Mike Wallace embarrasses the U.S.
As if things could get any worse (oh okay, I suppose they could), 60 Minutes’ 88-year-old correspondent Mike Wallace recently traveled to Iran to interview President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
If you google this interview, you’ll find all sorts of opinions about it. Largely, they paint Iran’s president as a kook. Of course they do, everyone already has an opinion about this situation. It’s harder to open a mind than it is to close one. If you read the interview, you’ll get a good idea of what was said.
What you won’t get though, is what an arrogant jackass Mike Wallace was to President Ahmadinejad. That the president kept his cool is a testament to his tolerance and statesmanship.
Don’t get me wrong; Iran’s president has been reported as saying a lot of things which seem a bit out there. But frankly, after hearing this interview, I realized some of them are – as usual – mistranslations or interpretations. Not all of them, certainly. But hearing Ahmadinejad’s words on their own helps one to get a sense of where he is coming from, if you have an open mind. Read the interview and judge for yourself. You should at least know why Gingrich says it is World War III.
But Mike Wallace… come ON. Show some respect for foreign leaders, even if you clearly DON’T respect them.
Now before you get too damned blue-state on me, read what Ahmadinejad had to say about the Holocaust. Ahmadinejad comes off homey and polite in the Wallace interview, and Wallace comes off aggressive, but hell, if you run a huge nation and you claim the Holocaust was a lie, you need to be bullied a little by reporters.
Perhaps Ahmadinejad should have been interviewed by Mel Gibson, they seem to have the same views. You are openly defending a man who wants Israel wiped off the face of the Earth and says the Holocaust never happened. I know you can be a touch (okay a lot) more liberal than me, but are seriously saying his statement’s were just “a bit out there”? To get a sense of where he is coming from readers need to have an “open mind,” are you suggesting that those of us that believe in the holocaust (and lost family to it) have closed minds? You also say in a “a testament to his tolerance and statesmanship,” do you truly believe his previous comments to be tolerant? I can’t believe you wrote this….
Perhaps Ahmadinejad should have been interviewed by Mel Gibson, they seem to have the same views. You are openly defending a man who wants Israel wiped off the face of the Earth and says the Holocaust never happened. I know you can be a touch (okay a lot) more liberal than me, but are seriously saying his statement’s were just “a bit out there”? To get a sense of where he is coming from readers need to have an “open mind,” are you suggesting that those of us that believe in the holocaust (and lost family to it) have closed minds? You also say in a “a testament to his tolerance and statesmanship,” do you truly believe his previous comments to be tolerant? I can’t believe you wrote this….
Sometimes it is fun for me to post things like this just to get you all riled up.
I’m still not 100% certain Ahmadinejad is saying the Holocaust was a lie – wish I could interpret the actual language. Seems almost like he is saying it is a “legend”, like “myth” but more as in “something which is blown out of proportion and that is being used to perpetuate an agenda”. This is of course, only slightly less offensive. But I don’t really think this guy is insane, just perhaps not in line with general thinking here in the West.
But I could be wrong. My point is, it’s good to have big ears.