MUST READ !!! - Why is it so quiet after the Moyers-Wright interview?

[WillyT]

<snip>

I expected a roaring debate in the political blogosphere this morning, and on cable news after the Friday night Bill Moyers interview with Rev Jeremiah Wright. Instead, there's eerie quiet.

The most I could find was this post on Protein Wisdom saying that Moyers didn't play hardball with Wright. It's true, he didn't. Instead he did what I wish more journalists would, he interviewed him in a way that helped us get to know the person. He let him speak his piece, so we could listen.

There's so much to admire about Rev Wright, but first, the shame of the professional media, who hounded not only Wright, but members of his congregation, incluing a woman in a hospice, to try to uncover more dirt about Wright and thereby embarass Barack Obama.

Wright isn't running for office, he points out, it isn't his job to get our vote, it's his job to help his congregation, to help them understand the world they live in, to help them do better in that world, and to prepare them for what they believe comes in the afterlife.

Watching Wright, I wondered if Sean Hannity's preacher could stand up to the kind of objectification this man has withstood. What about Tim Russert's? How about the people who are close to Charlie Gibson and Andrea Mitchell? And how about the CEOs of Time-Warner, GE, the Sulzbergers and the Murdochs? These people have never run for office, they've never been vetted or elected. Could they come out so well after being put through the wringer that Wright has been through.

I think the silence comes from the fact that there still is some humanity in the press and in the blogosphere, and those who watched Moyers and really listened to Wright, realized that he's not a liability to Obama, he's an asset. At least some of the polish, the quiet confidence, self-respect, intelligence and grace we see in Obama must have rubbed off this man.

Watching Wright gave me pride in being an American, and shame at the same time, for coming from a country so willing to objectify and villify this person before checking out whether the characterization was accurate. Even the supposedly courageous and thorough NY Times calls his oratory "racist" in an editorial in today's paper. Based on what? I've watched the sermons that have been excerpted; if these are racist, then every other preacher in the US is racist too.

Wright says the religion of the people on the deck of a slave ship must be different from the religion from the people under the deck. On the deck, god is justifying the practice of slavery, and below -- god gives them hope that someday they will be free. My people, the Jews, understand this very well, it's part of our tradition. We've just celebrated the holiday of Passover, a feast that's all about the pride of an enslaved people. If we're still telling the story, passing it down from generation to generation, after 3000 years, why should we be critical of the African-Americans who are telling the story of their enslavement, which ended only 145 years ago, and whose manifestations are still with us today.

We, the United States, have made mistakes, and those mistakes are as much who we are as our triumphs. The failures leave behind people and their culture, their music, their legends, their religion and their hopes. Sure it seems strange when you hear it for the first time, but that's good! Because the second time it's not so strange, and eventually it becomes part of our melting pot, and enriches all our lives.

If you haven't watched the Wright interview, make the time to do so. You won't be sorry.

<snip>

Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dave-winer/why-is-it-so-quiet-after_b_98763.html

Excellent !!!

:kick:

[DJ13]

1. K&R, but part of me thinks the MSM just doesnt want to waste...

......their vindictive attacks on Obama (through Wright) during a weekend.

If nothing comes of this on Monday then that author may be right on the money.

[Eurobabe]

2. I watched it this afternoon

There was nothing racist in his message. Even Huckabee defended him. Go figure?

[WillyT]

3. I Didn't Disagree With A Single Thing He Said !!!

I was ashamed of our press, and very proud of him.

:shrug:

[superkia]

8. I was ashamed of my fellow American citizens that parraoted...

the medias talking points and attacked him instead of actually listening to what he said...completely. I agree with what he said as well. I understand that the press has an agenda that doesn't represent the people but when you see people here on DU and around the country sounding like the press, you just get an understanding of why our country is falling apart...some of the people are so ignorant that they support an agenda that doesn't support them, its actually against their interests?

These people are the enablers and why the corruption will continue with no consequences, Americans need to stand together if we are ever going to save the country for our children and grandchildren.

[nancyr]

9. Me, too.

What he said was logical and correct. Only proves how easy it is to take things out of context and twist the real meaning to serve the purpose intended. I thought it was a marvelous interview, and it should be a lesson to all those "pundits" out there who think they're credible. No wonder there's not a lot of discussion about this: hard to argue with or spin the truth, isn't it?

[LuckyLib]

4. The MSM can't even formulate a response because it's all completely over their simple-minded little

heads. It's thoughtful, engaging, informative, revealing, interesting, and you actually have to stay focused, listen, and think. CNN, FAUX, MSNBC and the Network Infotainment Shows? No need to. It's all spoon-fed to the masses.

[speedoo]

6. What did that fool Tweety say was "Obama's Iraq" ...

Bittergate or IraqGate? Cant remember. As though a war is equalt to either of those manufactued controversies.

And in that same show, Timmeh was salivating over some other Obama "issue".

[depakid]

12. not only that- but it's against the interests of the CEO's, senior news editors

and the elitists of the pundit class to do so.

[bigbrother05]

5. Watched it last night, best interview I've seen in a long time

have not turned on the news today, thought I would listen to the blues.
Are the media not discussing it today?

[Peace Patriot]

7. Thanks for posting this! nt

[midnight]

10. The reason we have not heard from the media about why

this man deserves an appology is because they are so shocked and mortified that the world has seen the truth. Now if they were truely fair and balance they would appologise.

[truedelphi]

11. meanwhile Hagee and McCain wake beneath the covers of their love nest

Secure in the knowledge that while black people hating mistreatment from whites is unpatriotic, Hagee hating gays, "liberals as sinners" etc IS patriotic

[Iwillnevergiveup]

13. Well, he had my attention

and I especially appreciated his take on the erroneous/incomplete history texts in our schools.
ABSOLUTELY!

[hwmnbn]

14. Yep, I'm surprised at the little attention....

and reaction it has received. My guess is tomorrow on the Sunday talking heads, some edited clips will appear and the new RW talking points will surface.

The interview itself was wonderful. Rev. Wright is right on!!!

[noel711]

15. Oh, you know how it is on Saturday....

everyone, including the MSM, is lounging at home.

Sure as rain, tomorrow morning, all those talking heads
full of themselves will find something on which to
blast Wright, and thus Obama.

I found the interview enlightening, but I don't
think that the MSM....

Count on it..

[genna]

16. Talking points against Obama follow a storyline. Moyers' interview doesn't match that storyline.

As I understand the underlying reasons for the slime. 3 points: 1) The Democratic nominee will likely be president. 2) Obama has been making strides in establishing new coalitions of voters and will recreate the governing body of US if he actually wins the Democratic nomination. 3) He is an unknown quantity (to reporters and to Democratic leaders) and can make sweeping changes because he is not yet beholden to anyone else for the changes that he will make.

If the Republicans don't build up a reason to hate this guy and repeat it often, he will win because most Americans are doing poorly enough financially that we will vote for change unless the Republicans can present change too. There are a few strategies on-going: Obama is a Muslim and at the same time he is a black Christian separatist who will do great damage to nonBlack people.

How can we make Obama radical? Find a pastor to make Obama look like a Manchurian candidate. Connect him to Farrakahn.

For me, simple enough.

How Hillary fits? I keep turning that over. I can't figure out what it helps her actually accomplish on the margins. Even if she wins, she loses respect, reputation, and force of belief.

Am I ashamed of my country?
No. I think we are closer to obtaining an actual democracy than we have ever been.
John Kennedy had an opportunity outside the ruling elites.
Robert Kennedy had a different perspective about coalitions and civil rights.
MLK (thank God he was not a political leader) had a vision of what Christianity looked like when a person practiced their religious faith.
For me, each one's potential was squelched before they reached the fullness of their God given talent and ability.

Here, Obama might be the worse thing that ever happened to our country (it is hard to see how that is possible after Bush) but he presents the best possibility for actual change for the middle and lower classes we have had for a generation.

I think the propaganda we are hearing about Obama and Wright comes from some desperate current day power brokers. They can also see some change on the horizon. It might not go their way.

[RamboLiberal]

17. Sunday and then next week they will all be back blasting Wright

and Obama with the 'I'm a pastor he's a politician' quotes. That's about all they will run but they'll spend hours discussing another seconds sound bite.

[genna]

20. Giving us a line like I'm a pastor. He is a politician.

Is this the reason why our substantive issues cannot be resolved?

One media source chooses a storyline and everyone else follows along beside it.

[crimsonblue]

18. More than this story, I am appalled that the media has ignored Hagee's latest antics.

Hagee was given the opportunity to clarify his statements on New Orleans (specifically, did he really mean that God sicked Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans in retribution for a gay-pride parade scheduled for the week after it hit). Not only did he not backtrack or apoligize for his previous remarks, Hagee instead reaffirmed his hatred. McCain has never been asked to account for why he still supports Hagee, other than an interview with George Stephanopoulos McCain simply said it was a "mistake".. nothing further. I'm beginning to think that racism is alive and well in the media.. how else can you account for the vast differences between media reactions with Obama vs. the other two?

[noel711]

19. McCain's response: " I didn't sit in Hagey's pews for 20 years..."

"But I have respect for what he's done and appreciate
his support."

And there were no more questions.

But anyone who sat in Trinity Church/Wright's pews
for 20 years absorbed more than hatred/prejudice/antipatriotism....

They absorbed the depth and breadth of real faith.
More than the MSM can comprehend,
and obviously more than the backlash public.

I'm sure the MSM will find a way to spin this...

[genna]

22. Spin versus substance

I think the thing which perplexes me the most is the way the media no longer practices hard news. The way news departments have been shrunk over the years to accommodate greater manipulation. If everyone depends on AP and Reuters for the initial source material or direction how can reporters truly have a say in the direction there stories take. Don't they have to beat the street to get the news.

CNN gets these I-reports. Is that because they can only cover certain leads and need a new source of information?

When the columnists only take the opposition research as a lead to a story, how are they managing to do original source reporting?

Something is rotten if that is how they are being made effective. If they only can only use the church bulletins as a means to obtain contacts at Trinity, how can they get a real report? When the church haters follow their lead by contacting the congregations' sick and shut in and threaten them, where is the shame?

More is being uncovered in this primary than I could have initially suspected.

[genna]

21. how else can you account for the vast differences between media reactions with Obama vs. the others

I don't think what we are experiencing is racism.

I think the means to which the ends are met is to appeal to people's racism, but I don't think this is the objective.

This primary election has spoken to Obama's end: We are going to change Washington. The way he has cast the debate against divisions for divisiveness' sake, against lobbyist special interest projects through politician's need to be re-elected, against government not protecting all of its people.

I don't even think it is about gender or homophobia. I think what we are witnessing is Obama's ability to speak around or speak through the media's constant assault and get to individual citizens. His continued ability to get average citizens to the voter booth regardless of what is said about him is in direct contradiction of the propaganda the media spouts.

If he can do that during a primary, what is he going to do during an administration.

The power brokers in our country have used the media as a way to instruct our citizens in how to behave. If the country is hearing information using different tools, how can our citizens be successfully managed?

[psychmommy]

23. the bashing will begin w/the sunday morning shows.

they are so desperate to disqualify obama it is insane. they are going to stop at nothing to steal this election.

[1776Forever]

24. So true! He let him speak his piece, so we could listen.

[NNN0LHI]

25. Its so quiet because the media and the Repigs got what they want in the can ready to run

They would like nothing better than to let this die down just under the surface as it has before and keep reappearing every other week right up to the November election.

The people who think keeping Wrights name in the news is good for Dems are certifiable.

Don

[genna]

26. Certify me now :-)

Did you see CNN carrying Rev. Jeremiah Wright's speech to the NAACP live tonight?

The 1960s have marched into 2008. The question is whether other people are certifiable as I am.

I think good is relative. There is a cottage industry of civil rights leaders in the Democratic party. Republicans always rebuke Dems for affirmative action. What would have made this election different?