Progress Illinois

Yesterday on NBC's The Chris Matthews Show, Tribune columnist Clarence Page pointed out what should have been obvious: the 30-second soundbytes replayed over and over by the national media are not an accurate representation of Rev. Jeremiah Wright's ministry at Trinity United Church of Christ:

PAGE: Plus, you know, Jeremiah Wright, I've seen the man preach, long before I knew he was Barack Obama's minister. And people knew he had been Oprah's minister. There's a side to him that has not been shown on these clips. He is a Marine. He is a guy who's had a tremendous program for black families, etc.

MATTHEWS: OK. Would you get those tapes out?

PAGE: Well, it's going to happen.

MATTHEWS: Let's get the good tapes out.

In fact, a lot of "the good tapes" are out there -- whether media figures like Chris Matthews actually decide to air them is another story.

Archpundit has a couple of these videos featured on his site today: Here you see the full context of Rev. Wright's comments on 9-11. Notice how he describes the attacks as "unthinkable acts" and an "American tragedy" (not quite the impression I got from watching the cables). The tape also shows him initially attributing the sentiment that "America's chickens are coming home to roost" to former U.S. Ambassador Edward Peck.

And here you see Wright -- during the sermon in which he stated "God damn America" -- professing his faith in the potential for real political progress in the U.S.

Also worth checking out are the tributary comments about Wright by United Church of Christ President John Thomas -- a white man -- on February 24.

For more of "the good tapes" check out Trinity United's YouTube page.