Hillary Clinton - Chris Wallace FOX News Smackdown

After a three year absence, Hillary Clinton returned to FOX News Sunday.

It just happened to be the one year anniversary of Bill Clinton's meltdown on the show.

Right out of the gate, Chris Wallace showed a clip of that meeting. There was Bill, leaving in to Wallace, pointing, sneering, and commenting on that little smirk on his face.

"And you got that little smirk on your face and you think you're so clever..."

Hillary responded with one of those huge, creepy cackles.

Then, Wallace showed another clip, this one of Hill during a debate, saying:

"For 15 years, I've stood up against the right-wing machine. If you want a winner who knows how to take them on, I'm your girl."

Wallace asked why do you and your husband have this "hyper-partisan" view of politics?

Another cackle.

She said that if you walked in our shoes for the past 15 years you'd understand.

Hill didn't want to talk about that. She wanted to talk health care.

Wallace obliged and asked how Hill planned to pay for her universal health care plan. He asked if she would make cuts in her plan or raise taxes even further?

He also brought up details in her proposal, referring to the "good deal of coercion" in her plan.

In spite of Wallace's rather tough questions, Hill remained in control on the surface. She didn't flip out the way bill did.

Next, Wallace asked her why didn't vote against the "General Betray Us" MoveOn.org ad. He quoted President Bush saying that Democrats were more afraid of insulting MoveOn than the military.

Hill dodged the direct question about the ad and brought up Max Clelland and John Kerry.

She was getting angrier, still in control, but angrier. I think she wanted to throw a lamp. She said that the real debate is the “sectarian civil war” in Iraq.

Wallace threw up a quote from "liberal columnist" Richard Cohen, about her dustup with David Geffen and Barack Obama and the "politics of personal destruction."

It is an odd standard Clinton has when it comes to smears. When the entertainment mogul David Geffen, once a Clinton supporter, called both Bill and Hillary liars, Hillary not only decried the remark as a particularly vivid example of the "politics of personal destruction," but she also demanded that Barack Obama do the same -- and return a $2,300 donation from Geffen. Yet when Clinton herself was asked to repudiate the abuse of Petraeus, she either saw no reason to do so or, much more likely, was afraid to alienate an important constituency, the 3.3 million members of MoveOn.org, who stand symbolically at the frontiers of New Hampshire and Iowa. She would, it seems, rather be president than be right.

Wallace asked again, "Do you repudiate the MoveOn.org ad?"

Again, she dodged.

Will you cut off spending for the war in Iraq?

Again, foggy.

Hillary said, "It’s the only way that I can register my strong disapproval."

Sure.

Wallace asked how she could vote to not protect our troops.

Hill responded, "I think the best way to protect our troops is to start bringing them home."

She said there was "no military solution."

Final question – Should Columbia rescind the invitation to Ahmadinejad?

She said that she’d leave that up to Columbia.

Can this woman answer a simple question? I'm sure she can, but she wouldn't.

The interview ended as it began -- with a cackle from Hillary.

Wallace said, "Don't be a stranger, and please send my best to the president."

Yes, it was a brief segment, but Wallace made absolutely no mention of Norman Hsu.

However, over on Meet the Press, Tim Russert did bring up Hsu -- the $850,000 Hill's campaign supposedly returned, the trips to Vegas.

Russert said that Hill talks about the politics of change, but is this really more of the same?

Hill said, "Out of an abundance of caution" (blah, blah, blah), "we did what we needed to do."

Russert then brought up Johnny Chung and his quote, "The White House is like a subway: You have to put in coins to open the gates."

Hillary said, "You try to be vigilant but sometimes things get through the net."

Hill resorted to "every campaign missed it."

Lame.

Russert ended with a question about Hill being too polarizing and too divisive to appeal to most Americans.

She said that in her senate bid, many of her votes came from Republicans and Independents.

I would say that New York Republicans are a different breed than Republicans in other parts of the country.

Hillary said that she’s not only in "the best position to win but the best position to lead."

Back at the roundtable on FOX, the first topic was Hillary Clinton.

Wallace asked why Hillary agreed to appear on FOX. More needling.

Brit Hume complimented her on how well she handled herself. He said that he doesn't understand why she won't appear on FOX more often.