GOOD old John Bolton. The US diplomatic hawk, a veteran of US interventions from the Iran-Contra fiasco to his global troublemaking as national security adviser to Donald Trump, let the cat out of the bag this week.

CNN reporter Jake Tapper used Bolton’s vanity about his iniquitous record to coax him into talking about the regime change activities he had been part of during his 17 tumultuous months working for Trump. 

Tapper riled Bolton by saying: “One doesn’t have to be brilliant to attempt a coup.” Bolton took the bait, responding: “As somebody who has helped plan coups d’etat, not here, but, you know, other places. It takes a lot of work.” Tapper pressed him to say more about “what you need to do to be able to plan a coup, and you — you cited your expertise having planned coups.”