents for any reason is never justified or condoned by G-d. Maybe the State, maybe history, but NEVER G-d. This is the lesson Rev. Wright was teaching. Why not ask him in person?
It must be whached carefully. it is a sin not to wached
Heh Slag, ...seems you don't pay that close of attention to politics. That speech broke all the rules. I meant I had watched the video here, of the preacher, carefully. Sorry for the confusion. I am curious as to why your response is framed as a put-down (Am I too innocent to know the real truth?) which adds nothing to the discussion and can only make the other person feel like fighting? Obama's speech broke all the rules, I agree. From my POV, a speech that breaks all the rules is not what I am looking for. I can appreciate it, but it's not what I am looking for in a presidential candidate. That doesn't make me stupid, just different.
i must admit that while i had been a little uneasy with what i had previously heard of Rev. Wright's speech (the uneasiness was more about its political implications on Obama's campaign, rather than what was said), this turns my perspective and the whole story on its head!!!!! Wright's remarks have been totally taken out of context. Why arent the Obama people pushing the full context? (it would be better now to leave it all alone...but how could they have missed this 2 weeks ago!!!)
This is indeed a beautiful sermon. I will just echo Vermonter's advice (thanks), please also see this Roland Martin piece; it is succinct and clear: http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/03/21/the-full-story-behind-rev-jeremiah-wrights-911-sermon/ The Obama people have played this perfectly. They couldn't possibly try and explain the context; they had to signal their distance from them. Most people would only ever see the remarks without the context and thay had to make it clear that Obama rejects these sentiments, as they will be understood. In time all the people that are amenable to such explanations will read blogs like this. The Obama campaign are quite right.
Is your conscience getting to you Ambinder? Being part of caricaturing a man's THIRTY-SIX YEAR CAREER into a 3 minute Youtube soundbite? He's had a 36 year career...how many of his sermons did you ACTUALLY READ OR LISTEN TO AMBINDER to get a context of Dr. Wright's sermon style. Why don't you post the link to THE TRUTH ABOUT TRINITY http://truthabouttrinity.blogspot.com/ In a MAIN POST? You can post that racist bile below without hesitation.....hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
1. Trinity was NOT a politically connected church back in the late 1980's. If Obama wanted to do the political hookup church connection, there are plenty of other churches that were hooked into the Chicago Political Machine. 2. The contest in which ' Is Obama Black Enough' was the run for Congress in 2000 against Bobby Rush. So, you're telling me that Obama joined Trinity in the late 1980's for a political run over a decade later? Puleeze. 3. If you're going into politics, saying you're from Trinity doesn't really help with 'The Establishment', because Wright is notorious for NOT allowing the Politicians to "Prostitute The Pulpit" - i.e., the long standing tradition of politicians showing up in Black Churches right before election time to try and get that vote - Wright would have NONE of that. Needless to say, he wasn't very popular with the Chicago Political Establishment. 4. If Obama wanted to be with simply an affluent congregation, there are any number of affluent Black Baptist, AME, Congregational, and yes, even Catholic congregations that he and Michelle could have joined. 5.Bottom line - Obama didn't join Trinity because of 'Political Ambitions'. Being a member of Trinity made that HARDER. He joined because of the commitment to the community that Trinity is known for; he wanted to be an ACTIVE Christian, and not a CHECKBOOK Christian. 6. For all those who continue to mock Wright over the AIDS/HIV claim ( I don't agree, but I understand the sentiments behind it, and, as a Black woman, I have heard this suspicion uttered many times), pick up the book MEDICAL APARTHEID, and then continue to be patronizing towards the "paranoia" of the Black community.
Sometimes I wonder if Hillary wants this thing more than Barack. I mean, we've got Wallace at Faux News hammering his own colleagues for their smear-o-thon but the O team hasn't said a word. Comparisons to Hitler? Wright disinformation - especially the 9/11 speech - and nothing but silence. Sometimes - and I think this is such a time - principle should trade more favorably than the desire to kill a story that really can't die on its own. He will always be black. Let's contrast this with McCain's team, who refused to even take the truth sitting down when the Times threw their half baked meatloaf at him. Yet Axel and Co let Faux smear him to no end while our really good looking Fourth Estate continues to smell like an outhouse and perform just as well. Maybe Hillary does deserve the nomination, because it's looking like America doesn't deserve much better.
To the suggestion that Obama or his campaign push back on the Wright distortions with this and similar videos... Ummm, are you nuts? Can you imagine the further distortions and lies on top of what has already been propagated? http://www.viralvideochart.com/
It seems that Barack Obama has weathered this storm but watching this speech in context one has to ask why he had to. In a time when politicians LIE about their foreign experience and LIE about the difference between Shiites and Sunni as to convince Americans that Iran is a country of AQ why they would try to ruin a candidate over the words of someone else taken out of context? I'm very disappointed in what happens to pass for "news" in our society today it is more like SLANDER.
Rev. Wright quoted Ed Peck as some have noted when he said "chickens have come home to roost". Since then, some have doubted Ed Peck said it or was on FOX before October. The link and quote below is from an article written by Paul Kassener Sept 15, 2001 who witnessed Ed Peck on FOX News between Sept 11 and Sept 15, 2001. Kassener is a writer/satirist now posting blogs on The Huffington Post (political website). Rev. Wright’s sermon of Sept 16th, 2001 quoted Ed Peck appearing on that show at that time. Below doesn’t provide the actual quote "Chickens coming home to roost) but it does carry some of the message and the type of things that Wright quoted him as saying. http://www.flyingsnail.com/paul-one.html For the past few days, Ive been reading the newspapers, then checking the Internet to see what was left out of the papers, and then channel-surfing, from CNN (with their Americas New War logo, reassuring viewers that its not a rerun) to MTV (where one of the Beastie Boys advised: The last thing the terrorists want is for us to work together). On the Fox News Network, Edward Peck, former ambassador to Iraq, was an unusually outspoken guest. He said the terrorists acted as they did not because America is a freedom loving country, but because they feel the U.S. has been treating them the same way throughout the years--bombing Iraq for the last ten years whenever they felt like it--and adding to the list (Take Panama, take Haiti, take Cambodia) before he was cut off and dismissed.
As a black gospel preacher, I commend the stance of Rev. Wright. I consider him to be a bold and fearless preacher.This is what the modernized clergy arena needs, someone who will dare to educate religious believers about political matters and how they compare to the words that are written in the Bible as we know it.
JEREMIAH AND AMERICA’S BLIND SPOT The American media has become absolutely fixated on Rev. Jeremiah Wright. How could he say what he did bout America? Why didn’t Senator Obama storm out of the church in protest? And how can Barack Obama be the man he claims to be and embrace such a man? These are all questions that might have also been asked of another man and his supporters over two thousand years ago, and just as then, the answer is short and sweet–because the man speaks the truth. The controversy over Rev. Wright’s sermon says much more about America’s blind spot than it does about either Rev. Wright, or Sen. Obama. Because while the words were indeed ugly, the truth therein was as pure as virgin snow. Thus, the problem is not with Rev. Wright or Sen. Obama, the problem is with America’s inability to handle the truth, and as long as that continues to be the case, America is doomed to be led by demagogues whose claim on leadership will be based on lies, and the very worst in an otherwise great nation. Black preachers are not just spiritual advisers, they’re also therapists. For the most part, Black people don’t have the resources to engage private therapists to work out the frustrations attendant to a daily barrage injustice, so Black preachers provide that service. The next time you watch the endless loops of Rev. Wright’s sermon, look at the people in the background, and the young man who comes up to bow his approval. Rev. Wright is giving his congregation the opportunity to vent the frustration of injustice. White people who find themselves concerned over Rev. Wright’s words should ask themselves, where do you think all of that passion and frustration would go if Rev. Wright, and Black preachers across this land, wasn’t providing their people a vehicle for releasing that passion and pent-up frustration? Instead of demanding that this man be renounced, he and his Christian colleagues should be given awards as renowned public servants. And further, it is indeed ironic that this man would be called un-American. Black people have been called a lot of things over the centuries, but unpatriotic has never been among them. We must never forget that it was a Black man, Crispus Attucks, who was the very first person to die for this country. And from that moment to this, regardless to what Black people have endured at the hands of White America, we’ve been the very first to respond, with a willingness to lay our lives on the line against any threat to the American ideal. But it is the phrase “American ideal” that separates Rev. Wright from Bush, Cheney, and the Limbaughs of this world. When Rev. Wright said “God damn America”, he was clearly speaking of American policy, not the American ideal–and since he has paid his dues as an American in full, he had every right to do so. One Rev. Jeremiah Wright is worth more to America than a boatload of armchair patriots like Bush, Cheney, and the Rush Limbaughs of the world. While these armchair patriots take pride in going around wearing American flags in their lapels, and declaring how much they love America to all who will listen, where were they when America needed them to place their lives on the line? I’ll tell you where they were–George Bush used his father’s influence to maneuver his way into the Texas National Guard in order to assure that other Americans would go Vietnam, and in many cases die in his place, and even then he went AWOL; Dick Cheney managed to get five (5) military deferments, indicating that “I had other priorities”; and Rush Limbaugh managed to avoid fighting for this country by claiming a boil on his ass. Now these so-called “super-patriots” are pointing their finger at Rev. Wright as un-American for speaking the truth–this man who not only answered this nation call in the Navy, but served as a United States Marine as well. There’s something very wrong with that picture. Rev. Wright’s sermon was designed to wake a sleeping giant, the American ideal. He was pointing out to America that we’re suffering from a serious blind spot. Wanted to open America’s eyes to the fact that the most unconscionable act of terrorism in the history of mankind was when the United States dropped not one, but two atomic bombs on the women and children of the Japan. In that case, we attempted to justify it by saying it saved countless American lives, but by using that argument we also argue that terrorism, and the killing of innocent women and children, can indeed be justified under certain conditions. We’re embracing that argument even now in Iraq. The American people can be blinded to that fact through the thick fog of patriotism, but the rest of the world doesn’t suffer from our laundered point of view. They see our actions then, and now, for what they are--terrorism. The good Rev. Wright’s sermon was right out of the Bible. John 8:32: “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” And the truth is, the only difference between Arab terrorism and American terrorism is that we’ve got a much more efficient delivery system. Open your eyes America. True, Al Qaeda killed three thousand Americans, but in response, we’ve killed over a million people who’s done absolutely nothing to us. Eric L. Wattree
In Reference to Rev Wrights analogy of our dropping the atom bomb on Japan, he has completely twisted the truth. I can remember WW2 and Japan was a Terrorist country. Japan raped and murdered innocent people including women and children all across asia and also bombed Hawaii without discrimination also killing innocent civilians.
|
Subscribe to this blog by Email Twitter || On Facebook || QIK Live Channel  Recent Posts
Monthly Archives
|
| 
Copyright © 2008 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. All rights reserved.
My GOD!! HOW ABSOLUTELY...reasonable. Lots of people were saying/feeling similar things in the aftermath of 9/11. This perspective, though inaccurate and a caricature of history, is still much preferable to "the gayz made God angry."
Posted by Craig | March 21, 2008 1:08 PM