Rev. Wright at the National Press Club Today

[monsoon]

My guess is you won't see most of this on the national tabloid news.

[kayman]

Of course not! It is like watching a 3-ring circus the way the media keep spinning this mess. Some of the things he has isn't true, but most of what he saying does have some valid points. The main people that seem to get all in an uproar over what he said are very likely to hold aversive bias against on anything that points out how eurocentric this society is.

[erdogs]

I don't see how this press conference does anything to change anyones mind. If you agree with him this will only cement your opinion. If you disagree with him it will do the same.

[monsoon]

^LOL! It's interesting. When I ask people who say they don't like Obama because of Wright, "what exactly did Wright say that you don't like", they can't answer the question. Apparently most people let the cable programs do their thinking for them now.

On my earlier assertion, I did a quick survey of the cable news channels and they are only offering up about a 15sec clip of that speech above. And of course it was taken out of context. My only regret is that Wright isn't closer where I could go hear him in person. He says a lot of things that make sense. Least of which of who is a better American? Wright, who served in the military for 6 years, or Cheney who used personal connections to get draft deferments?

[erdogs]

I disagree with his assertion that those who died on 9/11 were just getting what was coming to them. In this presser he didn't answer any question with a direct answer, he primarily used parables, hiding behind the bible. When asked about his feelings on the U.S. he refers to his military service. Timothy McVeigh served in the military as well, but he had a warped sense of what it meant to be patriotic. You could use Wright's thinking to say that the Oklahoma City bombing was America's chickens coming home to roost. He seemed to take more joy in the attacks than sorrow.

[JerseyBoy]

On my earlier assertion, I did a quick survey of the cable news channels and they are only offering up about a 15sec clip of that speech above. And of course it was taken out of context.

[sean]

Is Anna Nicole still dead?

If mainstream broadcast media is folks' only source of 'news', then their window to the Presidential race is a very shallow narrative packaged for soundbites and a carefully managed stage production. Its not surprising that we have a thread up in here (Coffee House Rules) that is 64 pages and counting on the Election Primaries... 64 pages and the dominant content is a regurgitation of the soundbites served up by the agents of broadcast media. Who butters their (media) bread?

Bottom line:

Compare and contrast the candidates views on the debt of the citizens?

or

Who has the better hair?

[Gusterfell]

I disagree with his assertion that those who died on 9/11 were just getting what was coming to them.

[kayman]

I disagree with his assertion that those who died on 9/11 were just getting what was coming to them. In this presser he didn't answer any question with a direct answer, he primarily used parables, hiding behind the bible. When asked about his feelings on the U.S. he refers to his military service. Timothy McVeigh served in the military as well, but he had a warped sense of what it meant to be patriotic. You could use Wright's thinking to say that the Oklahoma City bombing was America's chickens coming home to roost. He seemed to take more joy in the attacks than sorrow.

[krazeeboi]

Perhaps I'm just being naive as an Obama supporter, but to me, this entire Dr. Wright "fiasco," with every public appearance of his garnering major news coverage lately, has taken on a life of its own like a sitcom spin-off. People at this point need to seriously ask themselves the question, "What does all of this have to do with Obama?" I mean I don't mind mainstream America getting a little taste of the African American religious tradition in this country, so this might have a redeeming quality as an educational experience, but other than that--Dr. Wright is clearly speaking for himself and not Obama (as he always has).

And even though I don't agree with all Dr. Wright has said (from the popularly broadcast soundbites and speeches), I fail to see how what he has said is anti-White. I see it as anti-government, and I think that's a big difference. The underlying assumption behind the sentiment that Dr. Wright is anti-White is that all Whites are in agreement with the actions of the government 100% of the time, which is asinine.

Many people are just interested in the sensationalism of all of this and aren't actually engaged in thinking this entire thing through. But then again, what's new for America?

[kayman]

Perhaps I'm just being naive as an Obama supporter, but to me, this entire Dr. Wright "fiasco," with every public appearance of his garnering major news coverage lately, has taken on a life of its own like a sitcom spin-off. People at this point need to seriously ask themselves the question, "What does all of this have to do with Obama?" I mean I don't mind mainstream America getting a little taste of the African American religious tradition in this country, so this might have a redeeming quality as an educational experience, but other than that--Dr. Wright is clearly speaking for himself and not Obama (as he always has).

And even though I don't agree with all Dr. Wright has said (from the popularly broadcast soundbites and speeches), I fail to see how what he has said is anti-White. I see it as anti-government, and I think that's a big difference. The underlying assumption behind the sentiment that Dr. Wright is anti-White is that all Whites are in agreement with the actions of the government 100% of the time, which is asinine.

Many people are just interested in the sensationalism of all of this and aren't actually engaged in thinking this entire thing through. But then again, what's new for America?

[voyager12]

The whole brouhaha over Wright exposes how very ignorant so many Americans are concerning the painful history of African-Americans in this country. One would think that by now it would have sunk in...forced into slavery from Africa, screwed by Reconstruction, terrorized by the KKK, Jim Crow laws and to this day severe economic and educational disparity. Rev Wright is a strong proponent of Black Liberation Theology, a mindset that is focused on social justice for historically marginalilzed groups, hence there is a lot of anger and passion in these sermons. One does not have to agree with every statement he makes to understand the pain underneath. I watched his entire speech in Detroit and his message overall was that differences among our society in race,religion, and sexual orientation means just that :different not deficient or immoral. I find it hard to argue with that point. But such an affirming conclusion is lost in the soundbite culture of the media.

[erdogs]

How on earth did you come to this assumption about comparing Wright to McVeigh? The man is stating that the U.S. foreign policy has some of the worse atrocities known in the modern world and that if you commit terrorist acts against someone then one should expect the same towards themselves. You are really trying to make up something that is flat out not there.

If one doesn't realize what the main point of some what Wright is saying is it quite obvious where your views fit in the discussion of aversive bias and the ignorance surrounding the black ideology.

[monsoon]

The Situation Room just showed it in its entirety...

[krazeeboi]

I think my comparison using the thinking between McVeigh and Wright are on point.

[kayman]

I think my comparison using the thinking between McVeigh and Wright are on point. You have a right to disagree, so I'll leave it at that.

Just because you think I don't understand what Wright is saying, is no reason to define me as a racist. You don't know me that well.

[erdogs]

It would help if you actually got it correct. So far, everything you have said about him was incorrect. It seems to be based on the out of context snippets that appear on such places as Fox news.

[erdogs]

I disagree. You stated, "You could use Wright's thinking to say that the Oklahoma City bombing was America's chickens coming home to roost." McVeigh was not the victim of oppressive American foreign policy decisions.

[Gard]

I was listening to him speak today. I haven't heard him say anything anti-white. In one of his sermons actually, he mentioned how white women were denied the right to vote at one time. He also brought up some really valid points, such as people acting as if having an Arabic middle name like Obama is a dirty thing. He reminded people that Arabic is a LANGUAGE and NOT a religion. There are Arabic speaking Muslims, Christians, Jews and Atheists. He also went on to say we didn't consider the Irish dirty when they came here, so why should we consider other peoples so. The more I listen to his speeches, the more I actually like Wright. I had to laugh when someone in the audience asked him about his patriotism and he responded by saying he spent six years in the marines and asked how many Cheney spent . He also specifically said when he was damning America, he wasn't damning Americans or white people or even the country itself, he was damning the stupid acts of our government. Towards the end of the political stuff, he specifically said that if Obama were to win, he will hold him to the same standards as all others in his position.

[monsoon]

McVeigh used his hatred of the government to justify his attack, Wright uses it to justify why others attack.

[erdogs]

If I was going to call call you a racist, I would have so don't put words in my mouth. All your responses has proven was your ignorance of the plight and struggles of the blacks in this country from what Wright said to Reaganomics. So your response speak for themselves on your understanding of the black socioecomic issues.

[erdogs]

And that would be wrong because........... ? Osama Bin Laden directly said that he attacked on 9/11 because of US bases in Saudi Arabia and US support of the fairly oppressive Saudi Royal family. Exactly what am I missing here? It does not go without notice these bases were removed from Saudi Arabia after 9/11. The terrorists that did 9/11 got what they wanted. Seems to me that Wright hit the nail directly on the head.

[monsoon]

You agree what Bin Laden did was justified? If so, we have nothing else to discuss here.

[kayman]

Then I guess you also believe this about Clarence Thomas, Walter Williams, Armstrong Williams, Thomas Sowell, Larry Elder, Michael Steele, Ken Hamblin, J.C. Watts or anyone else that disagrees with your view.

You said

[erdogs]

Either you did not listen to what Wright said or you are being completely disingenuous by creating this straw man.

Wright said that 9/11 happened because of our actions in the middle east. He did not say it was justified. Please learn to listen.

If you have bothered to read anything that I have written on this site, you should know by now that I am against violence. That goes for the Iraq war, and for 9/11. My suspicion is that you mostly post here mainly to piss off others so this fits. You have not addressed one point that Wright made in that video and have taken the opportunity instead to throw bombs into this topic.

Stop playing this kind of game because nobody is buying it. Nobody on this site that I know of thinks 9/11 as justified and you should be ashamed for attempting to move this discussion in that direction.