Montel bashes media over Rev. Wright

Montel Williams talked trash about fellow members of the media dictating what's news from the presidential campaign trail.

The talk show host was in Minneapolis today for an appearance at the Sabathani Community Center, as the paid celebrity endorser of Partnership for Prescription Assistance, a program that gives medicine to people who can't afford to pay.

Since Williams was on Geraldo Rivera's show talking about the Rev. Jeremiah Wright problem, a couple days before Sen. Barack Obama finally kicked his pastor to the curb, I opened my interview with Montel inside the PPA bus with a related question about the man I've nicknamed Rev. Wrong. In case you've missed it, in a series of egregious speech performances, Wright has demonstrated just how jealous and truly troublesome he can be while illustrating that IT'S ALL ABOUT ME. Turning the other cheek with his old minister resulted in Obama getting bitten on the butt (and harder chomps may be coming).

Williams said the preacher "doesn't matter" and isn't one of "the real issues. We should stop being misled by a voracious appetite for trash. I'm really kind of disgusted at the fact that for the first time probably in our nation's history the media is dictating this political campaign more so than the candidates are. Rev. Wright is as important to this election as Bill Clinton was important to this election when Hillary stood by and he did what he had do in the White House."

That sure sounded like a reference to Monica Lewinsky, but Williams was on a mild tear so I did not interrupt him for confirmation.

"If we're going to hold Obama accountable for his cousin, his friends, his ministers, we need to do the same thing for every single one of the candidates," said Williams. "If we're going to do that, that's not a political campaign, that's just a tabloid media attempt at really avoiding the main issues in America. We're faced with an almost $4 a gallon price for gas; $4.50 this summer. The highest rapidly growing unemployment rate that we've seen in the last 15 years. We have a mortgage and banking crisis and a trade deficit that is unprecedented, yet we sit around and have the nerve to make sure we inundate our homes with garbage about someone who is insignificant.

"I saw something last night, a reporter had the audacity to try to say America would not be safe because Obama might be talking to Rev. Wright if he were elected. This is nothing but fear-mongering and hatred. I'm really disgusted and appalled."

Williams said he "doesn't care" what Rev. Wright's motive was for his recent actions. "You, we the media, have now made him a multimillionaire. He's going to be selling speeches and videos and his defiance and his books will rule. That is ignorance on our part to give him the platform and to insure that that platform incites America into further divide."

Returning to the reason for his appearance here, Williams said, "I'm here today in Minneapolis to talk about a program that really should be the embarrassment of every single one of the candidates. We have 49 million uninsured and underinsured Americans out here [who] do not have prescription medication coverage. It's taken a private sector initiative, the biggest in the history of this county, to address the needs of those who are forgotten, where that is the responsibility of our federal government. In its third year, [PPA] has given away medication to 5 million people -- $11 billion worth of product. I listened to [Sen. John] McCain two days ago say, 'We're gong to figure out a way to make sure Americans have prescription medication.' What is he talking about? He's just throwing out words that are meaningless."