On the October 29 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, syndicated columnist and Fox News contributor Dick Morris falsely claimed that Sen. Barack Obama said that “it was a tragedy that the United States Supreme Court never addressed the issue of redistributing the nation's wealth to achieve social and economic justice, which is as close to Marxism as we're going to have in this country.” Morris' statement echoes a false claim made by Matt Drudge and several media figures.

In fact, contrary to what Morris asserted, during the 2001 appearance on Chicago public radio station WBEZ to which Morris referred, Obama did not say it is a “tragedy” that the Supreme Court has not addressed wealth redistribution. The “tragedy” Obama identified was that the civil rights movement “became so court-focused” in trying to bring about political and economic justice. Obama stated: “And one of the -- I think the tragedies of the civil rights movement was, because the civil rights movements became so court-focused, I think that there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing, and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalitions of power through which you bring about redistributive change.”

From the October 29 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:

O'REILLY: But Obama's trying to blunt, you know, McCain's rise in the polls a little bit. We don't know how much. And in this kind of assault by having this giant infomercial tonight on every channel, except here because, you know, why would you pre-empt me for that? I mean, nobody would. So, is that a smart strategy for Obama to do that?

MORRIS: Yeah, it sure is. And it's unprecedented. We don't know what impact it's going to have, because no candidate's ever done it. It's not just that he's running an ad. It's that you have to watch ABC TV or the Fox News Channel to avoid seeing the ad.

O'REILLY: Yeah, it's on all -- right, all the things --

MORRIS: You could also watch ESPN if you want. But it's on NBC, CBS, and Fox Network. And that could be very effective. He could have 40 million people watching it tonight. And that could really change this race back again. And then McCain would have a higher mountain to climb.

But the problem is that Obama has nothing new to say. He has the same 47 million uninsured, which includes illegal immigrants, but he doesn't say that. I do in Fleeced. He has the same bit about increased taxes on people making more than a quarter-million. He has all the same stuff. And he doesn't really have anything new to say.

Whereas McCain has volumes of new stuff to say, about income redistribution, sharing the wealth, this recent quote of Obama's that it was a tragedy that the United States Supreme Court never addressed the issue of redistributing the nation's wealth to achieve social and economic justice, which is as close to Marxism as we're going to have in this country. That stuff is new. And I think McCain is scoring with it.

O'REILLY: I do, too.