The Bill Clinton Interview: Substance and Spin, FOX-Style

A Media Watch Special Report

June 17, 2002

When the news spread around the Democratic Underground that Bill Clinton would be appearing on FOX Saturday night (June 15), I immediately had mixed feelings. And when I found out he would be interviewed on FOX Wire with the "ever breathless" Rita Cosby, my suspicions grew.

"Exclusive Interview - Hear why President Clinton says he'd be glad to help with homeland security," trumpeted the FOX homepage. But could it really ever be as straightforward as that?

Cosby can be a tenacious, mean, and obviously biased interviewer, but that wasn't my main worry. Bill Clinton can spar with anyone and come out fine. What was on my mind was what would happen to the interview AFTER Saturday night! It didn't take much of a stretch of the imagination to envision this piece of tape sliced, diced, and aired out of context for the next 10 years -- starting with the Sunday "news" shows on FOX, followed by a slide into the abyss during the week as Hannity, for example, picked up one sentence every night and built it into an anti-Clinton ratings hate-fest that went on and on all week, or maybe two or three. Multiply the effect by every show on FOX and well, you've got the ratings gift that keeps on giving!

So, it was with a mixture of hopefulness and trepidation that I sat down to watch Cosby attempt to set up our last elected President.

The Clinton exclusive turned out to be an on the fly questioning outside a meeting of the Global Business Council on HIV/Aids which was held on June 13. I was SO HAPPY to see that Bill hadn't walked into the FOX studios and given a formal interview to these hacks! (Frankly, if and when he does decide to sit down for an interview, I would hope it would be with Bill Moyers.)

Cosby delivered her teaser about the upcoming segments, ending with "And exclusive interview with Bill Clinton…and what's being left out of Homeland security…

BUT FIRST, WE'VE JUST LEARNED OF THE ARREST OF A MAN IN FLORIDA CONNECTED TO JOSE PADILLA…!

Yeah, right! What a perfect segue into a short segment informing the viewer that "President Bush plans to take his homeland security plan to the American people," complete with the Resident Jerk snickering about "accountability," his OWN accountability! Cha Ching! What an obvious attempt to undercut the impact of the upcoming Clinton piece!

Looking thoughtful and entirely focused, Bill Clinton's appearance was in marked contrast to the Bush antics shown moments before. Solid, secure and with that brilliant mind at work with its amazing dexterity -- it was wonderful to see Bill Clinton again!

Cosby actually conducted a pretty straightforward interview, but a viewer with his or her "Clinton abuse" radar activated could pick up the subtle slant of the questions. But then, standing in the middle of a busy area, there wouldn't be that much time and opportunity to get really cute in full-blown FOX style. Heck, that's what the editing room back at headquarters is for! But, never fear, the former President was doing some subtle work himself!

Because I'm out of practice in doing on-the-spot transcriptions of someone who speaks fluently and in complete sentences, I taped the interview for accuracy.

Question 1: Reaction to the new restructuring of the Homeland Security division?

Clinton: I haven't analyzed all the details, but I think giving Gov. Ridge or whoever turns up to be in that position some legal authority is important…Some good could come out of this…But if they're gonna do it, it should extend to the intelligence services and the FBI and the CIA because that's where all the questions have been raised and they're not at all affected by the reorganization…

Question 2: Reaction to the latest announcement that an American has been arrested for planning a dirty bomb attack on American soil?

Clinton: Well, I think it means the law enforcement people have been doing their job! The country just needs to support our continued development of these sources and it means that they're working. You know, the people who do this work have actually been pretty good at preventing a lot of things. And when I was President, far more terrorist incidents were prevented than actually occurred…I think that we should obviously be concerned that anyone who ever grew up in this country would ever do such a thing, but on the other hand, I'm just glad our folks are out there doing their work and finding these things out before they happen.

Question 3: New reports, memos and indications that many Presidents, not just under your Presidency but going back to President Bush, also President Reagan, that maybe there were some warnings that were missed. What's your reaction now seeing these memos now, especially those from the Phoenix FBI agent and the one in Minnesota?

Clinton: My reaction is that that there's a Congressional committee, that's a bipartisan committee looking into this and I think we should wait for them to draw their conclusions and get all the evidence out then the rest of us, if we have anything to say we can say it. (Cutaway tape playing of Bush and Trent Lott and Dennis Hastert, looking lifeless.) I think we have succeeded to a remarkable degree since September 11th to NOT let this thing become a partisan issue. I spent ENORMOUS amounts of time on this while I was President. We must have talked about bin Laden several days of every week for the last few years I as President, we did a lot of work on it. I think that the facts will probably come out as they should and then people can draw their own conclusions. And I think when the Congress completes their work, then I might want to say something, but right now, I think we shouldn't.

Q. 4: Reaction to Louis Freeh and George Tenet and these others? Should someone be held responsible? (How about Ashcroft, Mueller, and Bush, Rita??)

Clinton: Well, let's see what the facts are…and see what the Congressional committee says, and then I might want to say something. All these people are now testifying, they have access to all the papers going back I think for eight years or more, maybe ten years, and they'll see what happened. All I know is, that at least in my time, more of these things were prevented than occurred. We tried to stay on top of them and did the best we could. (Interrupted)

Q: 5: Are you disturbed by some of the details coming out?

Clinton: (with a little smile playing on his face) I think… I'm going to do what I said…I'm gonna let Congress do their job, say what they have to say, and then if I think I have a contribution to make by saying something, I might do it but right now we've got this bipartisan group looking into it, they have more access to more evidence than anybody else does, so we all ought to let them do their job first and that's what I'm gonna do. (Notice how Bill had inadvertently slipped into the Presidential role as he said he'd let Congress do their job!)

Finally, as he turned to leave, a question on the Middle East strategy, which opened up a torrent of Clinton comments! Basically, Bill said that we have to stay engaged because US involvement invariably draws the parties closer and helps stave off more killing. He outlined three choices: the President's strategy which seems to be wait until the end of Arafat, which would mean a lot more carnage; a comprehensive peace which would involve a large number of forces and money to help get a Palestinian state started and make Israel feel secure, or a more limited solution that would buy a few more years of peace, which is what was done in 1997 at Wye River with Arafat and Netanyahu. Bill said he strongly supported Colin Powell's trip to the Mid East because being engaged was critical.

Cosby asked if expelling Arafat is an option and Bill said he agreed with the Administration that that was not the way to go. He said the Palestinians should be allowed to pick their own leaders; it would be patronizing to do otherwise. Bill said that Arafat basically was Sharon's "campaign manager" because he virtually guaranteed the election of Sharon when he turned down the last Clinton peace initiative. "Whatever happens, I want America to stay involved, America to lead the way…it doesn't matter if it's a completely accepted (possible American plan)…It just tends to drive the parties closer together…The more we do, the harder it is for there to be unlimited killing…. My instinct is that there may be a way to an interim agreement that would buy us two or three years of peace, but just waiting around for Mr. Arafat to go away is just a license for more destruction on both sides, and I think enough people have died…

Q. 6: Would you get involved if you were asked to?

Clinton: Well, I think it's pretty clear that that's not going to happen and what I think I can best do is to deal with the parties as privately as they come to me and to support what Secretary Powell is trying to do, and that's what I intend to do.

At the end of the clip, Cosby thanked the Global Business Council on HIV/Aids and also President Clinton for his time…"and his FREE time at that! According to today's Washington Post the former President earned more than $9 million in speaking fees last year alone. The Post reported that made 59 speeches, often charging TWO HUNDRED FIFTY THOUSAND dollars a speech!" Rita sounded as if she was simply stunned by the huge amount of money Clinton is earning. Obviously, she forgot the $2 million for one speech Reagan grabbed in Japan and the big bucks Poppy Bush routinely makes. And, of course, there is the small matter of the years of lawyer's fees and the continuing actions of psycho Bob Barr!

Ah, but then it was time for the "fair and balanced" Republican response to Clinton's comments!!

Now, think about it. A Former President is asked a question about current domestic and world events. Wouldn't you think the expertise and perspective of an experienced former leader and world statesman could just be presented and treated with some respect? Not on FOX!

Think again -- when was the last time you heard a "Democratic response" to comments by George Bush I? Or Former Presidents Ronald Reagan or Gerald Ford? When was the last time a former president was seen as an ADVERSARY instead of being a respected "elder" statesman?? Frankly, by immediately putting on a "Republican response" FOX, in my opinion, was deliberately trying to further undermine the status of this former President, particularly since he could not defend his comments. But, in a backhanded sort of way, the treatment afforded to Bill Clinton clearly illustrates how powerful a threat he is to these shallow and venal denizens of the FOX underworld.

Rep. David Dreier was greeted like an old buddy and Rita said she would "love to hear" Dreier's response to Bill's "criticism" of the FBI and CIA being left out of the new homeland security reorganization. Dreier look aggravated and testy and said he "appreciated" that at the end, Bill had talked about support for Powell in the Middle East. "It's interesting that President Clinton kept saying throughout that interview as he was leveling criticism, that he wanted to wait until the bipartisan joint Senate and House Intelligence Committees came to their finding…." At this point Rita jumped in, crowing that "And you heard, I kept pressing him, I wanted an answer now!"…Yes, you did a great job Rita as always, and Rita mouthed a "thank you." The love was flowing all around! Clearly, the set up was being relished by both Cosby, who asked the original question and Dreier, who was able to take Clinton's ONE suggestion and turn it into an attack by painting Clinton a divisive figure intent on ruining all the lovely bipartisan tone supposedly created by Bush!

Dreier had a dismissive little smirk on his face when he finished off with "we'll welcome the advice of the former President, but…"

Then, Cosby launched into her "Let's talk about Clinton" bit by asking "How much responsibility does he bear??" Dreier said, "You know Rita, we've been very careful not to point the finger of blame (audible, weary, sad sigh) and I know there are a lot of people who on the Democratic side who try to raise this RIDICULOUS claim that somehow George Bush knew ahead of September 11 what was going to take place and the immediate reaction for us is 'Gosh, you can go through the litany of things…' and Bill Clinton said he talked virtually every day about bin Laden? (skeptical frown). Frankly…" Rita jumped in helpfully with "Yeah, I thought that was interesting, he said in the final weeks of his Administration, it was several days a week, I thought that was interesting…" The only problem was that Dreier "misspoke" when he said that Clinton had been dealing with bin Laden for the last few "weeks" of his Administration! Bill had said "years." Cosby, of course, rushed right in and repeated the error. Now the question is, how long will THAT misinformation go uncorrected?

Dreier brought up preemptive strikes and he said, "We need to ask the question, I guess as to why some other action wasn't taken in the wake of the USS Cole Bombing, the Kobar Towers bombing, the…embassies. It seems to me maybe some action could have been taken at THAT point…But I just don't think we should point the finger of blame and I don't want to do that now, but I do believe that, we're gonna try our doggondest to be united behind the President on this and I hope Democrats and Republicans alike will continue to provide that support that is necessary to win the war on terrorism." Rita patted him on the head, commenting, "That's a good message."

Yup, David was on longer that Clinton was on and got all his little talking points in, sans interruption and with the eager encouragement of his friend Rita! Just as I had figured it…

Later, Dreier showed up again against Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C. Delegate and right out of the box, he praised Cosby for her street interviews with Clinton and Kofi Annan for some reason, just part of the continuing love fest, I guess.

Dreier tried to deliver some spin about a 30-day deadline, but Norton would have none of it, bashing Ashcroft hard. The normally suave Dreier looked a little tired and wan and Norton properly took his snotty comment about "her concern for the markets" as an insult which he then tried to smile his way out of, saying he meant it as a compliment. "I didn't take it as a compliment," she declared.

Frankly, it was just more time for Dreier to attack people "trying to bring about a division in the Administration" whom he said were "way off base." Cosby asked if this was the time for "throwing barbs," with so much on "our President's plate" and "is it fair for the Democrats to be doing what some say is distracting?" (Obviously, Cosby was playing off the FOX poll, which is proclaiming that criticism hurts the Democrats.) Norton retorted that the war on terrorism was too important and that there was too much bipartisan support for it to have somebody like the Attorney General hype the dirty bomb incident. She kept repeating that we need better balance and that "somebody should tell Ashcroft as well." Norton was plainly fed up with the whole thing and with Dreier's interruptions.

And frankly, I was fed up, too. There was no way I was going to stick around for Cosby and the Catholic bishops! The only good thing about this program was that I got to see and hear Bill Clinton and then got to hear a preview of the GOP smear campaign that we will be seeing when the time is right. It was also good to see Eleanor Holmes Norton stick to her guns and go after Ashcroft, or as Dreier called him, "The General."

In short, there were no real surprises in terms of the FOX spin. I'm still left wondering, of course, how much use FOX will get out of the Clinton tape in the future. But I have a bigger question on my mind: Does Rita Cosby harbor a secret desire to have some private one-on-one interview time with David Dreier?? America wants to know!

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© 2002, Gloria R. Lalumia
insight@zianet.com

More Stuff at: http://www.zianet.com/insightanalytical

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