"I knew Barack Obama, absolutely. And I knew him probably as well as thousands of other Chicagoans." — Bill Ayers

I suffer from a genetic flaw, which is that my mother was a hopeless Pollyanna.

I didn't respond to people thrusting microphones at me and asking me questions that were unanswerable in a sound bite.

I was a militant.

I was involved in the anti-war movement.