He’s Baaaaack

So what? Who cares? What does this mean for the readers of Swampland, Amy?

Sense of bad timing, maybe. Anybody listening to his lecture in lieu of the inaugural address needs to refocus.
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And Andy’s right. So what?

Amy, there have been some suicides recently, perhaps directly related to the financial crisis. Here’s the latest.
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http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/01/07/illinois.realestate.death/index.html
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I believe that taking of one’s life is considered a sin by some denominations. What does this tell us about the desperation people are in due to our current financial crisis, and what can or should religion and clergy do to help these desperate people and their families?

[...] on Inauguration Day, then Reverend Wright may have just the thing. Amy Sullivan (my wife) reports that Wright will mark the occasion with the first in a series of talks on [...]

Ann Coulter will no doubt be on the teevee too. So what?

Jayackroyd, now I have two things I won’t need to watch.

Yawn… As others have stated, who cares? There are so many more important issues you can be convering.

Sadly, I am sure there will be a strong contingent of our fine “liberal media” folks there in Virginia to put the spotlight on the unimportant Wright.

On the bright side, Drudge and Halperin will be happy.

I don’t get it.

I’m catching a train to Toronto in an hour, but wanted to share this link to my minister’s response to the Wright business, part of a sermon she gave last Spring (before his National Press Club appearance, fwiw). I am particularly struck by the line, “It seems impossible something can simultaneously fester and be frozen”. It seems that’s just where Jeremiah Wright finds himself now.

The more important question is…who will be there to listen to him? All college students (along with more than a few professors) within a 500-mile radius will be descending on the capital. As for those who stay behind, are they really going to be caught dead in the pews–I mean, in the seats of a guy who condemned American policies–I mean, called for God to damn America for thirty years??

Isn’t Wright and aren’t most reverends at some such function every weekend of the year? What’s the hook here? I’m mot getting why this is relevant to the inauguration. It’s not a political topic. Is it the fact that it’s 90 miles from DC? Really?

Oops…in the seats for a guy. Might have painted a worse picture there than I wanted.

Who gives a sh*t?

coffee, this seems to be an inside the beltway story for insiders who are so much smarter than the rest of us. Rev. Wright is sooooooo 2008, you know.
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I’d really like Amy to address my comment at #3. I think it’s a bigger story. Like those investors who jumped out of windows in 1929.

But the “Baaaaack” implied, at least to me, back to the fray — to politics. I’m not getting the point. It seems like a nerdy religious conference an hour and a half from DC that doesn’t in any way involve a grab for attention. How is he “Baaaaack?” Not getting it.

Hey, guys! I had a ham sandwich and a raisin bagel for lunch.

He’s also on the Board of Trustees at VUU, which strikes me as more relevant to his attendance than the 90 miles from DC, no?

coffee: you and I are just not the smartest guys in the room. The MSMers are just like the Ken Lays, and Fascos and Skillings. They’re smarter than everyone else. It’s too complicated for us to understand.
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A 20th century editor would have spiked this story as not being newsworthy. But we live in the 21st century now, where the reporters either make the news themselves or make up news.

FT are you hedging your religious bets? Because that doesn’t sound Kosher to me.

This is pulling a big fat zero on my Give-A-F@ckometer.

And Friar Tuck – are you trying to develop the big fat Friar belly? Because that’s a hella carb load.

Cliff, I admit that FT’s post was more interesting and insightful than Amy’s or her husband’s?

Cliff – already happened. That’s how I got my nickname!
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I’m planning to die happier rather than later.

I’m not surprised that journalists would be interested in Wright’s appearance. He does have a record of making attention-getting comments. I’m not surprised that MSM editors would try to find out what Wright says in case there’s a story. And if he does say something controversial I won’t be surprised when the MSM covers it obsessively.
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But he hasn’t said anything controversial yet! This post illustrates one of the main problems with MSM journalism: the anticipation becomes the story. It was the same with Clinton supporters at the Democratic convention. The media speculation about the possibility of open conflict and chaos on the convention floor overshadowed the reality of a peaceful and united convention.

Ahhh. Glad to see the new kid learning the ropes. Need some attention and some more hits? Bring up a reference to Jeremiah Wright. You’ll do even better if you can find the most outrageous-sounding sentence fragment from his entire day of speaking on the 20th and post it here first. So what if it has nothing to do with his speech. You should be able to make it sound as if he spent the entire day on it.

Andy,

I’m merely grafted onto the Chosen People (see Romans 9-10). It costs me some important benefits, but it does open up my meal choices.

Also, it’s a freaking three day elective class that he is teaching and has been on the class schedule for months (see yellow highlight). “Baaaaack,” right.

I’m planning to die happier rather than later.
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I’m down with that.

coffee: There you go again!!! You’re like, reporting!!! OMG the humanity.

So, let’s summarize Amy: Rev. Wright is teaching a religious class that has been scheduled for months at the school where he has been on the Board of Trustees for years.

Spike the story, Amy.

Ladies and gentlemen Swampland has become the Seinfeld of journalism.

http://www.time.com/time/

He’s Baaaaack is a “must read.” It’s a story about “nothing”.

Amy -
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Here’s a real story for you: A large contingent of Lutheran Bishops is making a previously scheduled trip to the Holy Land, even though there’s a war on again/always. Will they be killed? Will they get into the Gaza strip? Will anybody notice? Are they making an important witness, or risking their lives to no useful puropse?
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http://archive.elca.org/ScriptLib/CO/ELCA_News/encArticleList.asp?article=4018
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Don’t MAKE me do you legwork for you.

“Must read” if you’re out of Ambien, maybe.

Friar Tuck, if they are introducing green jello and hot dish in the region than they are risking their lives for no useful purpose.
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Seriously, this is an interesting link. I hope someone from a major newsweekly who writes about religion (hint hint) follows this story. I would hate to see them hurt or killed in the crossfire.

The Legion of the Lazy. Look how this post is turning into a story about Wright counter-programming to Obama’s inauguration all because Amy couldn’t be bothered to do her homework and tell the full story. Lame.

Question: What’s the difference between plagarism and reporting?

Answer: Attribution or what they don’t teach at Harvard divinity school:

http://journalism.about.com/od/writing/a/attribution.htm

The Post-Gazette credits TIME. The point is: isn’t a speech provocatively delivered in close proximity to counter the inauguration. It is a class that was scheduled months ago at an institution where Wright has been doing this very same thing and sitting on the Board of Trustees for eight consecutive years. It’s shameful journalistic laziness not to provide that context. The Post-Gazette story is a perfect example of how the lack of context will morph into a story that isn’t a story.

Andy –

Why do you think God created synonyms?

Note that the Post-Gazette, a major paper, already has it as a spotlight-grabbing “speech.” It’s a three-day workshop that was on the students class schedule since way back in the fall and was subject to registration. This is a fascinating example of how sloppy and unprofessional journalists sometimes behave.

FlownOver: Touche. Coffee: my bad on the Post Gazette must be my dyslexia.

This is a fascinating example of how sloppy and unprofessional journalists sometimes behave.
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And yet, people are always like, “Oh Cliff, why are you so hard on Amy, she’s not that bad of a journalist!”

Hilarious that random commenters did the leg work to add depth to this “story.” Do better please TIME.

Speak for yourself, armyliberal. I’m more of an aleatory commenter.

So good to see that the corporate press is finally replacing all of the old, clueless, lazy, self-important dead wood with new,…well, you get the idea. Welcome to Swampland, Amy!

Pat Robertson just had another conversation with God, didn’t he? Why is he never ridiculed in the mainstream media? Is it because he is a white Republican?

It is superfluous to ridicule that which ridicules itself, no?

Cliff, I’ve never said that about you.

Hey everyone, Meet Joe the Journalist…first Israel, then Swampland?
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090107/ap_on_re_us/joe_the_plumber;_ylt=AhvBrR71OnZOqnzpuv2WTjCs0NUE

Andy, I forget who it was (obviously not you), but it was back when AS had to get someone else to post for her on Swampland, and I was still pissed about her atrocious blogging during the Democratic Convention.

I remember it because she was using KT’s byline. This is a much better story than He’s Baaaaack.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/01/07/porn-industry-seeks-federal-bailout/#more-34724

Pajamas Media and Joe the Plumber – perfect together.

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*yawns*
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Now if the good Reverend were to give these lectures while twirling a hula hoop…now that would be newsworthy, right, Amy?

Hustler publisher Larry Flynt and Girls Gone Wild CEO Joe Francis said Wednesday they will request that Congress allocate $5 billion for a bailout of the adult entertainment industry.
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Andy, I suppose it would stiffen porn’s bottom line. Though I would imagine a bailout would create some blowback in Congress.
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Sorry. Couldn’t help myself.

g_crush game, set and match. Hat tip to you my friend!

I will become incredibly angry if Joe Francis, the biggest douchebag in the world, gets five billion from the Feds.

What did Shakepeare say? “Much ado about nothing”? The good Rev. Wright come to lecture at my church in Richmond, right before the election. It was very good, and only a few provocative bones thrown to any reporters who may have been present.

Like people said, he been on the Board of Trustees for years. He is giving a lecture on religion, not politics. Maybe it is a slow news day for those not covering Gaza.

AS:
” .. He’s Baaaaack ..”

Weren’t you supposed to be reading Theology instead of going to the movies?

” ..”Prophetic Proclamation”–a subject he knows well-… Wright always has been a preacher known for his sense of timing. ..”

Ouch!
Wright feels greatly honored by your compliments.