Free Republic

In an effort to change the course of history, the U.S. government sent Mike Wallace back in time to interview Adolf Hitler before the 1938 Munich Conference. The theory was that if the legendary, hard-hitting, pit bull journalist Wallace were to expose the true Hitler in a newsreel to be shown in movie theaters throughout the world, it could tilt the balance of world opinion against appeasement, and save millions of lives. The following are excerpts from the newsreel. WALLACE: When German Chancellor Adolf Hitler speaks out candidly -- as is his habit -- he scares a lot of people....

Click on the link and watch.

When Mike met Mahmoud Boston Globe August 16, 2006 By Jeff Jacoby, Globe Columnist NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN flew to Munich to see Adolf Hitler, Walter Winchell observed in 1938, ``because you can't lick a man's boots over the phone." Why did Mike Wallace fly to Tehran? Wallace's bio at the CBS website lauds his ``no-holds-barred interviewing technique," but there was no hint of it Sunday, when ``60 Minutes" aired his interview with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad .....

The Grand Inquisitor Confronts...Mr. Rogers? August 15, 2006 The Wall Street Journal Bernard Goldberg An old line that used to make the rounds at CBS News held that the last thing the CEO of a major corporation wanted to hear was "Mike Wallace on line one." Anyone who has ever seen my former colleague in action gets the joke immediately. But I'm guessing that Ayatollah Khomeini didn't watch "60 Minutes" very often back when he was leading the Iranian Revolution and holding Americans hostage. I'm also guessing he didn't know Mike Wallace from Kate Smith. Big mistake. The ayatollah was...

A little over three years ago, CBS sent Dan Rather to Baghdad to ask meaningless questions to, and provide a propaganda vehicle for, Saddam Hussein. Last night, Communication for Barbarians Service broadcast Mike Wallace's equally meaningless interview with the Islamic Republic of Iran's fanatical leader. Interviews with evil leaders are meaningless at best and destructive at worst. Few reporters will ask real questions or challenge the propaganda responses of these leaders. These interviews merely offer them invaluable "humanizing" time and ask questions that reconfirm the low state of television news. Mike Wallace And The Barbarian In Teheran In this image...

Mike digs MahmoudLike son, like father. A few months ago, Fox News anchor Chris Wallace took some serious ribbing after he described Gov. Romney on an WRKO radio talk show as “an enormously attractive guy.” Now we know where Chris got into the habit of describing men as “attractive.” Wallace’s dad, “60 Minutes” guy Mike Wallace, nearly went weak in the knees discussing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. “He’s a rather attractive man, very smart, savvy, self-assured, good looking in a strange way,” Mike Wallace said, according to the Hollywood Reporter. “He’s very, very short but he’s comfortable in his own...

"It is a shame that the venerable Mike Wallace was so determined to secure this interview that he failed to recognize that he and CBS would inevitably be used skillfully by the Iranian leader," said AJC Executive Director David Harris. "Known as a tough interviewer, Wallace this time around proved inexplicably passive, perhaps hypnotized by his own unexpected fascination with the Iranian leader. As a result, he failed, among other things, to press President Ahmedinejad on his long trail of damning quotes on Jews and Israel, as well as to challenge the Iranian leader on his support of Hezbollah and...

WASHINGTON - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad blames the U.S. for growing violence in the Mideast, saying fighting has continued in Lebanon because the United Nations only serves U.S. interests. In an interview airing Sunday on "60 Minutes," Ahmadinejad said it was Hezbollah that had a right to defend itself in its war with Israel. Even so, he said Iran joined others in calling for an immediate cease-fire only to have it thwarted by U.S. support for Israel. "We are not at all happy with war," he said. "People, innocent people are being killed." Saying the U.N. has failed to provide...

What is it about tyrants that gives media types goose flesh? The question came to mind while pondering "60 Minutes" thug Mike Wallace's transformation into Barbara Walters in an interview with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Wallace's reputation is as an ambush interviewer – the tough guy who's not afraid to ask any question of anyone. He's the eternal cynic who won't buy anyone's lies. He's the emotionless inquisitor. He's the media's version of Torquemada. What a matchup! Wallace vs. Ahmadinejad. How many rounds would a bout like this last? Would Wallace ever make it out of Tehran alive? How long...

In the interview, Ahmadinejad said of the Bush administration, "see how they talk down to my nation." During the midst of the American hostage crisis in 1979, Wallace interviewed Iranian leader Khomeini, locking eyes with the cleric when he asked for a response to Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat calling Khomeini a lunatic. Of Ahmadinejad, Wallace said, "He's an impressive fellow, this guy. He really is. He's obviously smart as hell." Wallace said he was surprised to find that the Iranian president was still a college professor who taught a graduate-level course. "You'll find him an interesting man," he said. "I...

88-year-old CBS journalist Mike Wallace says Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a 'reasonable' man on Sean Hannity's ABC radio program... Points out Ahmadinejad not anti-Jewish... just anti-Zionist state. Says many Jews in Iranian Parliament, in great positions in Iranian life... Believes Ahmadinejad sincere in his hope for peaceful coexistence between Iran and West...

(CBS) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sat down with Mike Wallace in Tehran on Tuesday in a rare, exclusive interview with a Western reporter. In the wide-ranging interview, the Iranian leader comments on President Bush's foreign policy, the lack of relations between Iran and the United States, Hezbollah, Lebanon and Iraq. Speaking about President Bush's failure to answer his 18-page letter that criticized U.S. foreign policy, Ahmadinejad said, "Well, (with the letter) I wanted to open a window towards the light for the president so that he can see that one can look on the world through a different perspective. …...

"In a rare interview with a Western reporter, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (R) talks to Mike Wallace at the Presidential Palace in Tehran August 8, 2006, for a '60 MINUTES' report."

"60 Minutes" veteran correspondent Mike Wallace may have retired last March but that didn't stop him from scoring an exclusive interview Tuesday with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. And that fact wasn't lost on the controversial Iranian president, who halfway through the interview asked Wallace: "I thought you had retired." Wallace's interview will appear on the "CBS Evening News" on Thursday night and on Sunday's "60 Minutes." The 88-year-old Wallace, who has interviewed almost every notable person in his nearly 40 years on "60 Minutes," said Wednesday that he wasn't going to let a little matter such as retirement stop him...

Veteran CBS journalist Mike Wallace described current Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as an "impressive fellow" following their meeting Tuesday in Tehran. "You'll find him an interesting man," the 88-year-old Wallace said. "I expected more of a firebrand. I don't think he has the slightest doubt about how he feels ... about the American administration and the Zionist state. He comes across as more rational than I had expected."

For years 60 Minutes has been second only to Nightline (pre Terry Moran, who's a significant improvement) in deceptive, one sided current events programming. Their presentation of events is usually appalling to anyone who researches both sides of any issue they cover, but this seems to be a new low even for them. Surprising? Not really. Just take a look at some of the fine fellows who've made Time Magazine's list of Man of the Year over the past 70 years. Three cheers to 60 Minutes. In the course of one year they've managed to hype Jim Cramer as a...

Weekend Talk Show *Preview* for 7/8 and 7/9/06 (not the live thread)The main message is the Sunday Shows and message 1 will be the Saturday Shows,  then I'll post the ping list.  I've changed the format as a test this week and put the links to articles and background on the guests in with their listing in the shows.  It struck me that it might have been getting less helpful to have to jump back and forth.  Let me know which format works better.ABC This Week (George Stephanopoulos) Meme: Bush is all wrong about (Korea/Iraq/Immigration) and even Republicans think soNo...

Simple Bush hatred? Certainly it is an element. An East Coast, effete liberalism that considers legal governmental oversight as dangerous, and maybe more so than al Qaeda? Absolutely. Latent, reflexive anti-Americanism? Yes. But at root, it is a hubris that somehow, the job of the press to report information is on an equal footing with the obligation of government to protect us from our enemies. Which brings me to a telling installment of the great PBS series, Ethics in America, as recounted by Jack Dunphy: Nowhere was this mindset more vividly displayed than in a 1987 installment of the series...

NBC wants Mike Wallace, but does Mike Wallace want NBC? NBC News chief Steve Capus says the legendary CBS newsman can write his own ticket at 30 Rock. Wallace, in his 38th season at 60 Minutes, confirms that he and the network are talking. "I haven't made up my mind," says Wallace, who turns 88 on May 9. "I do feel a great loyalty to CBS. I've been there for 40 years. I'm there. I've been there. I want to continue to be there. "I've got to figure out my life." Wallace said in March that he would step down...

Mike Wallace, NBC News? NBC is actively pursuing the legendary CBS newsman, news division president Steve Capus and Wallace confirmed today. "Yes, I'm talking to NBC. Even this morning," says Wallace, 87, in his 38th season on 60 Minutes. He became "correspondent emeritus" in March, when he said he would step down as a regular correspondent in late May. At the time, he said he would stay at the network and be available "for whatever chores CBS News, 60 Minutes, etc., have in mind for me." Wallace turns 88 May 9. He joined CBS in 1951, left four years later...