Director Spike Lee has waded into the ongoing controversy surrounding Jeremiah Wright, the Chicago pastor whose provocative statements have proved a thorn in the side of Democrat frontrunner Barack Obama. Lee advises the preacher to do the right thing and keep quiet. “The more he opens his mouth, the more damage he does,” he told the Guardian yesterday.

For good measure, Lee hinted at a political conspiracy behind Wright’s recent, contentious attempts to justify his remarks. “It looks like he’s being paid to keep talking,” he said….”If he loves Obama he needs to shut up right now. It makes me question his motives for talking. I’m starting to wonder whether somebody has been contributing to the building funds of his church. Seriously.”

Wright touts conspiracy theories (AIDS invented to kill blacks etc). Spike Lee thinks Wright’s conspiracy theories are a conspiracy. Maybe Spike Lee is being paid to make black people look bad.

All this recalls the scene in Little Murders when detective Alan Arkin blames the rampant crime in New York City on a conspiracy to make the police look bad. That scene wasn’t available on Youtube, but this opening scene was. Here’s how Elliott Gould meets his fiance.