Perhaps the problem is, the bin Laden's are an important and wealthy family in Saudi Arabia and don't want Osama, their wayward son, harmed. "He's really a good boy, just going through a rough patch in his life?" A bit like a certain son of the Bush family a few years back. The Bush's and the bin Laden's go "way back" after all. The folks in the World Trade Center weren't all that important compared to the descendants of Prescott Bush and the bin Laden family. You know, a bit of the "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" on the part of longstanding internationally wealthy friends.

Then of course there's the reality that for Bush/CheneyCo. the "response" to the events of September 11, 2001 was never about anything but using a major crisis as a tool to enrich themselves and their friends. After all, you could cause yourself a lot of problems regarding national sovereignty and jursidiction between Afghanistan and Pakistan if you went after Osama bin Laden. Plus, if you actually caught him and locked him up, the world might settle down a bit and the price of oil would drop and Bush/CheneyCo. and their oil baron friends would lose a lot of money. We can't have that, now, can we?

My grandma, who was born in 1906 (may she rest in peace) had a very short story to explain how money corrupts "folks."

"You take a piece of glass... you can see the whole world through it, but put a little silver behind it and all you can see is yourself."

(of course you have to understand how mirrors are made...)

I suspect, as has been said by a variety of folks in these letters, our media is influenced by the silver behind the glass through which they believe they're accurately seeing the world (and completely unaware of that fact).

We could, with a reasonable investment, bring this country completely out of dependence on oil for energy in the next 20 or so years. In doing so, we could also develop technologies we could sell to the rest of the world, but NO..... Bush and Cheney and many others in our government are best buddies of the execs of the oil industry and stand to make massive money off their percentages as the price of oil continues to spike. These folks WANT peak oil. They stand to make more money than the annual GNP of most of the world's nations. They will do nothing to prepare for it, nor will they allow it to be subject of government energy nor environmental policies. They couldn't care less what enriching themselves does to the societies of the world or even to the planet on which they live. Somebody needs to send Emperor Bush and fiddle to play, because Rome is already burning.

Joan must have been watching a different interview than I did. I found Rev. Wright to be charming, articulate, captivating, and very firmly grounded in the Bible. I suspect Ms. Walsh, not being versed in the language of religion, doesn't realize that Rev. Wright's knowledge of the Bible and his tremendous ability to draw parallels between the current leaders of our government and the arrogant behavior of our nation, and those same things in ancient Israel will be quite convincing for all those who value the Bible above American Civil Religion ("my country right or wrong, the noise machine folks at Faux News, etc...).

Those folks are not and never have believed in living out the Gospel of Christ. They would never have voted for Obama anyway, but to watch Rev. Wright calmly, gently, convincingly explain his perspective was useful, helpful and made it clear that, although, many, including Senator Obama, disagree with him in some areas, he is theologically solid, knows the Bible better than Jerry Falwell ever did, certainly better than Pat Robertson or Jim Dobson, and is, in no way any kind of crackpot or wacko.

Furthermore, the church he leads is one of the most socially active in the Chicago area. Again, I don't know what Joan was watching, but if she expected Rev. Wright to violate his own faith and give up his own integrity for political expediency, she obviously hasn't been watching the United Church of Christ in recent years. They seem to believe in bearing witness to the Gospel as God calls them to, no matter what the cost in terms of the agreement or support of the wider society. (Much like the Christ whom they seek to follow). They seem happy to leave the easy, pop-religion stuff to those of lesser courage and lesser faith.