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Rev. Wright Taunts Journalists, Blasts Government April 28: The Rev. Jeremiah Wright taunts the national media in Washington, D.C. The Rev. Jeremiah Wright taunted a gathering of journalists Monday in Washington, D.C., calling their coverage of his speeches an attack on the black church, while defending his claim that the U.S. was responsible for the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Wright, the controversial former pastor of Barack Obama’s church, took dead aim at the U.S. government Monday — saying American soldiers in Iraq have died “over a lie” and calling the war “unjust” — as he called for reconciliation and understanding between blacks and whites. Wright was speaking at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. as he continues a series of nationwide appearances following an uproar over remarks he made in some of his sermons delivered from the pulpit. Click here to read a full transcript of Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s remarks and question-answer session at the National Press Club. On Monday, he did not shy away from tossing sharp barbs, either at the media, at the government or at other public figures. Answering his first question, Wright first chided the questioner for not having heard the whole sermon, and then defended comments he made shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks that the United States had brought terrorism onto itself. “If you heard the whole sermon, first of all, you heard that I was quoting the ambassador from Iraq. … But Number Two, to quote the Bible: ‘Be not deceived. God is not mocked, for whatsoever you sew, that you shall’ –” he paused, and then some members of the audience responded, “Reap.” He continued: “Jesus said do unto others as you would have them do unto you. You cannot do terrorism on other people and expect it never to come back on you. Those are biblical principles, not Jeremiah Wright bombastic, divisive principles.” Wright also faced a question about his patriotism.”I served six years in the military. Does that make me patriotic?” he asked. “How many years did (Vice President Dick) Cheney serve?” Wright also said fought off criticisms that he used “bombastic language” and fended off questions about Obama’s level of religious participation, even while painting Obama as a regular church-goer. When Wright said Obama had distanced himself from speeches he had not heard in their entirety, Wright faced a follow up question on whether Obama was a regular attendee, or if he dozed during services. He told the questioner: “He goes to church about as much as you do. What did your pastor preach in the last week? You don’t know?” But Wright also said he wouldn’t refrain from criticism of Obama. He said he has told Obama that if he is elected in November and is inaugurated in January, “I’m coming after you.” He said that’s because his differences are not with the American people, but U.S. policies. “Whether he gets elected or not, I’m still going to have to be answerable to God on November 5 and January 21,” Wright said. But during his remarks, Wright also sought to put space between what he called “attacks” on the black church and possibilities for racial harmony. “The most recent attack on the black church, it is not an attack on Jeremiah Wright, it is an attack on the black church,” Wright said. He frequently criticized the press, but also said the heightened scrutiny of him and the black church could serve as a bridge for reconciliation and a decrease in the kinds of racial hatred that were exhibited during slavery, apartheid and by groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. “Maybe this dialog on race … can move the people of faith in this country from various stages of alienation and marginalization to the exciting possibility of reconciliation.” Obama’s association with Wright came into question after media reports this spring examined speeches over the years by Wright. At one point he bellowed, “God damn America,” and he has referred to the United States as the “U.S. of KKK-A.” Wright recently retired as senior pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, where Obama has attended for the past 20 years. The pastor has set out to set the record straight, last week appearing in his first interview since the controversy erupted, and over the weekend giving two sermons and making an appearance at an NAACP event Sunday night in Detroit. On Monday, his address in Washington is part of a two-day symposium on the African-American religious experience. On the Campaign Trail But the controversy isn’t appearing to go away. Even as Republican presidential candidate John McCain condemns the North Carolina GOP for focusing on Obama and Wright’s relationship in a new advertisement, yet another ad — this time in Mississippi congressional district race — has surfaced. The ad comes from Republican candidate Greg Davis, who is running against Democrat Travis Childers. The ad says: “Obama says Childers will put progress before politics, but when Obama’s pastor cursed America, blaming us for 9/11, Childers said nothing. When Obama ridiculed rural folks for clinging to guns and religion, Childers said nothing. Travis Childers: He took Obama’s endorsement over our conservative values. Conservatives just can’t trust Travis Childers.” Sunday night, Wright — a well-respected black theologian — said the media have skewed his message. “I’m not here for political reasons,” Wright told the audience in Detroit. “I’m not a politician. I know that fact will surprise many of you because many in the corporate-owned media made it seem like I am running for the Oval Office. I am not running for the Oval Office. I’ve been running for Jesus a long, long time, and I’m not tired yet.” Taking on one adjective that has been ascribed to him recently, Wright said, “I am not one of the most divisive (black spiritual leaders). … I’m one of the most descriptive.” And while Obama has sought to distance himself from his former pastor to some degree, he has refused to disown him. In an interview with “FOX News Sunday” this weekend, Obama admitted his relationship with Wright is a political issue. The title of Obama’s best-selling book, “The Audicity of Hope,” is borrowed from one of Wright’s sermons. “I think that people were legitimately offended by some of the comments that he had made in the past,” Obama said. “The fact that he is my former pastor I think makes it a legitimate political issue. So I understand that.” But, Obama said, “it is also true that to run a snippet of 30-second sound bites, selecting out of a 30-year career, simplified and caricatured him, and caricatured the church. And I think that was done in a fairly deliberate way.” While McCain has denounced the North Carolina GOP ad, he was critical of Wright on Sunday, criticism that drew a rebuke from the Obama campaign. McCain told reporters that after seeing newly surfaced Wright speeches comparing U.S. Marines to Roman legions that killed Jesus and a comparison between Al Qaeda and American flags, “I can understand why Americans, when viewing these kinds of comments, are angry and upset.” “By sinking to a level that he specifically said he’d avoid, John McCain has broken his word On Monday, when reporters sought comment from Hillary Clinton on the Wright’s latest remarks, she said, “I regret the efforts by the Republicans to politicize this matter, and I believe that if Senator McCain were serious, he would do more than send a letter” to put a stop to the North Carolina ad. “I think he could very clearly tell the North Carolina part, tell the Mississippi party, that he would not tolerate those kinds of advertisements. And I’m waiting to see whether he does that,” Clinton said. Clinton also repeated her stance that she would have not kept Wright as her pastor with the remarks he has made. “I would not have stayed in that church under those circumstances,” Clinton said Monday. BPR's blog | login to post comments
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