Dartblog

The purportedly Reverend Jeremiah Wright composes an epistle to Jodi Kator at The New York Times, who interviewed him and then, he thinks, wrote an unfair piece. Mr. Wright’s letter in part:

Forgive me for having a momentary lapse. I forgot that The New York Times was leading the bandwagon in trumpeting why it is we should have gone into an illegal war. The New York Times became George Bush and the Republican Party’s national “blog.” The New York Times played a role in the outing of Valerie Plame. I do not know why I thought The New York Times had actually repented and was going to exhibit a different kind of behavior.

Maybe it was my faith in the Jewish Holy Day of Roshashana. Maybe it was my being caught up in the euphoria of the Season of Lent; but whatever it is or was, I was sadly mistaken. There is no repentance on the part of The New York Times. There is no integrity when it comes to The Times. You should do well with that paper, Jodi.

This letter comes from March 11, 2007. That is to say, one year ago and long before the Rev. Wright row rowed into the news. And just a few months before Wright gave his infamous Christmas 2007 sermon in which he sneered heatedly at “rich white people,” railed against Hillary Clinton, pondered why “so many people” are “hatin’ on” Barack Obama, and then claimed to be “still in Bible country”—or, still in the text.

It seems more likely, then, that the original Times reportage was accurate, that Wright’s outrage was feigned, and that he really does believe his own tripe.