WRIGHT IS (MOSTLY) RIGHT, SO ATTACK
THE MESSENGER INSTEAD OF THE
MESSAGE

Rev. Wright's basic point, which is missed in
all the bruhaha, is that the country is morally
bankrupt. You can object to his language (as
do I), and you can reject specific charges (the
aids accusation.) But these flaws in his long
list of national sins do not negate in any way
his overall message.

The main fury against the reverend is really
because he exposes the true American
religion for what it is: idolatry. It's the wor-
ship of man-made myths and symbols (flags,
lapel pins, fake cowboys). A key falsehood
of the national mythology is our basic good-
ness, as God's favorites. So Rev. Wright re-
minds us of the genocide and stolen land
that gave us our start, and the slave trade
that bankrolled our early industry and the
resulting stolen labor that built it. These
are not popular subjects for discussion. I
have written previously at length about
the American (false) religion and its idola-
tries.

Yes, we have properly celebrated heroes
like Washington (a slaver) and Lincoln (a
racist) and Davie Crockett. The latter sacri-
ficed a promising political career by strongly
opposing the act by the U. S. Congress to
forcibly "remove" the Cherokee Nation of
some 17,000 people from their homes in
Georgia to "Indian territory" in Oklahoma.
The Cherokees had become Christians,
built schools and churches, developed a
written language and published their own
newspaper, but it didn't matter. The good
people of Georgia lusted for their land, so
they had to go on the "Trail of Tears," where
at least 4,000 perished in transit under the
care of the U. S. Army. You can read about
it in Wikipedia.

Now we are aiding and abetting Israel in its
similar program of native removal from the
holy land. Most of the Palestinians (some
three or four million) have by now been
driven totally out of their land, and live in
refugee camps in surrounding lands. The
million plus left in Gaza are basically
prisoners, fenced in and destitute. It's just
a reservation, like we maintained for our
Western "Indians." With our help ($3 bill.+
each year) Israel illegally occupies the West
Bank with about as many soldiers as we
(also illegally) have busy destroying Iraq.
(If you doubt that last, see Naomi Klein:
The Shock Doctine: The Rise of Disaster
Capitalism.)

The Israelis have bull-dozed more than
10,000 Palestinian homes, and chain-sawed
most of their olive and citrus orchards, just
as the U. S. Cavalry once slaughterd the
Indians' buffalo, so they would starve. Israel
clearly has no interest in peace, and never
has had, except the kind of peace we now
have, on our terms, with native Americans.
When Palestinians take up arms to resist the
occupation and destruction of their land, they
of course become "terrorists," worthy only of
more sever punishment if that is possible.

Be assured, the Muslim world holds us re-
sponsible along with Israel for the crimes and
atrocities committed daily there. And yes, alas,
Rev. Wright is right again, this was a major
cause, if not the chief one for Muslim anger
that led to 9/11. It's not acceptable in this
country to refer to it as "chickens coming home
to roost," because that sounds as if it was
justified, which it can't be, but nevertheless
that is the way it is viewed in much of the
Muslim world, and much of Europe as well.
Rev. Wright was explaining, not justifying 9/11.
If you think the Rev. is deranged, you might
want to consult Noam Chomsky, who has been
called, by the the New York Times " America's
leading intellectual." He has written numerous
books detailing in a scholarly way our long and
current history of using, backing, teaching and
practising terrorism and torture. Not a pretty
picture, but an accurate one, and well docu-
mented. Chomsky has a book on 9/11, by the
way, named just that: 9/11.