Erica Jong Loved Rev. Wright...Last Sunday
Inspiration Versus Degradation
[You certainly degraded yourself with your praise of Jeremiah Wright last Sunday, Erica.]
Sometimes our degraded press prefers the prediction to the event itself. I'm talking about Jeremiah Wright's interview with Bill Moyers. It aired last Friday night and to my mind was one of Bill's best interviews. Rev. Wright was talking to someone in his own metier. Moyers is also ordained, is a great speaker and cares deeply about social justice. So it was an equal interviewing an equal -- so seldom the case on television.
[An equal interviewing an equal? So Moyers is also a buffoon?]
Bill Moyers nevertheless pushed Wright hard, raised all the questions Wright's out-of-context sound bites have aroused and played lengthy excerpts from his sermons. I was inspired. This is a pastor I'd listen to on a Sunday instead of namby-pamby Tim Russert or the various screaming clubs on network TV.
[Um...Maybe you should have waited until Wright made his speech in Detroit before posting that, Erica. Where was Wright quoted out of context? When he did over-the-top impressions of the way JFK and LBJ spoke or when he did his impression of the Florida A&M band? In fact, you had to cherry pick his speech to find the slightest scrap of sanity.]
Wright seems utterly sincere to me. He strikes me as having a true spiritual calling. When he says, "America's chickens have come home to roost," I can't fault his logic. Haven't we been squandering hard earned taxpayer money on overseas adventures while we starve poor children? Haven't we been supporting dictators while prating of democracy? Haven't we been enriching profiteers at the expense of health care and education? You betcha.
[ Utterly sincere? Maybe last Sunday before the speech but now even the leftwing media is writing Wright off as a devious buffoon who is trying to derail the Obama campaign for egotistical reasons.]
A week ago I told my audience in Rome that in the last several years, I've been ashamed to be an American. A cheer went up from the amphitheater. It was such a relief, audience members later told me, to hear an American speak the truth for a change.
[I bet you made those Italian Communists feel real good.]
The Italians may have voted for Silvio Berlusconi, but they don't think George W. Bush and Dick Cheney have been good for America or the planet. Like most Americans, they would love to see them gone. So would Italians. Italians love American and feel pain when we slide away from the great ideals our Constitution and Bill of Rights have given the world.
[And I bet you now feel pain from reading your own praise here of Rev. Wright who has been discredited by his own Obamassiah.]
Italians feel they have a stake in America. It's interesting to hear how thrilled they are by New York. When I say "sono New Yorkese" (I'm a New Yorker), they are delighted. And they also love LA and Chicago and Miami. Many Italians commute between New York and Rome, LA and Milan, Miami and Florence. They can't vote in the US but you'd never know that by how interested they are in American politics. They love our great 18th century traditions -- sometimes more than we.
[Wealthy spoiled Italian Communist Party members able to afford commuting to New York to tell us what a horrible country we are.]
So where's the discussion of Jeremiah Wright's real calling? You can't find it. Our idiotic press prefers to play orphaned excerpts and force Barack Obama to apologize for words he never spoke. What is this apology stuff? Everyone has to apologize for their pastors, their doctors, their mothers, their fathers, their churches, their social affiliations. Why? Apologies are cheap. Inspiration is hard to find.
[A few hours after you published this idiocy we were treated to an entire Rev. Wright speech on the tube. The result is that Obama had to completely disavow Wright yesterday.]
Just because a man is inspired by his pastor doesn't mean he agrees with every word his pastor says. Duh. Even a moron knows that. But inspiration remains important. And you will never be inspired by running stuff out of context and playing gotcha.
[DUh! Do you feel like a moron now, Erica? Hours after you posted this bilge we saw an entire Rev. Wright speech and it turns out the Right was right about Wright. He is a far left loon and buffoon. And what part of that ENTIRE speech do you think was taken out of context?]
Our press has become a sea of triviality, meanness and irrelevant chatter.
[Chattered the moron who said she is ashamed of America.]
God knows inspiration is always welcome. Moyers and Wright gave us that on Friday night.
[How inspired do you feel today, Erica, now that your beloved Wright has been disavowed by Obama himself? And now to hear from the HUffie Peanut Gallery...]
But, I percieve that you did not see him before the Journalists on Monday. His was beligeranting and raving in a way that appeared purely egotistical....yet one can have compassion for the way that the terrible things he said post 9/11 superceded the apparently many ways that he helped his community.
[I "percieve" that Wright has made a fool out of Jong and her poorly timed rantings she posted last Sunday.]
Had Rev. Wright not made such a spectacle of himself on Monday, Senator Obama likely would have continued weathering the political storm rather than renounce his former pastor. Alas, Rev. Wright made his own bed.
[So Wright did a favor for Obama by making Erica Jong look like a complete fool?]
Ms Jong, your heart is in the right place, but for someone so talented and intelligent, you quite often get things wrong. Wright is obviously an egomaniac. I love Bill Moyers, but he also is naive. Wright is destructive and probably is looking to score a big advance on a book (you know how that goes). His ego has been inflamed and he's also part of the forces of division - just in liberal clothes. This whole process is a king of social exorcism, but, in this case, good and evil aren't so simplistic - the devil might be dressed as a man of God.
[Erica's heart and mind are both in the wrong place.]
I keep hoping Obama will tell the pundits to bugger off, that he pretty much agrees with the controversial Wright sermon. But, hey, I'm living in an alternate universe. I'd like to see WRIGHT in the White House.
[Enjoy sharing that alternate universe with Erica Jong.]
I watched Moyer's interview of Wright too. I found it a slow pitch softball affair. Wright justified his relationship with and the inflluence of the demonstrably racist Louis Farrakhan's by saying that Farrakhan did good things for the black community. I waited for Moyer's to challenge him.
[Keep waiting until Doomsday.]
The fact that so many liberals are trying to explain hate speech by Wright is very upsetting to this Democrat. If Obama is the nominee I believe for this issue alone, he will have a very hard time winning. Not all of us Democrats/ndependents are so willing to excuse inexcusable behavior. I'm sorry you are willing to do so. You should rethink this.
[You expect thinking from a 9/11 Truther?]
You are totally correct. But remember, when a prophetic voice speaks truth to power, the Judeo-Christian tradition is to martyr that voice - think of the truth sayers from Jesus all the way to MLK. So long as Jeremiah Wright is alive and speaking truth, he will be condemned, ridiculed, shouted down. Were he to be martyred, like MLK, why, then he would be praised for the brilliance, insight, decency, sacrifice and nobility that a few people like you can recognize and applaud without feeling threatened.
[Congrats on being the first to use the "Speak truth to power" cliché on this thread.]
Have you actually LISTENED to any of his sermons in their entirety?
[Yup! Last Sunday just after Erica Jong posted this blog and I laughed like hell at his buffoonery.]
Rev. Wright is spiritually abusive. Instead of humble and kind, he is vicious, cruel, arrogant, conceited, total egotistical, lies, wants one set of ethical rules for himself and another set of ethical rules for everyone else.
[You posted this a little too early. A day later the same sentiment was echoed in much of the media and among Obama supporters.]
Keep working at it. Maybe in 20 years you will actually understand what Wright is saying.
[Poor us. We're just not nuanced enough to understand Wright's hidden subtleties. All we see is a buffoon on stage doing an impression of the Florida A&M marching band.]
"God Damn America" indeed. It's because of the faux-patriotism and hyper-nationalism that is forced down the throats of all Americans that you can't seriously address some of the fundamental problems with the country without being ripped apart by the media. The US isn't the wonderful, shining city on the hill that most of you think it is. Rev. Wright is 100% correct in his assertions... But how dare a "black man" speak up ... Racism is alive and well in 21st century America.
[May we now question your patriotism?]
Rev Wright is a loose cannon that may end up handing the Presidency to McBush in Novemeber and then you have 4 more years of the past 8.
[Rev. Wright brought to light by Operation Chaos. Hee! Hee!]
Now we have Wright on the loose, seeming to prefer his own moment in the sun to the much greater goal of electing Obama. His hateful imitation of Kennedy and Johnson this weekend will not sit well with much of the electorate. Obama should have cut ties with this man but, sigh, that's all water under the bridge now.
[Good news! After you posted this, Obama belatedly did cut ties with Wright while Erica remains out on the limb with her man.]
Wright should be honored as a true patriot, and a real hero...
[Posted the HUffie before Obama disavowed that "true patriot."]
Absolutely. Wright's truths no matter how well intended would result in a lost election. We need pragmatism, not truth. Sad, but true. Wright must stop talking. He can say whatever he wants after Obama is elected.
[Unfortunately for you, Wright won't be keeping his lunacy in check.]
Erica Jong is right. Bill Moyers interview should finally put to rest all of the nonsense regarding Reverend Wright.
[Yeah, that sure worked out well. Hee! Hee!]
I usually don't agree with Ms. Jong's articles, but on this one, I think she is both dead on and very eloquent to boot. I hope I have this pleasant experience more often.
[How pleasant was your experience when just two days after Ms. Jong posted her article, Obama disavowed your beloved Rev. Wright?]
I thought Jeremiah's interview was the most honest and substantial content I've ever seen on TV in all my 39 years of being enslaved by this heavily corporatized medium. I only wish the people who most need to hear it would take the time to actually watch it and listen with an open mind. Instead, I'm quite certain they'll see it as an opportunity to gather more grist for their mill of untruths. I've been forwarding the link to the broadcast to everyone I know.
[So what did you think of Wright's comedy act in Detroit?]
Another Blame America First thinks the racist Wright is okay. No surprise there. We'll see how it plays in the rest of America where jong has never been.
[It played out so poorly that even John McCain, after having slammed the NC Republican party for running ads critical of Wright, has now done a complete 180 on Wright...but only after Obama gave him permission to do so. Gee, John. Operation Chaos is doing the heavy lifting for you so you can just sit back and relax while getting elected but do you also have to act like a complete FOOL while doing so?]
I finally agree with Erica this time. I found the interview with Reverend Wright brilliant, inspirational, and authentic. It is clear why anyone with an independent mind would be impressed by Reverend Wright's understanding of the bible and history. He speaks his truth with clarity, passion, and wisdom. He is not so concerned with the judgement of men. I see a bit of the revolutionary in Senator Obama's eyes on rare occassion - it doesn't trouble me, we need a non-violent revolution, and soon.
[Apparently Obama was not so impressed by Wright.]
his interview on PBS and his speech in detroit tonight , gave us a real and true appreciation of the man behind the sound bites. Only stupid and ignorants, would say after listen to him, that what he said does not make sense.
[Then Obama must be stupid and ignorant according to you.]
Erica may have second thoughts after she has digested Rev Wright's speech to the Detroit NAACP on Sunday night. Funny how opinions can change on a dime. Good luck defending this one. I can't wait for the fireworks on Monday.
[Hee! Hee! And thanx to Erica for providing such great material in leftwing shortsightedness.]
He does not need to apologize, but he does need to explain why he chose to receive religious teaching from an American hating, anti-Semitic radical. It is that decision that we are concerned about. Obama says he does not agree with the ideas of Wright, but why did he choose that church?
[To get his street creds from a community with which he was unconnected. Otherwise no election to political office.]