The Trial of Jeremiah Wright

[Electronic Dan]

I just learned that McCain finally denounced Hagee's views as nonsense last week.  Took long enough.

[Blackadar]

I just learned that McCain finally denounced Hagee's views as nonsense last week.  Took long enough.

I suppose that means Hagee has given as much to the McCain campaign as Federal law allows...

[Eduardo X]

I found these two youtube links over at the Front Row Crew's forums. They're links to the entire sermons that Wright's quotes have been pulled out of, and I found both to be extremely poignant.

"God Damn America"
"Chickens Coming Home to Roost

I doubt watching these will change people's minds about him, for the most part, but it will show how most of his comments aren't really all that crazy. His AIDS thing, while he said "people have said that the US Government could have created AIDS" (and I paraphrase), it is still pretty out there.

[Eduardo X]

I just listened to Wright's interview with Bill Moyers. The guy is an amazing speaker, and I find little I disagree with him about (other than the whole "god isn't a joke" thing).
It's amazing how bad a job the media has done covering this issue. I'm not surprised, but the levels of incompetence are amazing.

[Ironrod]

I doubt watching these will change people's minds about him, for the most part, but it will show how most of his comments aren't really all that crazy. His AIDS thing, while he said "people have said that the US Government could have created AIDS" (and I paraphrase), it is still pretty out there.

Given that the CIA probably introduced crack cocaine to the LA ghettos to finance Reagan's beloved Contras, one can see how such an allegation gains traction. Not that I have ever seen any evidence for the AIDS accusation.

When Gerald Ford told Americans to report for swine flu shots in 1976, I was first in line. I assumed the government was vaccinating citizens against a new US biological warfare agent. Tinfoil hats were not completely unreasonable attire during the Cold War.

[Eduardo X]

I've seen "evidence" about AIDS, mostly that it popped up in San Francisco among some gay men who'd showed up for a hepatitis study, and also in Africa in people who'd received smallpox vaccinations. Flimsy evidence at best.
While I don't put it above the government, there's really no point in arguing the issue OTHER than, as you mention, it holds traction in some communities. The response to AIDS (or at the time GRID) was enough to criticize, as is the treatment of the disease (and non-treatment of Malaria) in Africa.

You know what surprised me the most? That Wright helped performed surgery on Lyndon Johnson. It should also be surprising that it was mentioned in the first post of the thread and I ignored it.