TV Talk Discussion Group

Topic: Bill Moyers will interview Jeremiah Wright, Obama's pastor on Friday on PBS

"Courtesy of Bill Moyers, a giant in journalism, who the neocons removed from PBS several years ago, the Nation finally has access to Rev. Jeremiah Wright full sermons rather than just snippets of his sermon that have been played and looped around the world and picked up by the media to fill the 24/7 news cycle that it seeks to fill in a competitive and a very fragmented media environment.

Bill Moyers Journal revealed more about the real Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the very human, and I might add, patriotic preacher that Barack Obama and Wright’s congregation have come to know and love over his 40 years of pastoring.

Before I go further, I find it necessary to quote Senator Carl Schurz (Schurz High School bears his name) who defined true American patriotism when in 1872 on the U.S. Senate floor he said:

“The Senator from Wisconsin cannot frighten me by exclaiming, "My country, right or wrong." In one sense I say so too. My country; and my country is the great American Republic. My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right.”

Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who served his country in the Marines and the Navy, continues to serve his country and his congregation as true American patriot in the spirit of Senator Carl Schurz. Can we ask any more of him, Barack Obama, or any other American?

The new “snippet journalism” which now supplements the old time “horse race journalism,” now rules the media “Snippet journalism” does not serve America. It is a blight on this Nation. Three cheers for Bill Moyers and Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Thumbs down for the empty-minded bigots in the world."

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I watched the whole Moyers interview with Wright. .. The man is an educated, intelligent guy with a great knowlege of theology and a vast understanding of how ''political'' history can be. He obviously has an ability to communicate on various levels. I could have easily listened to another hour of his exchange with Moyers. We now know why the Clintons themselves invited Wright to the White House as one of a select group of influential American pastors for Bill to ''repent to'' in his public attempt to repair the self-inflicted damage of the Lewinsky sex scandal. .. Personally, I find Wright's rendering of Psalm 137 in relation to the country's reaction to 9/11 thought-provoking. It can easily be added to the religious debate over what constitutes a ''just war.'' (I think the popular Pope John Paul II had something to say about that when we were about to shock-and-awe Iraq.) Furthermore, Wright's metaphor about the folks in-charge up on the deck of the ship not praying to the same God as the folks locked-in chains down in the galley was another powerful image that will stay with me. .. And while the method of worship at his church is not what I gravitate toward personally, I certainly don't see anything to be ''afraid'' of. .. (Of course, I'm sure more than a few people out there will waste their time trying to tell me.) - eom JT

To add to your thoughtful and insightful comments... I felt positively inspired, elevated and enlightened after watching Wright speak (which often happens when watching the guests Moyers interviews). I can see why he grew his church from 87 to 6000 people during his ministry. Thalia

On the whole, IA. However, 'snippet journalism' or not, he DID say some pretty inflamatory things that weren't very supportive of America. Whether it was taken out of context or not, saying things like 'GD America' isn't a very patriotic tone. There have been some pretty inflamtory individuals out there who have also been well educated, well spoken, but not necessarily people I would want influencing or advising the leader of my community or country. He can put on a sweet face, but the reality is that behind closed doors of his church those were the kinds of things he was saying!! Yes, he has the right to free speech & his opinions. But I have the right to mine & not to believe the spin he is putting on this. He is also, as others have said, not doing Obama any favors in dredging this all up again. eom

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Posted by: Rosebud1
Date posted: Fri Apr 25 21:52:18 2008
Message:

I tend to agree w/the political commentators I heard earlier today--like Cokie Roberts.  They were saying that JW is doing far more damage to Obama than ever.  He should have kept his mouth shut until the election was over & then he could 'set the record straight' all he wanted.  Now it is just going to bring all that bile up again, to be rehashed, ad nauseum.  Sometimes taking the high road means keeping things to yourself.  From the clips of the interview that I saw, he also didn't sound very supportive of Obama.

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Posted by: vh
Date posted: Thu Apr 24 21:22:35 2008
Message:
Thanks, I too will try to remember to catch it.  I loathe politics because of all of the sneaky slick crap that goes on, so I missed most of this when it happened, but I did watch several pieces of him on the Net to inform myself a little bit.  I found myself agreeing with some of what he said, but the way in which he said it I did not care for.  God damn America was definitely a stupid thing to say, no matter what and I feel that stirring/agitating/inciting anger, hatred and bitterness is a poor way to help people.  The sad thing for me is that I never quite trust (whether the info is good or bad) that it isn't just  spin.  Yes, I am cynical.  = )

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Posted by: JT
Date posted: Thu Apr 24 13:53:49 2008
Message:

As a Seattle-Post op-ed sanely put into perspective, those non-stop clips of Wright represent .0000012 percent of his total preaching at Trinity.

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Posted by: Elliott
Date posted: Thu Apr 24 12:26:52 2008
Message:

I'm sure he isn't a horrible, demonic person, but he did say what he said. I've heard several different 30 second sound bites (and longer than 30 seconds), not just the God Damn America one. He sounds a little nuts in all of them. But I'm sure the other 90% of his sermons are less offensive.

I don't like Obama regardless of his association with Wright, so I don't really care to know more about the preacher man. But Obama should have known this was going to come up given his race for the highest office in the country. One he should have waited to go for until he'd actually done something in Washington.

Oh, don't get me started. Can't stand Obama. GO HILLARY! :)

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Hi, Elliott. You mean your are not the least bit curious to see what this man is like when he is not ranting and raving, like Obama or not? You mean you are not a little bit curious? Just a wee bit? Another connection I have to this whole thing is a family member was involved in a freshman outreach programs when attending University of Chicago and said it was like entering a different universe there in the south side of Chicago... no electricity or phones ... very bleak and so distressing to see this little known part of American that he quit the program because it was just too much to deal with. That is where this church is located and who it serves and as the family member put it ... like you had left America and gone to some poor 3rd world country. So I think there is much more to this story than the sound bites when put into the context of the community O and JW were serving. Just maybe. I will be interested in checking this out myself. Thalia

No, I am a little curious. Thanks for the heads-up. I'll try to remember to watch. I'm sure he'll come off as a decent guy. And I'm sure he probably really is. But the damage is already done. And I'm okay with that since I don't like Obama. :) hehehe Hi, back at you! eom Elliott

Elliott, you are the best. I have not seen you on the GH board... have you given up? Thalia

Not completely. I watch maybe 2 episodes a week. But last week... none. It's very hard to keep caring about it. I wish I still felt the GH love, but it's very rare that feeling comes back to me. It's a bummer. I still post on the GH board occasionally. Hugs...eom Elliott

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