This Rev. Wright issue is being blown completely out of proportion. What really bothers me is that everyone is denouncing his words and adding fuel to the fire, without actually listening to his speech. I, of course, find it my duty to keep my loyal blog readers well informed. Here are some clips I filmed at the Press Club Speech. Keep in mind I arrived late, so these bites are mostly from the question and answer portion.

I went to Rev. Wright's speech at the Press Club today. I didn't find out that I would be covering the event until I got to the office this morning. By then it had already started. So I jumped in a cab and listened to the cabby's anti-Wright and quasi-racist diatribe on the way there.

The room was absolutely packed. It took a couple minutes just to get past the people squeezed into the doorway. The back wall of the room was jammed with press. A couple nice cameramen made room for me and helped me climb over the chairs to reach my spot.

Rev. Wright was in his element; most of the audience were there for the NAACP meeting. They stood and cheered after every couple sentences. The speech was interesting, but the question and answer session really got him going. Say what you will about the man or his message, but he owned that room. I may not agree with his message, but I was very impressed by the delivery.

Emily and I did yet another live video feed for the Washington Post today. It was 7 hours of people talking about the NFL draft. But we couldn't use video of the actual draft, so we just had people talking endlessly. They seemed to enjoy themselves, but I doubt we got many viewers. Why watch online commentary when you could watch the actual draft?

Emily and I spent the weekend in Florida. We hadn't been there since we moved away. It was good to see the family and friends, but I'm glad I don't live there anymore. We got in on Thursday night, after doing the Washington Post live coverage of the Pope all morning. Friday we visited the dentist (aka my dad) for a cleaning. Apparently I don't brush hard enough.

Saturday was the Passover Seder which was attended by the usual crowd - my parent's crazy friends. We took some family photos (including the one above) before the Seder. Don't you just love the expression on our faces?

We spent all weekend shooting and editing IMF / World Bank stuff. Emily has now been working for three weeks straight and me for two weeks. The press briefings were just as boring and un-news worthy as ever. But of course we did two stories a day for the SABC.

I also covered a Save Darfur rally at the National Mall. They had mock refugee tents set up to show people what it was like for the people of Darfur. I visited some refugee camps in Sudan and the tents set up here were WAY nicer than anything I saw. They were fully stocked with pillows, blankets, cooking pots and medicine. I saw none of that stuff at the camps I visited. Just flimsy, roofless straw huts with maybe a wire bed or two inside. There was no sign of help from the relief agencies.

I got kicked out of the Oval Office today. I was suppose to be filming Bush's meeting with the Singaporean Minister. But apparently they recently started enforcing the 'no jeans in the Oval Office' rule. Luckily Malcolm was there to shoot instead.

Emily has been in Portland Oregon for the last few days. She went on a last minute, ill planned trip with the SABC to Nike headquarters. Her and Manalisi (the SABC correspondent) were sent to film the Nike products being given to the Olympic athletes (Nike paid for the trip). Apparently it has been a disaster from the beginning. They didn't book Emily's flight or hotel until the day before she left. Even then the flight dates were wrong and they put her in the wrong hotel. She had Nike fix the problem less than 24 hours before she was set to go. When her and Manalisi arrived, they had no schedule and no idea what they were doing. Nike set up an interview for them, without asking or giving them any idea who they were talking to. Manalisi had no idea what to ask during the interview.

Most of their time has been spent in lecture halls being preached to by advertising executives. This would make riveting television, I'm sure. They have been barred from filming anything that would make a nice story; Emily even had to sign a form saying that she wouldn't "give away company secrets". She was not allowed to film in any of the product testing or design labs. I can't wait to see what they will scrounge together for a story.