There he goes again

He's back.

A year after he nearly cost Barack Obama the Democratic nomination for president, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright is stirring up trouble again.

In a recent interview with columnist David Squires of the Daily Press in Newport News, Va, Wright blamed "them Jews" for blocking him access to his former congregation member. "Them Jews ain't going to let him talk to me," Wright said. "I told my baby daughter that he'll talk to me in five years when he's a lame duck, or in eight years when he's out of office. They will not let him to talk to somebody who calls a spade what it is. ... I said from the beginning: He's a politician; I'm a pastor. He's got to do what politicians do."

Wright also blamed Jewish lobbyists for some of President Obama's actions. "The Jewish vote, the A-I-P-A-C vote that's controlling him, that will not let him send representation to the Darfur Review Conference, that's talking this craziness on this trip because they're Zionists, they will not let him talk to someone who calls a spade what it is," Wright said.

Needless to say, those remarks sparked some controversy.

Daily Voice syndicated blogger Joni Reynolds called Wright's comments "irresponsible."

"This is the kind of conversation that keeps us divided," Reynolds argued. "It helps keep the us versus them mentality in full effect," she said, and challenged blacks to "call this hatespeak."

Reynolds does not try to censor Wright but to chastise him. "Rev. Wright is a citizen of this country and he is free to speak his mind, but with free speech comes responsibility, and this kind of dialogue is irresponsible," she explains.

"No one is keeping the president from him," Reynolds continues. "President Obama made a choice to cut his ties with Rev. Wright and the more we hear from Rev. Wright the more we know it was the wise choice."

On Wednesday, Wright issued a statement in all capital letters saying that he was "EXTREMELY DISTURBED AND DEEPLY SADDENED THAT ONCE AGAIN MY COMMENTS HAVE RESURFACED THIS DIVISIVE DEBATE ABOUT MY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MYSELF AND PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA, WHOM I LOVE AS MY SON AND SUPPORT AND HONOR AS THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATED OF AMERICA."

"I APOLOGIZE FOR THE WAY I FRAMED MY COMMENTS. I MIS-SPOKE AND I SINCERELY MEANT NO HARM OR ILL-WILL TO THE AMERICAN JEWISH COMMUNITY OR THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION," he said in the statement.

By Thursday, Wright was trying to step back from the controversy by explaining that he had meant to refer to "Zionists" and not all Jews.

In an interview on SIRIUS Satellite Radio's "Make it Plain" with Mark Thompson, Wright said he "misspoke" when he was quoted. And he blamed the circumstances of the initial interview. "I was walking from a worship service to my car, trying to talk rapidly, trying to explain, answer this guy and trying to get him off the Barack Obama kick," Wright said.