Wright is sorry, ADL says was expressing "classic anti-Semitism."

[masuki bance]

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0OfuYBJa3Lg/Sdgprh7rPuI/AAAAAAAADnc/oqiOaHS8tWQ/s400/rev.+wright.jpeg

...Wright issued a statement Thursday that he was “disturbed and deeply saddened” that his comments were stirring discussion.

“I apologize for the way I framed my comments. I misspoke and I sincerely meant no harm or ill-will to the American Jewish community or the Obama administration,” Wright said. “I have great respect for the Jewish faith and the foundational (and central) part of our Judeo-Christian tradition.”

But Lonnie Nasatir of the Anti-Defamation League's Chicago office said Wright was expressing "classic anti-Semitism."

The ADL issued this statement: "Reverend Wright’s comments claiming that 'them Jews' are preventing him from communicating with President Obama are inflammatory and false. The notions of Jewish control of the White House in Reverend Wright’s statement express classic anti-Semitism in its most vile form. In a short succinct sentence, Reverend Wright manages to both label some of the president’s closest advisers solely by their religious beliefs and give them powers superior to the president himself."

...

MARK THOMPSON: …I want everybody to be clear that when you say… “them Jews won’t let him talk to me” you were specifically referring to Zionists.

REV. WRIGHT: Exactly. And as Hillary misspoke about being under fire as the camera showed her walking calmly walking from her plane to a limousine, I was walking from a worship service to my car trying to talk rapidly, trying to..answer this guy and trying to get him to get off the Barack Obama kick.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/1619011,w-jeremiah-wright-obama-jews-zionist-061109.article

Wright should consider a lower profile.

[Drunken Irishman]

1. "I misspoke..."

Yeah, right.

[LostinVA]

24. +1

[Zavulon]

40. +2.

[Cha]

2. Yeah, Wright just had

an interview out where he said "Obama's made mistakes but he's like a son" ..in reference to if he voted for him or not.

I asked if Wright had ever made any mistakes?

[masuki bance]

4. I love how he tries to use the tactic from last year, how it is somehow "out of context"

...Thompson plays audio from the interview that was posted by The Daily Press)

REV. WRIGHT: Well, I hope he posted the entire time we walked from the worship service to the car:

MARK THOMPSON: …he’s only posted a minute and 45 seconds.

REV. WRIGHT: Well, that’s exactly what happened... I got stopped by one of my students… he said…this is he’s also a journalist, he did some good work on you last year when you were being crucified in the media…and I categorized him with you Mark and with Cliff Kelly, he said he wants to ask you a couple of questions.

I said well he can ask me questions as we are walking to the car, I am not going to stop and give an interview. We started walking to the car and as you can hear from the< poor quality of the> sound we were inside the worship service leaving, and we walked outside…and the interview went on for another 20 minutes. I said you’re holding me up, I’m supposed to be out of here.

But just like last year, all the things that are substantive about my ministry…all of the things we talked about in terms of the importance of the Hampton Ministers Conference…all of that that does not get played. Why? Because he, like the other egregious journalists, wants to stir up stuff – that’s all.

And I said that to him…that’s all you want to talk about? You said you wanted to ask me some questions, but that’s not all we’re going to talk about..and then …by the time we got off the bridge, crossing over from the convention center all the way to the parking lot and then about fifteen more minutes in the parking lot… was about the Hampton Ministers Conference, was about the training of clergy, was about the seminary, was about the youth, was about the problems of the day.

None of which did he post...

[Cha]

7. Yeah, unfortunately, the

Rev is not a straight up kind guy, imo.

[Captain Hilts]

3. He's an admirer of Frakkhan who is a raging anti-Semite. nt

[CreekDog]

5. How many of you have accidentally used the phrase "them Jews"

when you meant to say "Zionists"?

How many of you have accidentally used the phase "them Jews" at all?

I didn't think so. :eyes:

[Captain Hilts]

15. I've never accidentally called Barney Frank 'Barney Fag' either. nt

[LostinVA]

25. I don't even use "Zionists," because it's such an antisemitic code word now

[Hieronymus]

6. Wright is just another nutjob.

[Occam Bandage]

8. "Zionists" is no better. It's still "the Jews" controlling everything, only he's specified

that they're pro-Israel Jews and not some other Jews. In fact, in my eyes it makes it worse: originally he could have been referring to Axelrod and Emanuel with "them Jews," whereas with "the Zionists" there is no possible reference but the supposed power wielded by pro-Israel Jews*. His use of "the Zionists" sounds to me an awful lot like the way Mahmoud Ahmadinejad uses the term "Zionists" as a plausible-deniability way of saying "the Jews who control everything."

*To be quite clear, he isn't saying AIPAC has undue influence on American foreign policy or anything like that. He's saying that Zionist Jews are controlling who Obama may and may not meet with. That is still classic anti-Semitism, straight from the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

[boppers]

13. Zionism != Judaism

That being said, possibly Wright needs to learn when to shut up and think before speaking, or at least realize that he will be endlessly mis-quoted, or quoted out of context, for the sake of people being politically offended.

If he was targeting militant religious movements, that seek to violently claim a "homeland" for their faith, at a cost of the rights and lives of others (be it a ME caliphate, Israel, or Utah), he probably shouldn't use a word that has become associated with anti-semitism.

[Teaser]

30. yes, but...

Zionists are not controlling who gets to see/talk to the president.

And when you start blaming Zionists for crazy shit they have no control over, it really is a way of blaming an "all powerful mono-ethnic lobby"...



If it's not as bad as "blaming the Jews", it is nearly as bad.

[JerseygirlCT]

47. Exactly. And it's nasty. nt

[Clio the Leo]

9. The fact that the President never gets blamed is becoming quite the phenominon....

.... now, dont get me wrong, I'm not complaining, it's a GOOD thing.

Wright doesn't say, "he wont talk to me" he blames it on someone else.

Von Brunn doesn't blame Obama, he blames Jews who are controlling him.

A lady at the Town Hall simultaneously showed disgust at the lack of a chance of single payer in the health care plan while PROFUSELY thinking the President for coming to see them.

Some at DU think that the admin. is destroying the nation but it's not Obama, it's Geithner and Summers.

Again, I am NOT complaining as I will be the first to agree that Barack Obama can do no wrong ;) .... but my point is this bodes very well for his political future .... things can go wrong .... and folks can be upset ..... yet he never gets the blame.

It's a thing of beauty.

[PopSixSquish]

10. If the President of the United States Wants to Speak to Someone

, there isn't a dang thing anyone can do about it. Obama can have Katie Johnson (his Executive Administrative Assistant) pick up the phone and place the call or he can do it personally on his BlackBerry.

IMO, Reverend Wright meant Rahm and/or Axe and he may have a point that they wouldn't want Obama talking to him at this time. But he could have said "Rahm Emanuel and David Axelrod", he could have said "The President's staff", he could have said "The White House Chief of Staff and his closest advisor", he could have said any number of things...but he didn't.

For me "Them Jews" is the same as "Those People", neither of which is appropriate AT ALL...

[Captain Hilts]

12. Obama and Emanuel and reviving the 'if you approve, credit FDR, if you don't, blame Eleanor' tack.nt

[Clio the Leo]

16. 'xactly. NT

[Captain Hilts]

17. It's actually quite smart.

ER: Yeah, blame ME!
FDR: Indeed, old girl! It's all YOUR fault!
ER: Oh, dear...

[Clio the Leo]

18. But I dont even think it's a plan....

.... I think it's a phenomenon.

Kind of like today when he was at the town hall, talking to the father and saying that his daughter's name was cool ..... I started thinking that he is the only politician I've ever known who can proclaim something "cool" and make it so in the process. I mean, yes, "Kennedy" is a cool name, but picture ANY other politician ... even popular ones .... Clinton .... Reagan .... if THEY said something was "Cool" they'd seem out of touch. Reagan was too old to know what was cool .... Clinton too out of the loop. But if Barack Obama says it's cool, then it's cool ... and even if you already knew it was cool ... well, it just got cooler.

Barack Obama just has it ..... he has it better than any other person on the planet save Michelle. Stuff just ROLLS off of him and all the while, he's aloof to the drama and negativity without seeming conceited or untouchable.

I'm just glad that he and I are both Democrats. lol

[Beacool]

36. Clio dear, you can't really mean all you said.

The man is a politician, a very good one at that. B.S. is their specialty. The girl could have been called Moonpie and he would have said "cool name".

:7

[jesus_of_suburbia]

11. "REV. WRIGHT: Exactly. And as Hillary misspoke about being under fire... "

How cute that he uses Hillary to defend his bigotry. Talk about a non-sequitur. Hillary's "gaffe" had nothing to do with bigotry.

I wonder what his name is on DU?


I have a few guesses.

[Captain Hilts]

14. The press reported it as she did back in the '90s. Oh well. nt

[AtomicKitten]

22. Hardly a "gaffe." It qualifies as full-on bullshit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BfNqhV5hg4

[Zavulon]

41. +1.

[Clintonista2]

44. Rev.Wright? Is that you?

[TahitiNut]

45. +3

.. a REPEATED 'gaffe' ain't a 'gaffe'

[ClarkUSA]

49. That CBS video lays it all out. Hillary should be ashamed of herself for telling such a whopper!

[Orsino]

19. How do you come back from something like that?

How do you claim not to believe in what you said so clearly that you do? I'm not seeing a context in which to reconsider his choice of words.

[slackmaster]

29. You suddenly find Jesus and get into rehab

Oh, wait...

[cali]

20. pathetic. poor little wright doesn't like being called on his blatant bigotry

and tries to weasel out of it. I often disagree with the ADL, but they nailed it this time.

[Bluenorthwest]

21. HIs comments were in context and disgusting

Classic anti-semitism is correct. I have defended Wright many times, and I regret each word today. He's shown the truth of his heart, there is rot where the soul should be. Festering rot.

[LostinVA]

26. I feel the same way

I deplored his association with the Nation of Islam and his advocating the AIDS CReation Urban Myth, but I defended him on some other stuff, espcially during the campaign. Liek you, I now regret it.

[Bluenorthwest]

34. It is a season of campaign oriented regret it seems

[AtomicKitten]

23. He really shouldn't have bothered with this piss-poor "apology."

It just exacerbates the problem.

[LostinVA]

27. His Hillary Clinton slur is also weird

[Beacool]

35. The jerk couldn't help himself and had to slam her.

What was her great sin? Oh yeah, she ran against his "son".

:eyes:

[burning rain]

39. He was really reaching there.

Big difference: her remarks that set off "Snipergate" were self-aggrandizing invention; they didn't express malice toward any group of people.

[slackmaster]

28. He's sorry all right

A sorry bigoted sack of shit.

[Mass]

31. This is supposed to be an excuse? "When I am in a hurry, I say bigotted things?".

And what does Hillary have to do with that anyway?

[LostinVA]

32. Yes and yes

:wtf:

[gauguin57]

33. Aw, c'mon, Jeremiah. You know you were just taking your wacky pills that day.

Sometimes he takes them; sometimes he doesn't.

[Phx_Dem]

37. Blah blah blah. Why is he publicly hating on anyone in this

hateful environment? He's a former preach for God's sake. What happened to God loves all his children? STFU Jeremiah.

[burning rain]

38. What a way to try and dial back his remarks.

He claims he said "Jews" but meant "Zionists." Sets himself right up for those who say that critics of "Zionists" are just anti-Semites who want to fly below the radar and therefore choose a more acceptable-sounding word for their targets than "Jews."

[vaberella]

42. I don't care if this man is sorry. He's a bigot, I don't want to hear or see him again. n/t

[Zavulon]

43. "Misspoke." What a fucking crock.

This bigoted gasbag needs to go away, and the media needs to stop reporting everything he says. He's a piece of shit, and anyone who isn't a bigot or whiner should be able to see that without the media's help.

[JerseygirlCT]

46. First he frames his "apology" as if it were really those of us hearing

it that are to blame. You know, dicussing his comments and all... Then he tries the Hillary thing.

Now, what Hillary tried with that was just plain stupid, but it has nothing to do with bigotry, just political ambition. Totally different things. Just more of his hate seeping out, I guess.

His statement was classic anti-semitism. There's no way around that. There's a sincere and graceful apology route, but he blew that, too.

[democracy1st]

48. Rev Wright is a dumb ass!

[ChazII]

52. Thank you for your common sense. n/t

[TankLV]

50. Ahhh - the ASSHOLE issued the standard "I'm sorrly YOU'RE upset" apology...

He was a FUCKING ASSHOLE when his name FIRST appeared, and he continues to prove he IS...

[lunatica]

51. All reverends can attest to blurting out things they don't believe in

as if they do believe in them. People who make their livelihood and spend their lives talking publicly are always unaware of what they're saying. Yeah sure!