Pastor attacks media’s election smears

BARACK OBAMA’S former pastor has complained that the media used him as a “weapon of mass destruction” in an attempt to derail Obama’s campaign for the US presidency.

Speaking at a forum about race and religion, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright accused the media of taking out of context videotaped clips that showed him making anti-American statements from the pulpit of the Chicago church where Obama had worshipped for 20 years.

The videos, which included Rev Wright thundering “God damn America”, dominated cable television for weeks.