Media outlets falsely claim Obama contradicted himself regarding Wright statements
SUMMARY: Several media figures have falsely claimed that Sen. Barack Obama contradicted previous statements when he said during a March 18 speech on race: "Did I ever hear him [Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama's former pastor] make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in the church? Yes." In fact, Obama previously asserted he had not been present for particular statements Wright made that were repeated by various media outlets and that spurred the recent controversy. He did not claim to have never heard Wright make "remarks that could be considered controversial."
On March 18 and 19, several media figures falsely claimed that Sen. Barack Obama contradicted previous statements he had made when he said during a March 18 speech on race: "Did I ever hear him [Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama's former pastor] make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in the church? Yes." For example, on March 19, Politico chief political columnist Roger Simon wrote that during his speech, "for the first time, Obama admitted what he previously had denied: that he was present when Wright had made some of his outrageous comments." In fact, Obama did not admit during his March 18 speech "what he previously had denied"; he did not reverse himself during the speech on the issue of whether he had been present when Wright made specific comments that have received widespread attention and sparked the controversy to which he was responding. Rather, Obama said during the speech that he had been in church when Wright made "remarks that could be considered controversial." By contrast, in a March 14 column for The Huffington Post, Obama wrote that he had not been present for the particular statements that had become "the cause of this controversy." Obama has made similar assertions on numerous occasions, as Media Matters for America documented.
From Obama's March 14 column in the Huffington Post:
The statements that Rev. Wright made that are the cause of this controversy were not statements I personally heard him preach while I sat in the pews of Trinity or heard him utter in private conversation. When these statements first came to my attention, it was at the beginning of my presidential campaign. I made it clear at the time that I strongly condemned his comments. But because Rev. Wright was on the verge of retirement, and because of my strong links to the Trinity faith community, where I married my wife and where my daughters were baptized, I did not think it appropriate to leave the church.
Let me repeat what I've said earlier. All of the statements that have been the subject of controversy are ones that I vehemently condemn. They in no way reflect my attitudes and directly contradict my profound love for this country.
Nonetheless, several in the media in addition to Simon have accused Obama of reversing himself on the issue of whether he had been present when Wright made the comments that have been the subject of media attention and controversy. For example, Fox News correspondent Major Garrett claimed on the March 18 edition of Fox News' Special Report that during his speech, Obama made "a notable recalibration of [his] statement to Fox on Friday as to whether he ever witnessed the words from Wright he now so strenuously condemns." In doing so, Garrett contrasted video clips from Obama's March 18 speech and Garrett's own interview with Obama that aired March 14 on Fox News:
OBAMA [from March 18 speech]: Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in the church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely.
GARRETT: That's a notable recalibration of Obama's statement to Fox on Friday as to whether he ever witnessed the words from Wright he now so strenuously condemns.
OBAMA [from March 14 interview]: None of these statements were ones that I had heard myself personally in the pews.
Similarly, on the March 19 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends, co-host Steve Doocy aired the same two video clips that Garrett aired on Special Report in an attempt to highlight what Doocy called "a 180 from what [Obama] said on Thursday night [sic: Friday] here on the Fox News Channel." After airing the video clips, Doocy commented, "There you go. Last week he said, 'No, never heard it,' and yesterday he said, 'Yep, I was sitting there and I heard it.' "
But during the March 14 interview on Fox, Obama did not claim to have never heard Wright make "remarks that could be considered controversial"; rather, he referred to specific remarks by Wright that have been repeatedly quoted in news reports. Obama said:
OBAMA: When I saw these statements, many of which I had heard for the first time, then I thought it was important to make a very clear and unequivocal statement.
None of these statements were ones that I had heard myself personally in the pews. One of them I had heard about after I had started running for president, and I put out a statement at that time condemning them.
The other statements were ones that I just heard about while we were -- when they started being run on Fox and some of the other stations. And so they weren't things that I was familiar with.
Several other media figures have also falsely claimed that Obama admitted in his most recent speech having heard the Wright comments that have sparked the controversy:
- Discussing Obama's speech on the March 18 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly stated:
O'REILLY: He clearly said today for the first time, because he had denied it in the past, that he sat there and he heard Reverend Wright say anti-American comments. This was the first time he said that, but I'm willing to give him a pass on that because I'm not a gotcha kind of guy.
- During the March 19 edition of ABC's Good Morning America, Fox News analyst and NPR contributor Juan Williams claimed:
WILLIAMS: Barack Obama's campaign has been in crisis over the statements made by Reverend Wright, damning America, suggesting that the government spreads AIDS among black people, really outrageous statements.
And initially, you know, he said he wasn't in the pews. Yesterday, he said, "You know, I did hear some of these statements to be honest with you."
- On the March 19 edition of Fox & Friends, conservative radio talk-show host Michael Reagan claimed:
REAGAN: I've been going to church for a long time. Yes, I've disagreed with my pastor on biblical scripture and interpretation, but my pastor's never stood up and said, "Let me tell you about black people. I hate black people. Let's go out and do something against black people," like his pastor has done. And now, of course, he says that in fact he was at the church and heard these things, when in fact a week ago he's saying, "I never heard them. I'm so surprised by these things."
- A March 19 ABCNews.com article by chief investigative correspondent Brian Ross and reporter Avni Patel wrote:
[Obama's] initial reaction to the initial ABC News broadcast of Rev. Wright's sermons denouncing the U.S. was that he had never heard his pastor of 20 years make any comments that were anti-U.S. until the tape was played on air.
But yesterday, he told a different story.
"Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes," he said in his speech yesterday in Philadelphia.
Obama did not say what he heard that he considered "controversial," and the campaign has yet to answer repeated requests for dates on which the senator attended Rev. Wright's sermons over the last 20 years.
From the March 14 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes:
GARRETT: Were your two daughters baptized there, and did Reverend Wright preside over the baptisms?
OBAMA: That is correct, Major.
GARRETT: Very good. I wanted to talk to you about your statement released this afternoon, because earlier today when I contacted your campaign and I asked them if there was any way the campaign felt the need to add further context, add further distance between yourself and the statements of Reverend Wright, the one-word answer I received was "no."
Then late this afternoon, you have a statement that says, "I vehemently disagree, strongly condemn." I'm trying to understand the evolution between this morning and this afternoon. And I'd like to know specifically, senator, what you vehemently disagree with and what you strongly condemn.
OBAMA: Well, Major, I gotta confess that, you know, as you know, I was voting in the Senate all day yesterday. So I wasn't following this story as carefully as I could have been. And then I flew back to Chicago.
When I saw these statements, many of which I had heard for the first time, then I thought it was important to make a very clear and unequivocal statement.
None of these statements were ones that I had heard myself personally in the pews. One of them I had heard about after I had started running for president, and I put out a statement at that time condemning them.
The other statements were ones that I just heard about while we were -- when they started being run on Fox and some of the other stations. And so they weren't things that I was familiar with.
Once I saw them, I had to be very clear about the fact that these are not statements that I'm comfortable with. I reject them completely. They are not ones that reflect my values or my ideals or Michelle's. And that, had I heard them, had I been sitting in the church at the time that they were spoken, I would have been absolutely clear to Reverend Wright that I didn't find those acceptable, and obviously --
GARRETT: Sir, would you have -- would you have quit the church had you heard them personally?
OBAMA: You know, I guess -- keep in mind that, just to provide more context, this is somebody who I had known for 20 years. Pastor Wright has been a pastor for 30 years. He's an ex-Marine. He is somebody who is a biblical scholar, has spoken at theological seminaries all across the country, from the University of Chicago to Hampton. And so he is a well-regarded preacher, and somebody who is known for talking about the social gospel. But most of the time, when I'm in church, he's talking about Jesus, God, faith, values, caring for the poor, those -- family, those were the messages that I was hearing.
And so, you know, I think that the statements that have been strung together are compiled out of, you know, hundreds of sermons that he delivered over the course of his lifetime. But, obviously, they are ones that are, from my perspective, completely unacceptable and inexcusable.
And if I had thought that that was the tenor or tone on an ongoing basis of his sermons, then, yes, I don't think that it would have been reflective of my values or my faith experience.
GARRETT: So quick yes or no: If you had heard them in person you would have quit?
OBAMA: If I had heard them repeated, I would have quit. I mean, obviously, understand that -- understand that, you know, this is somebody who is like an uncle. If you have -- to me. He's somebody who helped me find Christ. And somebody who always talked to me in very powerful ways about relationship to God and our obligations to the poor.
If somebody makes a mistake, then obviously, you recognize -- I make mistakes. We all make mistakes. If I thought that that was the repeated tenor of the church, then I wouldn't feel comfortable there.
GARRETT: Senator --
OBAMA: But, frankly, that has not been my experience at Trinity United Church of Christ.
From the March 18 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume:
HUME: Welcome to Washington. I'm Brit Hume. Only days after saying he never heard Reverend Jeremiah Wright's most incendiary comments in church, Barack Obama conceded today that he had, indeed, heard many Wright statements he strongly disagreed with in church. But in an attempt to douse the Wright firestorm, Obama sought to place it all in a much larger context. Correspondent Major Garrett reports.
[begin video clip]
GARRETT: Barack Obama faced the Reverend Jeremiah Wright firestorm indirectly and racial tensions in America directly. The urgent political question, the one on which the fate of Obama's campaign may rest, did he say too little about Wright and too much about race?
To a packed auditorium of supporters and reporters, Obama went farther than ever before in admitting that he listened in the pews to sermons from Wright that many might find objectionable.
OBAMA: Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in the church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely.
GARRETT: That's a notable recalibration of Obama's statement to Fox on Friday as to whether he ever witnessed the words from Wright he now so strenuously condemns.
OBAMA: None of these statements were ones that I had heard myself personally in the pews.
GARRETT: Obama said walking away from the reverend is not an option, regardless of the political pressures or consequences.
OBAMA: I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community.
From the March 18 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:
TANYA ACKER (political analyst): I'll take issue with the notion that he is somehow being disingenuous by having his daughters sit in this pulpit listening to this guy preach. We have no evidence Senator Obama has suggested that it's not the case that every Sunday was some anti-American diatribe. I take Senator Obama at his word on that.
O'REILLY: Well, he clearly said that. Wait, wait, wait, wait. He clearly said today for the first time, because he had denied it in the past, that he sat there and he heard Reverend Wright say anti-American comments. This was the first time he said that, but I'm willing to give him a pass on that because I'm not a gotcha kind of guy. [unintelligible]
But wait a minute, Tanya. You got a 9-year-old and 6-year-old. You're telling me that this kind of stuff that Wright throws out there is suitable for a 9-year-old and a 6-year-old? Is that what you're telling me?
ACKER: Well, no. What I'm saying is, I don't think that there's evidence that this was the bulk of this guy's --
O'REILLY: It doesn't matter whether there's evidence. Wright says this stuff all the time. You take your kids to that church, he could say it whenever, whenever, Tanya. You don't know what he's going to say. Are you telling me Wright's anti-American sentiments are OK for a 9-year-old and a 6-year-old girl to hear? Are you telling me that?
From the March 19 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends:
BRIAN KILMEADE (co-host): First off, Michael, how did Barack Obama do yesterday?
REAGAN: Well, you know, he gives great speech. But if you really sit there and listen to it, he threw everybody he knows -- including his grandmother -- under the bus, and said, "Listen, they're all in the same bus; everybody does this. Why are you getting mad at Jeremiah Wright?" He threw my dad under the bus, his grandmother under the bus, white people voting for John McCain under the bus, Geraldine Ferraro under the bus, pastors and priests under the bus. I mean, and basically said, "Listen, we all do it, so what's the problem?"
I've been going to church for a long time. Yes, I've disagreed with my pastor on biblical scripture and interpretation, but my pastor's never stood up and said, "Let me tell you about black people. I hate black people."
KILMEADE: Right.
REAGAN: "Let's go out and do something against black people," like his pastor has done. And now, of course, he says that in fact he was at the church and heard these things, when in fact a week ago he's saying, "I never heard them. I'm so surprised by these things."
KILMEADE: Clark Judge, do you have a different take on this?
CLARK JUDGE (speechwriter for President Reagan): Well, I thought it was -- politically, it was a smooth speech. He went in there with the question being what did he know and when did he know it about what his pastor said, and had he been candid about it. He came out with a very different subject. I think Michael's right that he was using -- he was balancing off white racial examples against Jeremiah Wright's.
[...]
DOOCY: Yesterday Barack Obama made that big speech down in Philadelphia. Interestingly enough, he said something that was a 180 from what he said on Thursday night here on the Fox News Channel. Let's go ahead and play both sound bites, and you be the judge. First up: Thursday night:
OBAMA [video clip]: None of these statements were ones that I had heard myself personally in the pews.
OBAMA [video clip]: Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in the church? Yes.
GRETCHEN CARLSON (co-host): Uh-oh.
DOOCY: There you go. Last week he said, "No, never heard it," and yesterday he said, "Yep, I was sitting there and I heard it."
CARLSON: An interesting email from one of our viewers, saying that one thing that Barack Obama did not say in his speech was that the double standard has to end. In other words, that this emailer believes that a black preacher can say some of these things and get away with it, but if it were a white preacher, they would not be able to say the same, similar things.
From the March 19 edition of ABC's Good Morning America:
CHRIS CUOMO (co-anchor): Now, Juan, what is your baseline understanding of this, what do you think the impact is for him politically, and if there is any impact, on a larger level? What did you think?
WILLIAMS: Well, Chris, I think the politics are very important here because obviously Barack Obama's campaign has been in crisis over the statements made by Reverend Wright, damning America, suggesting that the government spreads AIDS among black people, really outrageous statements.
And initially, you know, he said he wasn't in the pews. Yesterday, he said, "You know, I did hear some of these statements to be honest with you." And then he said, "It was like a crazy uncle at one time," then he had to acknowledge, "You know, it's been a 20-year association with Reverend Wright." Now yesterday, you know, he said some things that were inspiring, as Peggy said. I mean, he really did speak beyond politics about the kind of stalemate, as he called it, between black and white America, over everything from the O.J. Simpson case to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Isn't James Dobson on speed-dial to the white house?
Probably Tim LaHaye too, His super-secret council did hand-pick Bush in 2000.
Holy Crap!!!! Doocy should be ashamed or perhaps he isn't smart enough to see the reality in these statements. Maybe he is just another Hannity wannabe stooge from fixed news. You be the judge.
The truth about this episode is that Obama is being less than forthcoming about what he actually heard from Rev. Wright. Obama is being deliberately and misleadingly vague, leading many people to believe that he heard more than he lets on about.
MM and Obama will really have egg on their faces - big time - if it comes out that Obama was actually in the audience during one of those awful sermons.
MM is parsing at best, being dishonest at worst, IMHO.
The Republicants have outsmarted the Democrats yet again. Their Troglodyte operatives have found an irrelevant issue with which to herd their mindless base to the polls in November. Sadly, there are enough bigots in the Democratic party that Gramps McCan't could win by a landslide.
This whole thing is bullsh*t.
Nerzog,
Spot on analysis. The facts have no meaning. Guilt by association. War is peace. Perhaps soon it will be told to us that we have never been at war in Iraq. Anyone who disagrees and they'll trot out some distraction of personal destruction. which will certainly be more important than a real issue.
As much as I dislike Ralph Nader, he said something during the 2000 campaign. He indicated that the Democratic and Republican parties are nothing more than the same monster with two heads who try to eat each other every four years but try eat all of us in between election cycles. For once, since 1968 we have a chance to transcend the cardboard cut out candidates in favor of at least the possibility of something real. Why people want to take that and destroy it is beyond me. Guilt by association and the presentation of conjecture as fact rules our political landscape. The refusal to dig deeper than the twenty second soundbyte is sadly pathetic. I feel sorry for those who refuse to think for themselves.
"The TRUTH is that this is a fabricated controversy. I don't give a rat's ass whether Obama heard these sermons or not."
Actually, there's a problem if he ever did, because he's claiming he didn't.
He's been disingenuous about it all, implying last week that he never heard this kind of stuff, and now admitting that, well maybe he did at times.
He's also got a bigger problem: this guy is his spiritual advisor?
Why? Is that the best he can do? That's what's going to nail him.
Michael Medved was reading from the pastor's page of the tucc bulletin; it was an hamas manifesto. i went to the tucc homepage, but could not find the bulletin.
anyway, this could be more trouble for obama.
the surgeon i played golf with who claimed to know obama said that when the truth about the candidate's attitudes towards israel become known, it will be difficult for him to get much in the way of support from the jewish community.
"Michael Medved was reading from the pastor's page of the tucc bulletin; it was an hamas manifesto. i went to the tucc homepage, but could not find the bulletin."
So...what? (That's an exasperated what) Then by logical extension, you have no point here, whatsoever.
"the surgeon i played golf with who claimed to know obama said that when the truth about the candidate's attitudes towards israel become known, it will be difficult for him to get much in the way of support from the jewish community."
So that huge amount of support from the Jewish community in Chicago means nothing to a guy you played golf with?
Are you suggesting that Obama hates Israel?
You know, I wasn't buying that you were HstyBuf incarnate, but now I think I might have changed my opinion.
Nonbearing, your first point refutes your first point. Good job.
And a guy you played golf with told you something bad about Obama? I got an e-mail saying he was a Muslim, doesn't make it true. But I know you want to believe so badly that he's an America-hating Muslim who will destroy Israel the second he puts his hand on the Qur'an to swear himself in, that the truth really means nothing to you does it?
I don't think I could have been any clearer. It will be more guilt by failing to refute. If the pastor's page has a hamas manifesto, it doesn't look good.
when i went to the tucc page, there was no bulletin, only a link to adobe reader. so, i wonder if they deleted the bulletin, or did i just fail to find it.
pastor william rennick would never put up with this stuff.
I don't think I could have been any clearer. It will be more guilt by failing to refute. If the pastor's page has a hamas manifesto, it doesn't look good.
What's the "Hamas manifesto"?
in this case, it calls for the annihilation of israel and death of the jews.
And this is on the pastor's page or are you a liar?
pray tell, how do you destroy the zionist entity without killing jews? give them an invitation to take a slow boat to china. hamas tries to kill jews every damn day. so whether they say it specifically, or the goal is subsumed in their desire to destroy the state makes no difference.
there was nothing on the bulletin page. i presume they removed it because they didn't want to cause more trouble for the heavy smoker with big ears.
you really are a foul idiot.
It sounds to me like Medved is trying to be another John Smith. Maybe the manifesto was written in hieroglyphs and he wore magic glasses to read it.
And to the person who originally brought up Medved. You're on this site. Go to the top right corner of the page and do a search for Medved and read all about how he is a lying hack. If you are truly an honest person you will recognize that you can't trust what he is feeding you.
So why repeat what that guy said if you have no information to back it up?
Because that's what brain-dead righties and mindless trolls do - accept what they hear on talk radio as gospel truth and pass it on as if it WERE the truth
Which it isn't.....
i wonder what pastor william rennick would say.
I wonder what Brian Boytano would do.....
If I'm not mistaken, hasn't the US government been involved in drug smuggling to pay for illegal wars? One could argue about just what Wright means, but when you look at things like Iran-Contra, or the story of Frank Lucas, who used american military planes to smuggle drugs into the US, is Wright's statements really far fetched, or is this just another right wing attempt to run away from the truth?
even a broken clock is right twice a day.
If the Democrats were smart, they would come to Obama's defense on this trumped up crap. If they don't throw this nonsense back in the Republicans' faces, and fast, they don't have a prayer in November. We're on a rollercoaster to a third Bush term.
Obama before race speech: If I would've heard those comments, yes I would've walked out.
Obama during speech: Hey my pastor is just like every other, he says controversial things sometimes I don't agree with.
So, we're supposed to rely on the hypothetical that you would've walked out during all the instances that were brought up to you, but apparently you didn't during the other times that were surely occurring and just not taped?
Hum.
But MMfA is right on this post, Obama did not contradict himself directly in the instances that they gave.
I think he may be saying that he finds it hard to believe that in 20 years the pastor never said remarks like these except in those cases that are on tape. It is possible to me that Wright said these statements only those few times and it is possible that Obama didn't hear them. I find it very unlikely but it is possible. Can I say that Obama lied? No of course not.
Some people don't see the distinction though and call it a lie.
As an Obama supporter I'm totally concerned that I might be too late.
Did Obama contradict himself? Well, let's be honest for just one minute. He may not have contradicted himself, but he sure cut the baloney pretty thin. I was really hoping that his speech would put this whole matter rest. But I have to tell the truth and report that things are worse for Obama - and will probably not get better. In coming months his speech will be seen as a disaster for his candidacy. A total bomb.
Here is the main fact: The current polls show McCain having a double-digit lead across the nation.
I hoped that Obama would be the candidate - but we may have to all switch back to Hillary.
You must be really dense if you think we're so dense that we don't see through your charade as an Obama supporter.
People who hope to be more credible by claiming they're anything, like a Democrat criticing Democratic actions, or an Obama supporter criticing Obama, have no credibility.
Like you.
Unfortunately, this wright bullsh*t will have troubling repercussions for Obama, and its ridiculous. I personally think wright's a complete douchebag, notwithstanding how many hocus-pocus degrees that he may have.
But it's really a sad comment on American society that people will withhold their vote for Obama, not because of his own views, but because of the views of his nitwit friend. It's pathetic. Since he can't be beaten head to head, the rightwing media finds some sap who easily can be beaten down, and then substitutes Obama for him.
Apparently recent polls indicate that Obama's plummeted a bit since this whole canard came to light, indicating that people are now dumping their positive views of him, based on nothing that ever came from his own mouth. I thought this election will be about the economony, the war, healthcare . . .
But for this sideshow, Obama is by far the best candidate out there. Before, Hillary had no shot, and BO easily would have defeated Mccain. If the views of some relatively unknown preacher, who has nothing to do with politics and no control over our lives, is the issue that sinks BO's candidacy, then the electorate is extraordinarily shallow.
The fact that there is no testing of the electorate is well known. Every citizen can vote even if they know nothing of the issues. Such is our system.
During his 1956 presidential campaign, a woman called out to Adlai E Stevenson 'Senator, you have the vote of every thinking person!'
Stevenson called back 'That's not enough, madam, we need a majority!'
oh please, mata hari was a spy in wwi and was executed in 1917.
tokyo rose, real name iva toguri, was from los angeles and graduated from ucla. she was in japan on a visit when the war broke out.
she graduated from thomas jefferson h.s. as part of the class of '34. interestingly, the h.s. had been fairly destroyed in the earthquake of that year, leaving only two buildings standing.
You make a very interesting point, nonbearing. Please allow me to retort. It seems from your most recent posts that you have a bit of an obsession with genitalia, feces, and anal sex. This type of discussion may win you some arguments at recess, but once you get to High School, you will have to learn a more mature, intelligent style if you hope to make the debate team. You are free to come here and practice your skills whenever you like, but I would suggest using your time in the computor lab to do some more studying. It sounds like you need it.
If you get really technical with his language then no he did not contradict himself. If you don't break down his language so much I think it is pretty clear that Obama intended to take two different stances on the issue. Or you can say that he brilliantly executed his explanation of two entirely different positions. Much like a Clinton triangulation speech.
If Wright's bad comments and hate speech were seen as a good thing in the eyes of most voters Obama would make the case that he almost never missed a sermon and heard every one of Wright's important and inflamatory speeches.
UPDATE:
(NOTE - I'm posting this on multiple MMFA threads because the facts behind the story need to geet out there.)
A story was just posted on CNN's web page that blows this whole Rev. Wright story out of the water. It seems that when you listen to his complete sermon about 9/11, the passages that people like Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity, and Levin are concemning Rev. Wright for were actually a QUOTATION he was referencing. As the story states, "He was actually quoting Edward Peck, former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq and deputy director of President Reagan’s terrorism task force, who was speaking on FOX News."
Rev. Wright quotes a Reagan Administration official who was speaking on Fox News, and the righties condemn him for it...
The full story is on Anderson Cooper's blog - here's the link for those of you who want to learn more:
http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/03/21/the-full-story-behind-rev-jeremiah-wrights-911-sermon/#comment-78545
Thanks, WZ, I've been looking for the exact quote from Peck containing the chickens coming home to roost.I did find this wikipedia entry, which includes the following (sorry, don't like to c&p this much);
Speaking in July 2006 to syndicated US radio news programme Democracy Now!, Peck said that: