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Moyers has the Wright Stuff
Sad that there were select quotes heavily publicized in advance of the airing of the Bill Moyers interview with Jeremiah Wright, but no real coverage or discussion afterwards.
It was an a sterling interview by Moyers, and by Wright. Moyers drew out of Wright an excellent explanation of Black Liberation Theology, and of TUCC's motto "Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian." And giving much more context to the "God damn America" sermon.
I was going to say "sterling performance," but that might be taken to imply something less than honest, while it was actually a frank, candid and intellectual discussion. And Moyers wasn't in a rush to talk about Obama.
Similarly, the "he spoke as a politician" quote has been taken by some as Wright implying that Obama's speech in Philly was just political talk. As with the other notorious sound bites of Wright, however, it sounds a lot different in fuller context.
________________
BILL MOYERS: So what blues are you singing right now?
REVEREND WRIGHT: Don't know why they treat me so bad....That, what man meant for evil, God meant for good....That's a quote from Joseph, in the bible, the Book of Genesis.
BILL MOYERS: And what do you take that to mean?
REVEREND WRIGHT: That Human beings, many times, do things for nefarious purposes. And God can take that and turn something- make something good out of it.... That those sound bytes, those snippets were taken for nefarious purposes. That God can take that and do something very positive for it- with it. That, in Philadelphia, in response to the sound bytes, in response to the snippets, in Philadelphia Senator Obama made a very powerful speech in terms of our need as a nation to address the whole issue of race. That's something good that's already starting. That because of you guys playing these sound bytes now what's getting ready to happen as something very positive, and something very powerful that God can take what you meant to try to hurt somebody to help the nation come to grips with truth. To help a nation come to grips with miseducation. To help a nation come to grips with things we don't like to talk about. To help a nation--
BILL MOYERS: You know, you mentioned Senator Obama. In the 20 years that you've been your 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 here at 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.
BILL MOYERS: Here is a man who came to see you 20 years ago wanting 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 counselor. He has said that. And, yet, he, in that speech at Philadelphia, had to say some hard things about you. How, 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. Those are 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. But he did not disown me because I'm a pastor.
_______________
It's sad that the sound bite of this discussion of the issue of the deceptiveness of sound bites is itself an illustration of the same point.
But at least you can easily watch the interview in its entirety on the web and make up your own mind:
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04252008/watch2.html











Comments (8)
You might want to check this out as well.
We've been trying to defend this guy for a long time, but the media would have none of it.
The full sermons were always available.
Lots of people were speaking on his behalf.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/4/17/125128/868/700/497648
April 26, 2008 12:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
THREE BAR TURN AROUND
"Actually the "blues" was invented by my uncle Chester who was in real estate and doing very very well"
Martin Mull
VOTE YOUR CONSCIENCE
NOT YOUR GUILTY CONSCIENCE
April 26, 2008 3:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Dancing Bear:
I watched the entire interview last night.
BRILLIANT is the only word to describe.
Moyers was brilliant, and Wright showed his brilliance with every word he spoke.
Loved it. Was inspired by it.
April 26, 2008 2:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
DID YOU GET THAT MAN SHIVER?
At the break Moyers asked the producer who delivered the "corpse". The "brilliance" was Wrights ability to talk over the Vallium fog.
As an excuse for US of KKKa it get's an A for changing the subject.
Sincerely
The RNC
VOTE YOUR CONSCIENCE
NOT YOUR GUILTY CONSCIENCE
April 26, 2008 3:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
By the way, somewhat off topic, but here's a digital artist you should know about...
http://dmxart.wordpress.com/
April 26, 2008 2:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Leave it to Bill Moyers to show "journalists" what a real journalist looks like, and does.
It was spellbinding.
April 26, 2008 2:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
After watching this interview all I could think of is getting my hands around George Stephanopupus neck. Seriously, I kept thinking of his racist question to Sen. Obama. "Do you think Rev. Wright loves this country as much as you do?" The MSM had already determined that Rev. Wright does not love America, so asking Sen. Obama that question was the low of the low for me. Rev. Wright is a great man and a wonderful pastor, I am one of those people who hated church for the same reasons that Rev. Wright talks about. The church never speaks about the day to day struggles I am going through, the challenges I face as a christion and what I see around me every day. How can I reconcile history to this present and the question I have..Who am I?
I have now ordered the DVDs from the church and I have found that the sermons have brought me closer to God, finaly! I hated the fantasy hour of church and I wanted reality. Rev. Wright gives it to you and I feel set free. This is a real pastor as he makes no excuse about who he serves. He serves GOD, not the government or any leader. He is a servant of GOG and man cannot have two masters. Tony Perkins is the type of pastor I hate, he has two masters, so in effect he does not serve GOD. I want a partor who only has one master and that master is GOD, not the government of America. Serving God means that you will be at odds with the government and that is how it should be.
Thank-you Bill Moyers, I will contribute to your show and PBS for doing the Wright thing. I will start to watch more of PBS and get involved, that is the Rev. Wright way, get involved and bring your faith with you.
April 26, 2008 3:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
The mainstream media cannot afford to be as honest as Bill Moyers. If anyone needs a prime example of that, they only need to look at the firing of Phil Donehue who was fired for being too liberal leading up to the Iraq war.
An internal NBC memo stated about Donahue, " said about Donahue that he would be a "difficult public face for NBC in a time of war.... He seems to delight in presenting guests who are anti-war, anti-Bush and skeptical of the administration's motives."
The mainstream media is nothing but a game player.
It is blogs like TPM that scare the hell out of the corporate world by exposing their wrong doings, and that is the reason they are trying so hard to get control of the free internet as you and I now enjoy it.
You don't have to be a blind conservative not to see it, just an ignorant one to deny it.
April 27, 2008 11:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
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