My oh my oh my... I cannot wait to see this interview. Fox News' Chris Wallace tried to blind side Bill Clinton, and he absolutely tore him a new one. Here's just one small part, courtesy of ThinkProgress. Until Sunday, it looks like their rough transcript will have to do:
CLINTON: I authorized the CIA to get groups together to try to kill him. The CIA was run by George Tenet who President Bush gave the medal of freedom to and said he did a good job.. The country never had a comprehensive anti terror operation until I came to office. If you can criticize me for one thing, you can criticize me for this, after the Cole I had battle plans drawn to go into Afghanistan, overthrow the Taliban, and launch a full scale attack search for Bin Laden. But we needed baseing rights in Uzbekistan which we got after 9/11. The CIA and the FBI refused to certify that Bin Laden was responsible while I was there. They refused to certify. So that meant I would have had to send a few hundred special forces in helicopters and refuel at night. Even the 9/11 Commission didn’t do that. Now the 9/11 Commission was a political document too. All I’m asking is if anybody wants to say I didn’t do enough, you read Richard Clarke’s book.
WALLACE: Do you think you did enough sir?CLINTON: No, because I didn’t get him
WALLACE: Right…
CLINTON: But at least I tried. That’s the difference in me and some, including all the right wingers who are attacking me now. They ridiculed me for trying. They had eight months to try and they didn’t….. I tired. So I tried and failed. When I failed I left a comprehensive anti-terror strategy and the best guy in the country, Dick Clarke… So you did FOX’s bidding on this show. You did you nice little conservative hit job on me. But what I want to know..
WALLACE: Now wait a minute sir…
CLINTON:..
WALLACE: I asked a question. You don’t think that’s a legitimate question?
CLINTON: It was a perfectly legitimate question but I want to know how many people in the Bush administration you asked this question of. I want to know how many people in the Bush administration you asked why didn’t you do anything about the Cole. I want to know how many you asked why did you fire Dick Clarke. I want to know…
One of the reasons this country responded so well to Clinton is that he never, EVER ran from a fight. I remember him explaining it to Jon Stewart once on The Daily Show. Clinton explained that he actually looked forward to being attacked, because he knew that if he was hit first, the public wouldn't hold it against him when he took the gloves off and hit back harder. And he was right. Look back at public opinion polls from his presidency and you'll find his approval ratings stayed in the 60's through the entire Lewinsky affair. And at some points, his approval actually went up.
But apparently Chris Wallace missed the 1990's. Apparently he thought that he could take a swing at Clinton without Clinton swinging back. Apparently he thought wrong.
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Chris Wallace should give a public apology.