Fell victim to one of the classic blunders...

The most famous of which is never get involved in a land war in Asia.* But only slightly less well known is this: never go in against Bill Clinton when his legacy is on the line.

Silly Chris Wallace. Why on earth would you, on Fox News, ask Bill Clinton a question that was certain to enrage him? (transcript at ThinkProgress) A lesser debater would have gotten angry and flustered and come out looking worse for the wear. But you forget, this is Bill Clinton. So he got angry and articulate and cleaned your clock. It's hard to tell whether the intent was to throw Clinton off balance or what, but either way, you had it coming. Observe.

WALLACE: When we announced that you were going to be on Fox News Sunday, I got a lot of e-mail from viewers. And I’ve got to say, I was surprised. Most of them wanted me to ask you this question: Why didn’t you do more to put bin Laden and Al Qaida out of business when you were president? [I buy that most Fox viewers wanted to have this question asked. And all things being equal it is a fair question, until Wallace adds the following...]

There’s a new book out, I suspect you’ve already read, called The Looming Tower. And it talks about how the fact that when you pulled troops out of Somalia in 1993, bin Laden said, I have seen the frailty and the weakness and the cowardice of U.S. troops. Then there was the bombing of the embassies in Africa and the attack on the Cole. [Yeah, that's right, first accuse Clinton of being weak on terror. Then tie that to Somalia. In an interview that's supposed to be about the Clinton Global Initiative. There's no way that would piss him off]

Later, it gets worse:

WALLACE: One of the main parts of the Global Initiative this year is religion and reconciliation. President Bush says that the fight against Islamic extremism is the central conflict of this century. And his answer is promoting democracy and reform.
Do you think he has that right?

Oh, man. Again, sort of a fair question...until you get to the part where they segue from "Bill Clinton Inititative" to "President Bush is the bestest president ever" and the credulous repetitition of White House talking points. Anyhow, do check out the transcript, or better yet, watch the interview. It's a hoot.

*I don't know exactly what inspired me to quote The Princess Bride here. But the whole "land war in Asia" part is oddly appropo, don't you think?