I have a confession...

I knew I didn't buy into the media's portrayal of Rev. Wright, but my reasons were naive. I figured that the media's attempts to project a clergyman's words onto a member of the church, political or not, were ridiculous. I figured that it was no coincidence that these videos surfaced just as Hillary was at her most desperate point in the campaign. The fact that the media was looping the same 5 seconds of his sermon was an indicator that his controversial statements were more sparse than they would have the public believe.

My intuition told me that this "scandal" was an overblown, convenient, load of garbage with a purely political effect(and it worked).

I am ashamed to say, however, that I never bothered to hear Rev. Wright's side of the story or simply watch one of the sermons in its entirety to put the media's sound byte in context. Nor did I consider the collateral damage of this political stunt; the effect on the church. The fact that they've had to defend themselves against undeserved public scrutiny and threats of violence.

So I saw Rev. Wright's interview on PBS (both parts) tonight and I was compelled to share it. Not only do I identify with many of his views, I admire his character, and after seeing his message in context, I think it would be good if he has influenced Barack (not that Barack's principles aren't already sound)

If you saw that looped clip the media has been parading and it affected your views on race, on Barack, or even if you shrugged it off without questioning it's consistency, you should really consider watching the interview. You might realize how effective a manufactured, misrepresentation of one's message can be in politics. Or you might realize how little regard the media has for objective, balanced conveyance of facts. Rather, they act more readily on political views, or dramatic appeal("hey, the more shocking we make this, the more people will watch!")

Bottom line; I'm recommending you watch it.
Take your own lessons from it...

Cheers,


UPDATE: Added link to part II of the video.