Fighting Words

Chris Wallace Goes Easy On Cheney

Andrew Sullivan pummels him for it.

There's nothing more sarcastic than journalist-on-journalist criticism. The Atlantic's Andrew Sullivan excoriated Fox News Sunday's Chris Wallace for behaving like "a teenage girl interviewing the Jonas Brothers" during his tête-à-tête with Dick Cheney. Sullivan points out that Cheney's critics have accused him of war crimes, and authorizing torture techniques perfected by the Khmer Rouge, then lists Wallace's softballs, such as "Do you think this was a political move not a law enforcement move?" and "Do you think Democrats are soft on national security?" Sullivan summed his point with a devastating, "Now look: there are softball interviews, and then there are interviews like this," which "cannot be described as journalism in any fashion." Sullivan went on, calling the segment "propaganda," but defective by that standard "because it's far too cloying and supportive of Cheney to be convincing to anyone outside the true believers."