Barroso to publish Biography under Pseudonym

Not always fun, to be the boss

Writing books about one’s life and ordeals seems to be the major trend in 2010 for politicians. Following the release of Tony Blair’s memoires, the BJ has been informed that the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, has started writing his own biography.

His source of inspiration however seems not to be the works of former UK Prime Minister Blair but the book released this week by former FARC hostage Ingrid Betancourt.

According to a source close to Barroso, the President was inspired both by Betancourt’s title (Even Silence Has An End) and the way in which she described how she was repeatedly beaten, humiliated and threatened with death while being kept prisoner in Colombia’s jungle. Barroso was even overheard saying that if he just replaced “FARC” with “Sarkozy, Merkel or Council” depending on the circumstances, he could just copy-paste the whole Betancourt story.

Due to his current function, Barrosos is envisaging publishing the book under the pseudonym: “Written by the flower pot of José Manuel Barroso”, as a subtle reference to the series of Aboitim books published by Baltique, the labrador of the deceased French President François Mitterrand. The choice of the pseudonym is however still under discussion as Commissioner Reding expressed concern that some may think it refers to her.

The BJ will obviously follow this matter closely.