Chris Wallace is still spinning...

[ljm2002]

...he appeared on Fox this morning, they had a special blurb on "What Bill Clinton said after the mikes were turned off" ... they hyped it like crazy, bored us with several other stories, then brought this one on. Mr. Wallace was arguing that Clinton's strong reaction was almost certainly *not* due to some Democratic strategy, because "after the mikes went off", Clinton (according to Wallace) tore into his aides, saying "Don't ever arrange something like this again, or I'll fire you!"

Then they had some pundits on for some spin; sorry, I could not watch it all, although I will say the first young woman they had on seemed somewhat sympathetic to the Big Dawg / Democrats in general.

Okay -- sorry I don't have the name of the show. What I found interesting: they showed tiny screens of Clinton and Wallace, but *never* showed any part of the actual interview while they went on with their new spin. And of course, they spun, spun, and spun some more. I wonder if Wallace is telling the truth? He was still smirking, and seemed to be trying to show they got a piece of Bill, if that was his reaction. I'd really like to know what Bill had to say about it, although I suspect that will not be forthcoming.

[LisaM]

1. It made Clinton look good. This should be the beginning of the end

for Faux News.

[Bitwit1234]

2. EMAIL

If you go to media matters they have an email link to Wallace. I would just tell him that we all know what liars the republicans seem to be.

[zara]

3. Clinton didn't win.

Just by having to lower himself to be with Chris Wallace, He lost.
Nora Ephron's blog post on huffingtonpost is the right take.

[The_Casual_Observer]

4. This was my reaction too. I got beaten up pretty bad about it

around here too. Dignifying that guy with a response/ or going on that program at all was a mistake and a waste of time.

[Rude Horner]

8. Are you people kidding?

I'm in a different boat. Not only do I think Clinton won, I think he kicked butt. This is EXACTLY the way to defeat the Republican B.S. machine. EXACTLY the way. If we aren't aggressive, we lose. I hope other Dems were taking notes, because this is how we are going to take back America.

Avoiding these shows is NOT the answer. Dems need to get on these shows and fight with facts, just like Clinton did.

I just watched the whole interview and by the time it was over, I felt like standing and cheering.

[The_Casual_Observer]

12. The only thing that will be distilled from that thing will be that

Bill lost his cool when confronted with his past. It's already happening. It doesn't matter how much Bill kicked his ass, the fox watchers didn't understand what he was talking about. I hate to see Bill being used to sell audience shares at fox because of something like this.

If bill wants to come out & defend himself, he ought to do in a public forum in a dignified way, like Al
Gore frequently does at his NYU speeches. He would get plenty of attention.

[stopbush]

13. Who cares what Faux viewers think? There's no changing their

indoctrination.

The FACT is that Bill's slamdown of Wallace is getting major airplay on every station and the response is pro-Bill.
Had he fudged the question THAT WALLACE WAS DETERMINED TO ASK Bill would have been all over the airwaves
today as just another spineless, no-plan Dem.

As Clinton once said, voters will trust a politician who is STRONG and wrong over a politician who is right but weak.
Voters respond to strong. Voters respond to defending oneself. Voters believe that if you WON'T DEFEND YOURSELF,
YOU WON'T DEFEND THEM. It's that simple.

That's the reason Bill's comments are resonating so strongly in the media today. Bill gave a gazillion interviews this week
in conjunction with his CGI. The Wallace interview is the ONLY interview that is getting any airplay at all. What does that
tell you?

[The_Casual_Observer]

20. The only press I saw about it had to do with Bill losing his cool.

Nothing about the message.

Bill used the "read a book" argument, how many fox viewers are going to read a book?

[jsamuel]

22. So the RW uses the right message, so we shouldn't say the right message?

nonsense

[The_Casual_Observer]

29. The message: "I tried, and failed"

Nonsense alright, sure, that was a bitch'n Clinton win,

[jsamuel]

38. hey, its the truth according to Clinton right?

[stopbush]

24. You're not watching enough TV. Good for you! Seriously.

The early reports were very anti-Bill, but that has changed overnight. I think that the crappy news coming
out of Iraq with the NIE etc are coloring the way the media is covering Bill's Fox apperance.

Yes - Fox viewers won't buy a book, especially one by a "loyalist" like Richard Clarke (another instance of
Bill taking Wallace's talking points and handling him his balls in response).

[Raksha]

34. So what? "Bill lost his cool" is how the RW noise machine

has decided to spin it. It's the best they can do, considering what a royal smackdown it was. Anyone who actually WATCHED the interview knows the Big Dog handed Wallace's ass to him. And plenty of people watched it, and it's getting more airplay than any of his other interviews last week, as another poster just said.

You knew they were going to spin it SOME way, so freakin' what? That's absolutely ALL they can do, because they got their asses handed to them too.

[coalition_unwilling]

36. Is there any reason why we should even care about FOX news?

I'm not being snarky, just wondering. It's so transparently non-serious tabloid-esque that I can't believe anyone watches it seriously.

[Dervill Crow]

41. More Dems should lose (their) collective cool.

Being civilized didn't get Al Gore very far in 2000. I thought Clinton was wonderful, and I've never been much of a fan of his. It took * getting into the White House to make me appreciate that, on balance, Clinton was quite a good president.

[calimary]

35. Unfortunately, sometimes you have to descend into the Belly of the

Beast to save souls.

My take:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2845972&mesg_id=2845972

[Red Right and BLUE]

40. Yep. I'm with ya.

This was a total backfire for FAUX. Otherwise they wouldn't still be trying to fix it. This was a big win. :)

[Shakespeare]

16. No, Clinton did the right thing, because it really wasn't about....

...the question at all. It was about the lying and the bias, and Clinton called him on it cold. Wallace's huffed-up response speaks volumes, and Clinton's anger was righteous. The media--especially openly conservative media like Fox News--is (and let me stress this) NOT GOING TO CHANGE OUT OF SOME SENSE OF PROFESSIONAL INTEGRITY. The politicians and pundits have to start calling them on it, every single fucking time. Get in their faces. Tell them point-blank "I know what you're doing, and it's bullshit." That's a far better and far more appropriate response than equivocating and attempting to give an answer that they're going to twist around to try and cudgel you with no matter what. To respond as if it's a legitimate, reasonable question is to play right into their false dichotomy.

And no offense, but Nora Ephron is not exactly a righteous font of knowledge when it comes ot political commentary. She wrote some so-so screenplays, and was married to a better writer, but that's as close as she gets to having any legitimacy even commenting on this.

[Warpy]

21. Are y'all nucking futz?

The problem with Democrats lately, and why the right has been able to float the meme that there is no difference between the parties, is because none of them will stand up to this gang of criminals and fight for what is right.

Clinton did.

It's not surprising that the conservative crowd is out here trying to cut him off at the knees. Remember, Al From is out there every time Dean tells the truth, trying to reassure the Repugs that we're really all Repugs at heart and there's nothing to be alarmed about.

As for stooping to Wallace's level, what ARE you talking about? Clinton kept his cool, refuted every single lie, buried the liar's talking points in an avalanche of refutation, and exposed Pox and it's ambush journalism and propaganda for just what they are.

That is a what a public service looks like. It's just been so long since you've seen one that you don't remember what they look like.

[walldude]

27. Agreed, to listen to Fox tell it Clinton went nuts

when really all he did was use their own tactics against them. Notice how Wallace is talking about things that happened "off camera". Because what happend on camera was he got his ass handed to him. He has to use the off camera excuse to try to make Clinton look bad. Think Progress and Media Matters both have refuted Wallace's claim that he asks the same tough questions of the other side. In fact not only does he not ask those questions but half of what he asks the repukes are loaded questions about Clinton. It's high time someone put the truth on the table. And I'm not even a huge Clinton fan, I just think it was about time.

[coalition_unwilling]

33. Not sure I agree. I stumbled on it by accident yesterday and

(although I'm lukewarm on Clinton as Prez and as person), I thought Clinton handed Wallace his ass on a plate.

[wakeme2008]

7. I believe you are very wrong most of his time WAS to be on the CGI

and some for other things. Once attacked he handed Wallace his ass. But Clinton had mainly hoped to talk about CGI.

[9119495]

11. Well, I disagree...but I'm not going to attack you.

I think he showed we do fight back. And I think had Kerry done something like this, he may have gotten himself "unswiftboated." It also fires up our base to say "enough of this shit."

If anyone was watching this on Fox, they were already in the republican camp, or turned it on to see Clinton. You might be right in that he did not disappoint either group, but I think what he said about Fox being biased just doesn't get said enough on their own channel. Juan Williams and alan colmes sure won't do it. Clinton's response may have made some moderate think..."hmm, why didn't they ask that to those other people?"

Remember, most Americans (for better or worse) have nostalgic memories of the Clinton years when it was widely felt that presidential blow jobs were less worrysome than hair gel on a plane.

[samsingh]

15. i don't believe in the lowering argument

you have to fight back against tyrants and fools who would be tyrants

[mitchtv]

17. Clinton looked good, but the problem is

this was a distraction. It is the passed. We shoud be talking about the Chimp's failings now. In that sense I agree with you. Otherwise it was refreshing to see a Democrat in action.

[nini]

25. No, he went on to promote the good he's done

That is never bad.

The fact he didn't act like the neocons and only go on media outlets that will kiss his ass - is exactly why he won.

He's not afraid of them. They can't stand that and thought they'd get him. Instead they got their lying asses handed to them on a platter.

It was sweet.

[goclark]

31. Everyone I've talked to thinks he won

IMO, Democrats should fight just like he did, even on FAUX News.

[VOX]

43. The only way Democrats are gonna beat 'em is to wade in among 'em...

Cable "news" and hate-radio are literally and figuratively owned by the right wing.

The only way Democrats can force a crack in the armor is to get down and dirty. (Sorry for mixing metaphors.) They've got to go on these programs, get their message across, either by charm or by a kind of determined and focused agression.

The spim-meisters will always do their thing, but if someone cuts through, like Clinton did last night, or like Wes Clark or John Edwards do anytime, the reality can be stronger than the spin.

If it's enough to make just one Faux News junkie get up off the couch and think, then that's a start! :thumbsup:

[truthisfreedom]

5. does anyone have a link to the entire interview?

i still haven't seen it.

[LSK]

10. on youtube

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=clinton+fox&search=Search

[bobbieinok]

32. looks like FAUX pulled youtube videos

[rocktivity]

42. Google video still has it--for now

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=clinton+wallace

:headbang:
rocknation

[Dr.Phool]

6. I talked to my neighbor a few minutes ago.

They were Republicans until 2 months ago, and I re-registered them as Dems.

I brought him over a campaign sign for Carl Zimmerman for Statehouse, and they had seen the interview. They kept saying they were voting for Hillary, because she'll appoin Bill to her cabinet.

Turning it around, One vote at a time.

[ComerPerro]

9. Who knows if any of the "after the mics were off" shit is even

remotely true

[TacticalPeek]

14. "When it was over, Clinton did not want to make up and be friends."

From a comment at Eschaton - http://atrios.blogspot.com

Chris Wallace live on Faux a couple minutes ago, in the context of whether the Big Dog's anger was planned in order to help Hillary and the D's:

"... and he just blew. His communications director was jabbing on my producer in the arm saying 'end this interview right away'. When it was over, Clinton did not want to make up and be friends, he was still fuming. And as he left, he started yelling at his aides that if they ever put him in that kind of a situation again he would fire them. So I do not think this was pre-planned; I think all of this talk now is just after the fact spinning."

Who'd want to be friends with a creep like this jerk?
-
QuentinCompson | Homepage | 09.25.06 - 2:07 pm | #

http://www.haloscan.com/comments.php?user=atrios&comment=115920688917570150#8595913

[dancingme]

18. does B*** want to be friends with Helen Thomas?

Does he want to make up with Helen Thomas? But yuo don't hear Helen crying like a baby like Chris Wallance!

[Generator]

19. I saw some long clips on CNN

I have to say, that is the most I've liked Bill Clinton in years. IMAGINE if we called them on their propaganda every single time. Imagine if they saw fire from Dems-maybe those shitting in fear in thier pants voters might actually think a Democrat could defend himself, thus defend them.

[underpants]

30. See the full clips (about 15 minutes) here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2216884

[Poiuyt]

37. The clips are apparently off YouTube - removed by Fox

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2218797

[raysr]

23. Set up by Rove for

the weekly news cycle. It's all I'm hearing this morning on msnbc "Clinton wagging the finger".

[nini]

28. ahhhh.. I was waiting to see Rove get the credit

LOL

[LisaM]

26. Clinton was great. The New York Times printed the interview.

I think he made himself look good. Who cares what Nora Ephron thinks? N

[and-justice-for-all]

39. Bill should have punched him in the mouth