Clinton’s Claim That All He Got Was Criticism From Republicans By Betsy Newmark

In his interview with Fox News, Clinton says that conservatives criticized him for being too focused on Bin Laden. I can’t figure out what he was talking about since most so-called neo-cons were all for going after terrorist groups in the 1990s. Ace dug up what the response was to Clinton’s missile attacks on bin Laden’s camp in August, 1998 just days after Ken Starr delivered his report to the Congress.

For the most part, Republican leaders praised Clinton’s decision and urged more aggressive action against terrorism.

House Speaker Newt Gingrich expressed firm support, and Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, said, “Our response appears to be appropriate and just.”

Others were more critical. Accusing Clinton of “lies and deceit and manipulations and deceptions,” Sen. Dan Coats, R-Ind., said the president’s record “raises into doubt everything he does and everything he says, and maybe even everything he doesn’t do and doesn’t say.”

So, the two Republican leaders in the Congress praised and supported Clinton’s action. And one Republican senator said that he was suspicious of everything Clinton does and doesn’t do. I guess that was just so vicious that Clinton didn’t do anything more to get bin Laden after that. (link via Lorie Byrd who notices that Clinton was, gasp! smirking during the interview! I thought Bush was the only one who smirked.)

Meanwhile, Rich Noyes listened to Chris Wallace talk about the interview and explain why he thinks Clinton got so angry. It’s because, in his media blitz about the Clinton Global Initiative and all the money he’s been raising, not a single interviewer even asked him about his efforts to get bin Laden.

Trying to explain Clinton’s hot reaction, Wallace said he read the transcripts of the ex-President’s other media appearances in the last few days — on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press,’ CNN’s ‘Larry King Live,’ FNC’s ‘On the Record with Greta van Susteren,’ among other programs. Wallace said he was “astonished” that none of the others even bothered to raise the terrorism question with Clinton, particularly with his team’s attacks on ABC’s “Path to 9/11” docu-drama.

That’s where media bias comes in – in choosing what to focus on and what to ignore. With all the brouhaha over the “Path to 9/11,” the obvious question is to ask Clinton something about that and the fact that no one did lets you know all you need to about the relative interviewing skills of Chris Wallace and those others. They’re either biased or inept. Or both.

This content was used with the permission of Betsy’s Page.

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