Eric Cantor is leading the GOP off the cliff in opposing President Obama at every turn, but, as the Washington Post reports today, he apparently regards himself as a new Winston Churchill, warning his countrymen in the 1930s about the gathering storm at home and abroad. Say this for Cantor: he doesn't think small. What's next? Cantor styling himself as Julius Caesar leading his outnumbered forces to complete the conquest of Gaul? Or will it be George Patton rallying the troops during the Battle of the Bulge? The possibilities are limitless.
But Cantor's fixation with Churchill is emblematic of the broader worship of American conservatives for the British prime minister. Churchill, a romantic figure, tried (and failed) to stave off the collapse of the British empire. By turns, unpredictable, irascible, and unreliable, he hopscotched between political parties and often displayed poor military judgment during the second world war. But none of this has deterred American conservatives and neocons who have constructed a demigod.
All this simply underscores the extent to which today's Republican party is living in the past. If Obama resembles anyone, it isn't Churchill's old foe, Neville Chamberlain, but his good friend, Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Fact is Churchill's intuition and judgement allowed Britain to stand fast against Germany until the US was sufficiently motivated to enter the fray. Had he not been a participant and shaper of history in his time, and a defender of civilization, this would quite plausibly be a different world that we now inhabit .
Think about how the Vietnam war affects us to this day and multiply that by a hundred times and you might get an idea of what World War I did to the French and British national psyche. At the Somme the British took as many casualties on the first day as we did in the entire Vietnam conflict.
The Western powers were understandably a bit skittish about jumping into another bloodbath so soon after the last one.
Read his letters and speeches from his time being posted in India. Truly enlightening.
He "stood" for clinging to Imperial Power in the face of a potential rival to that power. His disagreement with Germany's rise to power was it's potential threat to the lagging power of England around the world and their ability to continue the subjugation of millions of people and the plundering of the natural resources of other nations. Are these the "Positive Contributions" to which you refer?
Maintaining British rule over the "BrownSkinned" people. This is the "Modern Progressive" of which you speak?
And as far as Communism as the "real" threat, not in the least. Hegemony and Imperialism have always been the greatest threat to World Peace, regardless of the political ideology driving it.
I am surprised at your assumption that "you don't seem to be aware".
Mr. Cantor chose to link himself to Mr. Churchill without understanding all that would go with that link. I merely pointed out the dark side of Mr. Churchill's nature.
Intolerant and uninformed? Every bit as much as yourself and Mr. Cantor, Sir or Ma'am.
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, who spent most of his years estranged from his own party because of his friendships with press barons, financiers, and people whose characters were seen as dubious; was supported by the wealthiest in society to keep him to the forefront in politics; was aginst votes for women; was dedicated to the preservation of British power in India ( referring to Gandi as a" half-naked, seditious fakir"); was in favour of "using poisoned gas against uncivilised tribes" (including the Irish); was responsible for for allowing 3 million people to die of starvation, during the Bengal famine of 1943 and who was drunk most of the time.
Churchill was SO popular in Britain (for wanting to preserve the aristocracy and change nothing for the poor) that he was thrown out of office in 1945.
Nice one, Republicans!
He reminds me of the smart a$$ in highschool who plays tricks on everyone and pretends he is perfect. Got news for him. Not too many people like him and the ones that do don't respect him.
I hope he gets his Butt kicked in the next election.. His other idol is Newt (you know the one who left his cancer ridden first wife for a 23 year old) or was that 23 year old his third wife.
If Churchill would not have been elected at that time, we wud have lost the war. He was a drinker but with all the horrific things he had to do as a result of the war, ie, the destruction of Canterbury, his drinking became worse. He was a brilliant man in many ways and not so much in others.
Each generation we get a person we need to run a country when it is in peril. Barak Obama is the person needed now. No one is perfect, but some ppl are better than others. Fortunately, these people step up to the plate when they are most needed and do the job that needs to be done.
Hypothetically, if the British had indeed succeeded in killing Hitler there's a good chance that someone who actually knew what they were doing might have taken his place. That's why many in the British SOE were against Operation Foxley (the 1944 plan to kill Hitler).
The current PM has not been elected to the post either.
Churchill was known for his prowess in foreign policy but was a disaster as a domestic politician. Neville Chamberlain was somewhat of a domestic issue genius and his foreign policy course had been pretty well drawn up by his predecessor Stanley Baldwin.
In conjuring the image of Sir Winston, Eric Cantor falls on his own double edge sword in reminding the American public that the GOP has been an equal disaster at both foreign and domestic policy. Clearly, he, nor any of his colleagues can hold a candle to either Sir Winnie or the man who would have been Sir Nevie (had his modesty not prevented him from accepting the honor).
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Jacob I absolutely agree with you - but I would push it further.
Churchill was known for his prowess in foreign policy but was a disaster as a domestic politician. Neville Chamberlain was somewhat of a domestic issue genius and his foreign policy course had been pretty well drawn up by his predecessor Stanley Baldwin.
In conjuring the image of Sir Winston, Eric Cantor falls on his own double edge sword in reminding the American public that the GOP has been an equal disaster at both foreign and domestic policy. Clearly, he, nor any of his colleagues can hold a candle to either Sir Winnie or the man who would have been Sir Nevie (had his modesty not prevented him from accepting the honor).