JC Watts, the former Republican Congressman who is making news after his announcement that he plans to launch an all-black cable news network some time this year, says that issues like the Reverend Wright scandal show that such a network is sorely needed.

"I've not seen anything in his writings, in his speeches, in his books, in his public appearances, that would encourage me to believe that he views the world through the Rev. Wright's prism," said Watts, the last black Republican to serve in the U.S. House. "I'm a Republican. Barack Obama is a Democrat. I am not taking a position in the presidential race, but I can tell you this: If people vote against Barack Obama because of what the Rev. Wright said, it would be unfortunate. I don't agree with what the Rev. Wright said, but I've said to some of my Republican friends: 'Guys, it's a whole big world out there and I guarantee you, before all is said and done, there will be associations that a Republican has. You are going to be on a slippery slope."'

As for Watts' political affiliation, he said that not all blacks think alike, but most of them vote alike. He plans to show a "diversity of black opinions" on his network. Now, that could be a good thing. Or it could be a euphemism for "black Fox News." It's not necessarily the impression I get, but only time will tell.

Try as we might to make you laugh at Lil' Wayne, let's get real: Barack Obama's "A More Perfect Union" is all you and your friends are talking about right now. The pundits are right there with you and Time magazine has gathered some expert reactions to the Senator's speech. Their views, both positive and negative, after the jump.

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The inflammatory sermonizing of the zealous Reverend Jeremiah Wright, pastor to Barack Obama and family, has its roots in black traditions, according to a new article in The Wall Street Journal.

Mr. Wright has said in interviews that his sermons are rooted in "black liberation theology," which he described as a sister of liberation theology, the lay Catholic movement that fueled political activism in Latin America in the 1960s.

The approach is more overtly political than that of most black Protestant churches, says Melissa Harris-Lacewell, an associate professor of politics and African-American studies at Princeton University and a former member of the Trinity congregation.

Mr. Wright, she said, makes Biblical stories relevant by relating them to the frustrations of black Americans, such as subprime mortgages and the fallout from Hurricane Katrina.
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"America is our country and we love her, yet she has done such awful things," said Ms. Harris-Lacewell. "We have to have a place where we say…'This is not okay. I'm still hurt about this.' "

In other words, Reverend Wright isn't crazy, just very angry, and a demagogue to thousands of people. Scary or empowering? Both?

More of Wright's rhetoric after the jump.

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Here it is, the fiery polemic from Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama's pastor, the man who baptized both Obama's daughters and who married Barack and his wife, Michelle. According to Slate, Wright's been taking a lot of heat on the Internet since the above sermon ended up on YouTube. Though his speech was long and weighty, the Reverend is being chastised specifically for these comments:

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