Fox's Wallace on Clinton: "You figure he'd be prepared...He went off"

[Human Torch]

Chris Wallace attempts to answer the question "How do you sink lower than the fucking worm you already ARE?"

Video: Fox News hypes 'heated' Clinton interview: 'You'll see the good, the bad and the ugly'

David Edwards
Published: Saturday September 23, 2006

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Video_Fox_spins_heated_Clinton_interview_0923.html

Chris Wallace makes a Saturday afternoon appearance on Fox News Channel's Weekend Live to plug his Sunday interview with Bill Clinton. The interview has been billed as one in which Clinton forcefully defends his record on fighting terrorism and hunting Osama bin Laden.

"I've been in the business a long time and I've never seen anything quite like this," said Wallace. "Certainly not involving a president or former president."

Wallace implied that Clinton had not been ready to answer questions about his administration's record on terrorism, saying, "you know, you figure he would be prepared to deal with that. He went off."

Wallace promised that the approximately 22-minute interview would air in full and unedited on Sunday. "You'll see the good, the bad, and the ugly," said Wallace. "And there's a little bit of all."

[Warpy]

1. Yeah, right, Wallace has only interviewed pubbies

and has thrown softball questions and flattered them.

He outright LIED about Clinton and did it to his face. What the hell did he expect? He should be grateful no punches were thrown at his smug and smarmy face.

[gumby]

2. Wallace is clearly "the ugly."

Whadda dweeb.

[samsingh]

31. my thoughts exactly

[graywarrior]

3. Spin it anyway you want to, Wallace. Clinton still bitch slapped you.

[Nite Owl]

4. ''...the good, the bad, and the ugly''

The ugly part is what bothers him, it's the truth and to the right wingers it hurts. It's like holding up a crucifix in front of a vampire, they shrink in fear.

[calimary]

6. He's got the "ugly" part and the "bad" part claimed. Clinton provided

the "good" part.

So in one sense, he was spinning accurately.

Unfortunately, the viewers will think what they want. And if it's true that Pox "news" attracts viewers on the lower end of the spectrum (intelligence-wise AND income-wise), they'll think the way they're led to think. SOME may see it for what it is, but I never lost money overestimating the rationality and realistic thinking of the Pox "news" audience.

[samsingh]

32. and hopefully some of the usual fox viewers

might actually learn something in their information vacuumed minds.

[eleny]

5. If spinning could only make it so...

[notadmblnd]

7. I believe Clinton was told he was being interviewed for another reason.

something to do with the money he's raised for his Global Initiative, wallace sideswiped him with the why didn't you do enough. Yes,clinton got angry, but I have to say he was prepared with his answers. So spin it how you like Wallace, you're the one who made an ass of yourself, not Clinton.

[samsingh]

33. it was 50% on his global initiative

i love Clinton, but i'm very frustrated when he thinks the right wing can be trusted or that they will be fair about anything.

[brentspeak]

8. As someone responded on Think Progress:

"When the going gets tough the right attack Clinton. November must be coming soon."

That's it in a nutshell.

[depakid]

9. What a slimey little weasel

The sooner more Dems stand up to these dishonest little panders- especially those like Tim Russert, the sooner the Dems can regain some relevance in national policy making.

[tsuki]

10. I read the transcript. As I read it, the good was Pres. Clinton,

the bad was the lie Chris "My Daddy is Mike" Wallace told to get him to come on the show and try to sandbag him, and the ugly is that Chris "My Daddy is Mike" Wallace had not done his homework and was unprepared.

Chris "My Daddy is Mike" Wallace had every advantage, parents that could afford to educate him anywhere, contacts to get him jobs without having to wait in line or "prove" himself, and he ends up where...at FAUX News dead end.

I am tired of rich, spoiled kids with Daddy issues.

[The_Casual_Observer]

11. Bill should have just said, "I don't know, what's your take on it Chris?"

and let it go at that. Instead he gave the whole thing respect it didn't deserve.

[w4rma]

13. Clinton was awesome. (nt)

[The_Casual_Observer]

15. Now you've got those fox assholes acting like they got the best of Bill.

The counterpoint/argument was just pearls before swine. He should have saved it for a worthy venue.

[LostInAnomie]

14. Bill did exactly the right thing.

He was asked to do an interview about CGI and he was blindsided by a hack journalist with a mission. Clinton took Wallace's bullshit proposition and knocked it out of the park by confronting it and the RW liars that are behind it.

You can't score points against these stupid fucks by playing nice. Clinton had nothing to lose by confronting Wallace. Faux viewers already hate Clinton. Anyone who hasn't drank the Kool-Aid yet will be swayed by what Bill has to say.

[The_Casual_Observer]

16. Forget it, those bastards are acting like they won. It wouldn't

have mattered what or how bill said it.

[LostInAnomie]

23. I don't see how anyone could think that they won.

I haven't seen any video but I'm guessing that even at his most confrontational Clinton still remains incredibly dignified. They can try to portray this as an interview where Clinton becomes unhinged but the tape won't show it. What it will show is Clinton took on the idea that he did nothing to go after OBL and blew it apart. Reading the transcript Wallace really had nothing of any significance to say after he made the accusation.

After all is said and done the RWers opinions will remain unchanged. But anyone who isn't already brainwashed will probably think that Clinton came out on top.

[The_Casual_Observer]

24. Watch the part where the sons of bitches are discussing it.

& tell me that they aren't saying "We got the best of him alright, he's got something to hide, otherwise why would he go apeshit?, he's guilty as charged!!!!"

Bill took the bait.

[Doremus]

25. And if he'd answered in typical DLC Milquetoast style, they'd be saying

he was soft on terror.

Maybe, just maybe, some people are starting to realize you can't fight slime without getting down in the muck. Perhaps that offends some tender sensibilities, but perhaps that's exactly the reason we're the minority party.

Big Dog did just fine. Now if more people would take his lead, we might actually get somewhere...

[Orangepeel]

27. This is Fox. You don't think they would have said that no matter what?

I'll reserve judgment until I see the interview, but before or after, I'm not going to but any weight on what Fox talking heads say.

[JDPriestly]

22. Clinton was wonderful.

Democrats need to learn a basic rule of evidence. Silence in the face of an accusation is an admission that the accusation is true. (Unless you are invoking your Fifth Amendment rights) Many of us were not taught as children to confront those who tell lies about us. We somehow have the mistaken idea that to confront a liar is discourteous. It is not. To the contrary, it is important to correct the record as soon as possible. A lie to which there is no response is viewed as the truth. We must always refute lies.

[w4rma]

12. Someone record this **please** and put it up so I can see it.

And someone who saw the first airing, check for FOX News edits.

[OzarkDem]

17. Wallace - you're not a journalist

You're the political equivalent of paparazzi. You don't know shit.

[BootinUp]

18. C. Wallace is slime on the bottom of my shoe.

He sure isn't a news reporter.

[OzarkDem]

19. It was a set up

designed to coincide with the "news" that bin Laden is dead.

Rove is playing right into our hands. We anticipated he would use the same tired, old tactics to "manufacture reality" and trick the public before the election. We've hounded the topic for the last year, speculating again and again how he would go about it. We've played every possible scenario of Rove's October Surprise so long in advance that when he starts pulling these stunts, no one is fooled anymore.

Thank you Rove, you're making it easy to defeat you.

[threadkillaz]

20. No Chris, you werent prepared.

You should have gone back to Reagan who armed and created these thugs.

Ghost Wars: How Reagan Armed the Mujahadeen in Afghanistan

During most of the 1980's, the CIA secretly sent billions of dollars of military aid to Afghanistan to support the mujahedeen - or holy warriors - against the Soviet Union, which had invaded in 1979.

The U.S.-supported jihad succeeded in driving out the Soviets but the Afghan factions allied to the US gave rise to the oppressive Taliban and Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/06/10/1425222

[MichiganVote]

21. Like to see Wallace interview * with the same level of obvious disdain

[Marrak]

26. Cris...spit shine that...would ya?

<>

[Riddler]

28. Those of you old enough to remember the cold war

will remember when TASS was always referred to as "the government news agency, TASS" any time they were quoted. I think we should begin doing the same, and encourage EVERYONE we know, including our elected officials and candidates, to start referring to FOX as "the government news agency, FOX" any time we need to reference them. Maybe sooner or later it will catch on and even the brain-dead idiots who watch them may realize they're nothing but a government propaganda tool and are completely detached from the news in any way, shape, or form.

[gulliver]

29. Wallace was the one who was unprepared.

I kinda doubt Clinton was. I think Clinton knew exactly what he was doing.

[lumberjack_jeff]

30. Oh, he was prepared all right. He was prepared for the ambush.

The transcripts show a well-deserved ass-kickin'.