It is not just the Jewishness of it, it is the blacks, Mexicans, homosexuals....you name it the kind of sickness that runs rampant in our country is at the height  of all the sickness of things going on nowadays.  I can honestly say this 89 years old is a republican.  It is the kind of feces that they do...these radicals kinds of ppl.  They lie and wait till they cannot stand it any longer and then they move on with their tactics....This has got to come to a halt.  I really must!

Another wingnut with a gun promoting his twisted version of justice.  How many left-leaning individuals have gone on a similar rampage?  Umm, hmm, let's see.  That would be, umm, none.  

Oh, there you are, Perry. -Phineas -SLB-

I think there is no doubt that Rev. Wright got a healthy dose of unfair treatment during the campaign season, especially concerning the lack of context surrounding some of his now famous sermon sound-bites. And for that reason I had a certain degree of sympathy for him in that regard.

But I've read and re-read his comments in the latest interview.  And I simply cannot find any reason at all to give him the benefit of the doubt in this case.  His statement is simply, disgustingly and incontrovertibly bigoted, ignorant and stupid.  In this case he deserves all the shame and scorn that he is getting.

"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity"

Perhaps not really relevant, but fascinating: Brian Beutler and Zachary Roth at TPM found a photograph of a painting by James W. von Brunn (alleged to be the Holocaust Museum shooter.)  The picture is here.  I know very little about art, but it looks to me like the guy has some talent.  

If anyone recalls, Jesse Jackson walked the same line many years ago, with his NY Hymie comment. It appears that was motivated by an incident in which his daughter was refused entry into some university, and the person involved was Jewish. These are very vague recollections, but in those days there was Jewish-Black tensions in NYC. And all of it occurred in spite of the strong representation of Jews in the civil rights movement.

Other than the remark about "them Jews" not letting him see Barack, I don't see anything all that wrong with what he said.

It's appalling that Obama did not send a delegation to the World Conference on Racism, and it appeared clear that the main reason was that Israel's racist policies and practices were going to be dealt with. Does anyone seriously believe that AIPAC did not have something to do with that decision? I don't think pointing that out shows hatred of Jews or anyone else.

As for his remarks about Gaza, I would not call it ethnic cleansing, but it certainly qualifies as war crimes and crimes against humanity, and Israel is so far getting away with it completely. Further, Israel DOES have a 60-plus year history of getting away with ethnic cleansing, the most dramatic being 1948 in Palestine and 1967 in parts of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and in the Golan Heights where they systematically and violently removed about 96% of the Syrian population. They also have conducted violent ethnic cleansing in southern Lebanon, and in the Syrian city of Quneitra when they were forced to withdraw from it in 1973 (in fact, they destroyed the entire city before they withdrew). They have also used quieter and more gradual means to ethnically cleanse areas inside Israel, and, of course, for more than 40 years have been conducting what some Israelis have called "quiet ethnic cleansing" in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. That is, to a very significant extent, what that "separation wall" - only the latest in Israel's mechanisms - is really about.

I for one do not see anything at all anti-Semitic or Jew-hating about calling Israel on its racism, and its ethnic cleansing, and its war crimes and crimes against humanity. I also do not see anything at all anti-Semitic or Jew hating about pointing out the obvious - that expected criticism of Israel's racist policies and practices was a significant factor in the decision not to attend the World Racism Conference. No other state that did these things would be immune from condemnation for them.

I don't know how popular this Wright clip was before the shooting, but Fox News has used an account of this interview to claim that there are hate groups equally on the right and left.  

I do not agree with Rev. Wright's interpretations in this interview.  However, after listening to the part of the tape that dailypress has released and read the article you linked, I think that Rev. Wright's words are being misrepresented.  

"He made mistakes. He made bad choices. I've got kids who listen to their friends. He listened to those around him. I did not disown him."

Asked if he had spoken to the president, Wright said: "Them Jews aren't going to let him talk to me. I told my baby daughter, that he'll talk to me in five years when he's a lame duck, or in eight years when he's out of office. ...

It seems pretty clear that by "them Jews," Wright is talking about Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel.  Because of his connections to Israel (as well as his father's words), many critics of Israel were concerned about the choice of Emanuel in such a gate-keeper position when the appointment was announced.  For most Critics of Israel, those fears have been allayed by Obama's words and actions in his first few months in office.  Whatever choices he is making, it is clear that he is well-informed and that people with a variety of perspectives are getting a chance to talk to him.

Most, but not all, people are getting through to speak to Obama.  For those who used to have his ear, like Wright, they may still believe that they can't get to him because Emanuel controls the gate (as chiefs of staff have used that position in previous administrations).  Wright does not want to believe that Obama does not want him let through the gate, so he blames the gatekeeper.  Wright (and members of Trinity UCC), still do not accept that Obama chose to throw all of them under the bus as part of the price of winning the primary.  They remain fiercely loyal to him even as it is clear to many other constituencies that they have been and continue to be sacrificed by Obama for political expediency.

Wright is an intelligent and articulate leader.  Unfortunately, his delusions about Obama and their relationship have contributed to generalizations about other influences on Obama that give fuel to racists and anti-Semites and undermine his authority to criticize Israel.

A Progressive Christian perspective on I/P at Beyond Bethlehem