Would God ever damn America?
Like many Americans, I have had to listen to the relentless media coverage of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's so-called political hate preaching whereby he blames our political leaders for the plight of African Americans. We often hear the sound bites from Fox News Channel, and now all the networks are getting in on the coverage trying to derail Barrack Obama's run for the presidency.
As I listened to the full pulpit message, I couldn't help but agree with the Rev. Wright, and if we, as Americans, took the time to listen and relate his message to past historical events, we may all agree with him. Columnist Robert Scheer touched on the Rev. Pat Robertson's comments blaming events of Hurricane Katrina on homosexuals or abortion, and John Hagee called the Vatican "The Great Whore." And we had the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. denounce the Vietnam War, which may have led to his demise, but it is the Rev. Wright who has this one right.
Well, as I have had to digest the Rev. Wright's message, I can't help but agree with him. I suggest all Americans should watch CNN's special on the subprime loan crisis and see for themselves the demise of many innocent American families caught up in a scam brought about by greedy Wall Street investment firms with allegiance to the Republican Party.
Take Roland E. Arnall, founder of Ameriquest, as just one example typical of many Wall Street banks. Arnall was Bush's single largest campaign contributor from 2002 until his untimely death, according to an article in Washington Post of Jan. 21, 2006. While he was worth $1.6 billion and his company made billions off the backs of innocent people in the past two or three years, we the taxpayers are bailing out the banks while Ameriquest settles for a mere $325 million dollars for all their fraudulent behavior.
Once the nation's largest subprime mortgage lender, Ameriquest has been shadowed by accusations that it engaged in improper practices that included lying about borrowers' income to qualify them for loans they couldn't afford.
What was Arnall's reward in all of this? He was picked as President Bush's ambassador to the Netherlands in February 2006, until he suddenly died of cancer with his money in tow. Sorry, but his death seems a bit fishy to me.
Anyway, while the Republican Wall Street wheelers and dealers perpetrate fraud on many Americans and cause recession, high gas prices and loss of homes by many Americans, and many right-wing pastors sleep with the Republican Party, the media choose to pound us with the Rev. Wright's pulpit messages.
Wake up, America! Again, you are being played as fools in a fool's game, and the stakes are high. Don't be misled by this Rev. Wright controversy. We are fed news the media want us to hear and deprived of news they feel is unimportant in our lives, and all of us are damned by our ignorance of issues. If we sit as stool pigeons, we will allow ourselves to be sucked up by the likes of Wall Street, the Republican-owned news media and talk show hosts and the Republican Party.
We can't blame God, but ourselves if we let the Republicans in Congress and the White House sell our souls to the highest bidder: Wall Street. And yes, the Rev. Wright is right. God will damn America for its greed and those who steal and defraud the poor.
David H. Blackburn is a Huntington resident.
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