Chris Wallace Dazzles Us With His Honesty

A candid Chris Wallace, host of FOX News Sunday was brutally honest with Imus today about a number of subjects, from piracy to television mishaps to the automobile industry.

Innocently, Wallace asked Imus how he was feeling, which set off the reply, "I have cancer, Chris, how do you think I am?" and reminded us all what a long few months it's going to be.

Wallace called President Barack Obama's alleged bow to the Saudi Arabian King "a striking pose," but the tone of his voice indicated that he'd rather talk about almost anything else. So, Imus asked him about the Obama administration's decision send their "car folks" out to Detroit to help General Motors.

"This is an industry that has been driven into the ditch over decades, and you wonder if it's even possible to save," said Wallace, who believes that the intransigence of the bondholders and the unions will force GM into an organized bankruptcy.

He marveled at how much is on Obama's plate right now. "He was discussing arms control with Russian President Medvedev, and I'm thinking, how has he possibly had time to study arms control, which is an extremely complicated issue?" said Wallace.

The recent North Korean missile launch, and the lack of a United States response, is just one in a line of reactions that have made this country look foolish, in Wallace's opinion.

"Bill Clinton sent Madeline Albright to make a deal, which the North Koreans promptly broke," he said. "Bush said testing a nuclear weapon would be 'unacceptable,' and then they blew it up on July 4, and we accepted it!"

Wallace believes the key to dealing with North Korea is to "get the Chinese to really turn the screws on them," since China controls the energy and food supply to the country.

"But we don't have much clout with the Chinese," Wallace pointed out. "They've got more clout with us, considering they own a trillion dollars of our debt."

Imus's reply, "Do you ever interview people and find yourself thinking about something else while they're talking?"

Wallace confessed that when he was at ABC News and aired taped pieces, he'd often think about what he would eat for dinner that night. Imus frequently notices when an interviewer embarrassingly re-asks a question, proof they have not been listening.

"I find it endlessly hilarious to watch something go really wrong on television," Wallace admitted. He confessed often searching for the lighter side of the hideous news cycle; for instance, the hijacking of an American ship off the coast of Somalia.

"I was wondering what the evening newscasts were going to do with this story, because there's so much in the news that's the same," he observed. "So to have the opportunity for Katie Couric or Brian Williams to be able to say, 'Pirates on the high sea!'-You knew they were going to lead with it!"

-Julie Kanfer