I commented yesterday that I felt very conspiratorial about thinking that Hillary Clinton might in someway have her hands in the appearance of Rev. Wright yesterday at the National Press Club. I even sugessted that perhaps his appearance on Bill Moyer's Journal might be tied to the shows sponsors being affiliated with the Clinton machine. My first point has garnered some attention. Late this afternoon Lawrence O'Donnell on MSNBC noted that Clinton supporter Rev. Barbara Reynolds was directly involved in working on Wright's appearance. Soon after word filtered out, her online post on her backing of Clinton disappeared... But Buzzflash has retrieevd it.
From the Buzzflashposting:
A New York Daily News reporter, Errol Louis, revealed that Rev. Barbara Reynolds, who is also a journalist, is a Clinton supporter who suggested Rev. Wright as a speaker to the National Press Club awhile back and was recently asked to organize his appearance there this week.
Since Louis broke his story, the relevant February entry on Barbara Reynold's blog has disappeared -- just vanished. In addition, neither Rev. Reynolds nor the Clinton campaign, as of the posting of this news alert, have responded to queries about whether Reynolds suggested and organized Wright's appearance at the National Press Club with the knowledge of the Clinton campaign or go-betweens for the Clinton campaign.
here are some snippets from Reynold's blog
Now since one Clinton cleaned up the first mess created by Bush I, why not let another Clinton clean up the mess created by Bush Light and why not a woman?
Traditionally, I have sympathized or cast my lot with the "underperson," the one needlessly being picked on or ridiculed. Media treatment of Senator Clinton has been degrading.
Much of the news media have gone bonkers over Senator Obama, pandering and refusing to ask tough questions, while intensely and sometimes nastily grilling Senator Clinton. Pundits continue to stress that Clinton is "polarizing," and that 41 percent of voters say they won’t vote for her as if to cement a self-defeating prophecy.
When the Clintons were in office, I worked at the executive levels of journalism. It was overwhelming to see how many white men, even liberals, detested Hillary not only because she is a woman but because she did not play it safe and took on controversial issues, such as trying to win health care for the more than 44 million people who can’t afford it. She lost the fight, but it took courage to start it and I believe she deserves another chance to win it.
snip
I also find it troublesome that so many influential Republican conservatives are confessing their love for Senator Obama. When people who are my enemies become friends of my friends, I am just naturally suspicious.
In any event, Sen. Obama, tall, brilliant, handsome, with a wonderful wife and a message of hope would make a good president, but I embrace Clinton because at the highest levels they have helped make life better for African-Americans. My vote for Hillary in the Maryland Primary was my way of saying Thank You.
Meanwhile, over at Politico, Caldernone is reporting that NPC president Sylvia Smith says the Reynolds had pitched Wright previously as a speaker but that he was not newsworthy at the time. This time, however, Reynolds was a member of the speaker's committee and worked on the appearance of Wright:
Smith said that Reynolds pitched Wright again as a speaker, and the speakers committee wanted him because he was far more newsworthy than two years earlier. Reynolds became the point person.
For each speaking event, one member of the organizing committee is assigned as the main contact. That person performs various tasks, from choosing who sits at the head table to drafting the NPC president’s introduction, according to Smith. And Reynolds was the point person for
Ben first spotted the Reynolds connection, and noted last night what she said about Obama last month, which is supportive of Wright.
"[I]t is a sad testimony that to protect his credentials as a unifier above the fray the Senator is fueling the media characterization that Rev. Dr. Wright is some retiring old uncle in the church basement instead of respecting Wright for the towering astute father of progressive social and global causes that he is."
In an article in Louisian Weekly, Rev. Reynolds last March criticized Sen. Obama for characterizing the Rev. as "some retiring old unclce in the church basement instead of respecting Wright for the towering astute father of progressive social and global causes that he is."
Pastor Wright is being brutally trashed for his controversial sermons. The mainstream media are the guilty culprit in all of this partly because of ignorance of the historic role of the Black Church, which was born out of the crucible of slavery, lynching and Jim Crow. If those injustices had not been raised with passion, Blacks would still be on the plantation, a point that Trinity's new pastor Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III, nicely raised in an interview on CNN.
Secondly, Pastor Wright seems so radical because so many churches aren't saying anything. Instead of preaching and organizing against the unjust war in Iraq that has claimed more than 4,000 U.S. lives and 30,000 Iranian lives, the cradle to grave prison industrial pipeline, inadequate education, and other social ills, so many mega-church leaders are hooping about prosperity and allowing politicians drive through photo ops in their churches without holding their feet to the fire.
Wright stands out because so many others are sitting down. There are not many churches where the social gospel of Dr. King is preached. The media have watered down the volumes of King's sermonic contributions to "I have a Dream," although King spoke out strongly against such issues as the Vietnam War just as Wright is campaigning against the horrors of the ill-fated war in Iraq today.
Reynolds' article concludes: "While Sen. Obama may have to distance himself from his pastor to play the game of politics, it is unwise for any of us to burn the bridges that brought us across."
Interesting how this is EXACTLY what Wright's message has been: that Obama was playing politics with the American people when he denounced the Wright soundclips last month.
I guess my question is who ultimately benefits from Wright's "October Surprise?" Did Moyers know when he interviewed him Friday night that this tv appearance was merely act 1 in a 4 day news cycle? Why did CNN air the Wright NAACP speech three times in its entirety Sunday night? Who made that decision and why?