[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 176 (Wednesday, November 8, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S16810-S16811]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              MIKE WALLACE CAN DISH IT OUT BUT NOT TAKE IT

  Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, for 27 years, Mike Wallace has been a 
hard-hitting, pull-no-punches investigative journalist primarily on 
``60 Minutes.'' Relentless in pursuing a story, there are few tactics 
he will not employ--bullying, insults, confrontation, ambush 
journalism.
  That is fine, because however you feel about Mr. Wallace, he works in 
America, and here in America the first amendment secures our right to 
free speech. We Americans can say or write just about anything we like, 
and, no matter how offensive it may be, how distasteful, repugnant, 
however uncomfortable it may be to others, we have the right to express 
our views. Mike Wallace has the inestimable privilege of expressing 
those views on network television to tens of millions of people.
  I had been under the impression that, given his profession and his 
unorthodox modus operandi, Mr. Wallace was a first amendment advocate, 
but in today's Washington Post we find evidence that suggests the 
venerable Mr. Wallace has a peculiarly narrow devotion to free speech.
  Yesterday, Marlin Fitzwater, a long-time spokesman for Presidents 
Reagan and Bush, was waiting to appear on the cable television show 
``Politically Incorrect.'' Mr. Fitzwater has just published his memoirs 
of his time in the White House, and in that book he offers some mild 
criticism of both ``60 Minutes,'' calling it ``liberal'' and always 
framed in terms of ``good versus evil,'' and of Mr. Wallace himself. I 
quote:

       As a small boy . . . I would watch Mike Wallace . . . as he 
     insulted his talk show guests, drove women to cry and 
     performed his pioneering version of talk show extremism.

  Mr. Fitzwater's book also mentions Mr. Wallace's son, ABC reporter 
Chris Wallace, criticizing the younger Wallace for his privileged 
background.
  All this is prefatory to the main event. The studio in which the 
cable show ``Politically Incorrect'' is taped is located in the CBS 
building in New York. While Mr. Fitzwater was waiting to go on the air, 
Mr. Wallace called Mr. Fitzwater in the studio and began shouting at 
him and then swearing at him over his book. A few minutes later, the 
Post reports, Mr. Wallace stormed into the studio and continued with 
the shouting and swearing and obscenities. Mr. Fitzwater, wisely, I 
believe, and astounded, left the studio posthaste.
  Now, as they say, Mr. President, what is the deal? What is going on? 
The Lexis-Nexis system would blow a fuse if you tried to reach all the 
times Mr. Wallace criticized others on the air. After all the years 
that he has been in this peculiarly tough field of journalism, you 
would think he would be accustomed to criticism. A few years ago, for 
example, ``60 Minutes'' ran a program on the pesticide Alar and helped 

[[Page S 16811]]
destroy the living of a significant number of Washington State apple 
growers without justification.
  I see no evidence that that bothered Mr. Wallace in the least. But 
now he throws a temper tantrum over a mere slight. Indeed, Mr. 
President, after all the hard-hitting pieces Mr. Wallace has run on 
people, institutions, and even whole governments, one is amazed at his 
vitriol and verbal attacks on Marlin Fitzwater.
  Perhaps, Mr. President, Mr. Wallace's support for the first amendment 
is a single-edged sword. He can use it, but it cannot be used against 
him. Perhaps Mr. Fitzwater's criticisms struck a raw nerve. Either way, 
one fact is certain. Mike Wallace can dish it out, but he cannot take 
it. Shameful, Mr. President, but funny at the same time.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. FAIRCLOTH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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