Hoje, na última página do Público, ao lado da crónica de Vasco Pulido Valente está a habitual secção de Sobe e Desce. O desce que mais desce é John Bolton, antigo embaixador dos Estados Unidos nas Nações Unidas. Segundo o Público, John Bolton está em baixo porque teria insultado um jornalista da BBC numa entrevista.Ontem, vários blogues publicaram partes da entrevista. Ouvi com algum gozo um extracto no Little Green Footballs. O jornalista entrevistador era daqueles que fazem perguntas com resposta pré-embutida, incapaz de esconder o seu anti-americanismo e com um evidente enviesamento à esquerda e tentava que John Bolton dissesse o que ele não queria dizer. O que se passou depois está no blogue EU Referendum, que descreve o díálogo final entre o jornalista Jon Humphrys e John Bolton. Vale a pena ler. ### (alguns conhecimentos de inglês técnico são necessários para as próximas linhas)
From Humphrys we got the usual BBC droning, with forthright responses from Bolton. Eventually though, after a run of sneering negativity over Iraq, Bolton had had enough. What did it was the suggestion that the US was "a busted flush", Humphrys calling in aid George Soros.Foi por isto que John Bolton ficou em baixo no Público. Eu dava-lhe o pódio.
"Are you kidding me!", responded Bolton. "This is a man of the extreme left. I am sure you will find a great deal in common with him, as would many others on the continent."
A sniffy Humphrys was not going to take that lying down though. On the attack, he demanded: "Do you make the assumption then that because one asks questions – perfectly valid questions about the conduct of American policy - one is on the extreme left?"
Bolton was unfazed: "I can see it from the content of your questions and the perspective from which you're coming and from the direction that your questions are taking. If you tell me you're a conservative, I would be happy to accept it."
That really got Humphrys going: "I would tell you that I'm neither conservative, nor left wing not right wing, nor middle wing, because…"
A laughing Bolton took that in his stride: "You have no views at all. Your brain is empty, you have no views at all…"
Attempting to muster all his majesty, Humphrys was almost squeaking in indignation: "I have an awful lot of views, Ambassador, a view for every subject under the sun but I don't express them during the course of my interviews. I ask questions… That's what interviewing is about... You'll have heard of a thing called devil's advocate… Maybe they don't do it like that in the United States, but…"
"I know, you're a superior Brit as well!" rejoins Bolton.
