It appears it could be an impossible task for Rev. Jeremiah Wright to do anything but continue to hurt Barack Obama. However, in a TV interview with Bill Moyers of PBS, Obama's longtime advisor talked in a pleasant voice and smiled frequently throughout the session. Of course, the gentlemanly pastor, clad in conservative coat and tie, didn't refute any of his "God damn America" and other vehemently controversial statements.

He did complain that opponents of Obama used selected video excerpts of Rev. Wright's fiery sermons to create a negative image of him for what he called devious reasons. The implication is that the whole uproar was just dirty politics by the Clintons and Senator McCain to damage Barack Obama's chances to win the Democratic nomination. And, if Obama gets it, it appears Rev. Wright will display his new, squeaky-clean image to fight the expected Republicans' no-holds-barred manipulations of the Wright comments to use against Obama.

In addition to charges of anti-Amercanism, Wright is also accused to anti-Semitism. There is precedence for the kind of rants Rev. Wright made, including his denunciations of the state of Israel. For centuries, Christian preachers of various denominations have wowed their congregations with dire promises of hellfire and damnation for sinners, and with particular anti-Semetic references.

Much of it, as with Rev. Wright, is based on the historically contrived sins of Israelites, both ancient and modern. In his sermon, "Sinners in the hands of an angry God" in 1741, Jonathon Edwards preached about, "the vengeance of God on the wicked unbelieving Israelites". Are you taking notes, Rev. Wright?

In the most egregious of Rev. Wright's preachings, he said America deserved the attacks of 9/11/01 because of the nation's evil ways and discrimination against the world's non-White populations. He also declared that AIDs were created by Whites to infect Blacks as a way to diminish their numbers.

Wright's carefully crafted national image repair tour continues with his speech before the National Press Club in Washington on April 28. Instead of hiding behind a pew in his church until the storm blows over, it seems the Wright stuff is to come out fighting.

Learn more about this author, Ted Sherman.
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