The Man Knew What He Was Talking About!

 

A Stark Warning For New York City . . .

“Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy.”

-Winston Churchill

Churchill And Trump? Surprising? Maybe Not!

I'm reading several books during a leisurely transatlantic cruise. One of them is Dinner With Churchill which examines Sir Winston's years conducting tabletop diplomacy over numerous meals (and through two world wars and beyond) on nearly every continent.

Churchill travelled extensively precisely because he was an ardent believer in face-to-face, real, live human relationships. That's the way he wanted to get to know other world leaders -- up close and personal. In this way, listening and responding,  he sought to understand both friend and foe alike. And Churchill went to great lengths to plan every detail of the meals he shared during these many discussions -- meals and discussions that went well into the night.

Sir Winston was an extremely confident person and he placed unlimited trust and confidence in his own powers to charm, cajole and persuade others. If all this sounds familiar, it's because Donald Trump (who also requires little sleep and works well into the night) appears to be cut from the same mold. Extravagance characterizes both leaders and, like Churchill, Trump does not close the door to any eventuality if he's given the chance to meet with someone face-to-face and often over a fine meal. Churchill used 10 Downing or Chartwell or The Savoy or even far flung locals for these meetings just as President Trump uses the White House or Camp David or Mar-a-Lago or Trump Tower or any one of a number of Trump holdings throughout the world.

You couldn't tell Churchill that he could not cozy up to Stalin and bend the Soviet leader his way just as you cannot convince Trump that he doesn't have a shot of gaining concessions from Putin. Yes, Russia and England were thrown together by necessity during WW II. They were nominally allies and it was a different time, to be sure. But even after the war and even after much of eastern Europe was ceded to the Soviet block and even into the advent of the Cold War, Churchill was still convinced he could charm Russia via Stalin's successor, Khrushchev and begin to win new concessions. To that end, Churchill met with President Eisenhower in Bermuda in 1953. Sir Winston wanted peace; he wanted to at least try to avert a nuclear arms race; he wanted to open up a crack of sunlight in the Iron Curtain that he said had descended across Europe. Like Trump, he set aspirations high and remained ever hopeful.

And, in Dinner With Churchill you will also discover this: when Churchill was Prime Minister, even during the war, underlings who were part of Britain's administrative state tried to dissuade Churchill or tone down his rhetoric or the size and scope of his often audacious plans. In fact, Churchill's Principal Private Secretary at one point privately referred to his boss as "a lunatic: he gets in such a state of excitement that the wildest schemes seem reasonable." The Private Secretary was hopeful that "the Cabinet and finally The King" would "restrain" Churchill. Here again, dramatic similarities to the era of Trump.

It's amazing what history can teach you -- if you pay attention and if you're perceptive.

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As These Important Elections Apporoach . . .

 

BRAVO! THIS Man Really Deserved To Win!

Gary Oldman accepting the Best Actor (motion picture drama) award at last night's Golden Globes. Don't miss his portrayal of Winston Churchill in the superb film The Darkest Hour.

This Is ONE History Lesson You Won't Forget

They dismissed him as a grandstander and an outlandish poseur.
They said he was obstinate, unreliable, capricious and unnecessarily belligerant.
They sneered at him -- at first conspiring to prevent him from gaining power and later working at every turn to take it away. They called him a bully, a windbag and a war monger.
He could be bombastic and abusive to staffers and family members. He was difficult, demanding and vociferous. He was indulgent. His diet was dreadful. Sometimes he seemed contradictory.
Was he unstable? Depressed? Paranoid? Egomaniacal? Bipolar?
He sought and won early fame, loved the spotlight and eventually rose to the highest levels imaginable. He did this even though political party labels and doctrines meant little to him. Yes, he collected numerous enemies and the powers-that-be were often the objects of his disdain.
Who could we possible be talking about?
Well, look no further than the incredible, Oscar-worthy performance of Gary Oldmam in the mesmerizing new film Darkest Hour.
Yes, you might be surprised to discover that all these descriptions apply to none other than Winston Churchill, one of the seminal figures of the 20th century. And Oldmam's characterization of Churchill is a performance for the ages.

In Darkest Hour we see England at a low point. Hitler is on the march; Chamberlain and his followers still favor appeasement and Churchill is sort of a lone wolf who almost single-handedly believes that England can save itself and Europe at the last possible moment. Though Paris has been captured and Dunkirk is about to fall, Churchill defiantly forges ahead, staring down Hitler and risking everything on one daring scheme after another.
For Churchill, it's a very lonely battle. But, in one of his most hopeless moments he finds allies where he always trusted he would find them -- among ordinary, everyday people on the subway. They understand him. They share his sentiments. They're unwilling to give up. And they cheer Churchill on, even as the elites continue to do all they can to rebuff him.
Yes, in this darkest hour, even Roosevelt and other world leaders turn their backs on Churchill.
This is a tale that involves the sheer force of will. And it demonstrates the sort of persuasive power that one person can wield and the the amazing transformation that one great leader can bring about.
It also demonstrates the frequent folly of conventional wisdom.
While members of the establishment tend to reinforce their own conception of things, visionary leaders build their own new constituencies. They do it by often working against the grain, charting new paths, searching out new openings and forcing others to see things in a new light. It can be a very solitary business at times but for those who are steadfast and courageous, the rewards can include the kind of near-mortality that few achieve.
We tend to forget all this.
We get caught up in the tidy world we want to see rather than the one that really exists.
Real leadership ain't pretty. It's not blow-dried or prissy or neat. Instead, it's often messy and disruptive and unsettling. And real leaders don't come in cookie-cutter versions. They're not necessarily effusive or cheery or even somewhat normal.
Abraham Lincoln was often moody and droll. Harry Truman was considered hopelessly uncouth. Andrew Jackson was rough-hewn and salty. Teddy Roosevelt was highly theatrical and self-absorbed. FDR was cunning, mischievous and inscrutable. And George Washington was actually a bit of a loner who preferred his own company to that of "bad company" and sought quietness "devoid of ceremony." None of them fit the mold. All had their own eccentricities and all left others sometimes feeling somewhat befuddled if not downright alienated.
So, take a step back, reflect on the human condition and consider the broad sweep of things.
Then, hurry out to see Darkest Hour and learn a bit from history.

It Was True Then; Even More True NOW . . .

A VERY Special Relationship Restored, Hear! Hear!

Thank you, President Trump and Prime Minister May. Winston Churchill is back where he belongs and our special relationship is in very good hands, indeed!

'A Day That Will Live In Infamy' December 7, 1941

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As Always, Churchill Said It Best . . .

Obama Disses Britain Again

From Benedict Brogan at Britain's Daily Mail:
Downing Street was left scrambling to avoid a diplomatic embarrassment today after the White House ruled out a formal press conference to mark Gordon Brown's first formal meeting with Barack Obama.
Officials denied the Prime Minister was being snubbed after it emerged that the new president would not make himself available for the traditional joint appearance before the White House media.
Mr Brown's aides are trying to make the best of what is a distinctly low key visit compared to the family hospitality lavished on Tony Blair by George Bush when they met for the first time. . . .
Mr Obama and Mr Brown listened intently to one another as they sat in armchairs in the Oval Office before a painting of George Washington.
Behind Mr Obama's shoulder was the bust of his hero Abraham Lincoln which replaced a bronze of Winston Churchill* presented by Tony Blair to his predecessor George Bush and removed shortly after the new president took office. . . .
Although Mr Brown's wife Sarah flew to Washington today to join her husband, there were no plans for the two couples to meet and she will instead have a brief one-to-one meeting with Michelle Obama.
After overnight protests from British diplomats, the White House agreed to allow journalists into the Oval Office later for a brief round questions with Mr Obama and Mr Brown after their talks.
Downing Street stressed the 'intimacy' of the formal setting in the President's office, but behind the scenes acknowledged that it was getting used to a new administration that does not appear to have time to spare for diplomatic gestures.
The Prime Minister touched down at a U.S air force near Washington DC this morning ready for talks with Mr Obama, which are likely to be dominated by the global economic crisis. . . .
What the White House has made plain is a 'businesslike' visit has been stripped of any kind of personal touch.
The two men will have what No10 said was a 'working lunch' today but there will be no socialising with spouses even though Mrs Brown is joining her husband to attend his speech to Congress tomorrow.
Mr Brown arrived laden with gifts, including a seven volume, first-edition Sir Martin Gilbert's biography of Winston Churchill.
His wife Sarah will follow him this afternoon for private talks at the White House with Michelle Obama, which will be the first time they meet. . . .
Apart from a separate meeting with Vice President Joe Biden, there are no other events planned.
The Obamas are not holding a dinner for the Browns, and the Prime Minister will not be hosting a reception or dinner at the British embassy. . . .
*Churchill has less happy connotations for Mr Obama than those American politicians who celebrate his wartime leadership. It was during Churchill's second premiership that Britain suppressed Kenya's Mau Mau rebellion. Among Kenyans allegedly tortured by the colonial regime included one Hussein Onyango Obama, the President's grandfather.The rejection of the bust has left some British officials nervously reading the runes to see how much influence the UK can wield with the new regime in Washington.
Is Obama allowing his personal feelings about Britain and Kenya to influence our nation's foreign policy and threaten our special alliance with out Mother Country?
I hope not!

Obama Trashes Churchill

From Jim Shipman at Britain's The Telegraph:
A bust of the former prime minister once voted the greatest Briton in history, which was loaned to George W Bush from the Government's art collection after the September 11 attacks, has now been formally handed back.
The bronze by Sir Jacob Epstein, worth hundreds of thousands of pounds if it were ever sold on the open market, enjoyed pride of place in the Oval Office during President Bush's tenure.
But when British officials offered to let Mr Obama to hang onto the bust for a further four years, the White House said: "Thanks, but no thanks."
Diplomats were at first reluctant to discuss the whereabouts of the Churchill bronze, after its ejection from the seat of American power. But the British Embassy in Washington has now confirmed that it sits in the palatial residence of ambassador Sir Nigel Sheinwald, just down the road from Vice President Joe Biden's official residence. It is not clear whether the ambassador plans to keep it in Washington or send it back to London.
American politicians have made quoting Churchill, whose mother was American, something of an art form, but not Mr Obama, who prefers to cite the words and works of his hero Abraham Lincoln. Indeed a bust of Mr Lincoln now sits in the Oval Office where Epstein's Churchill once ruled the roost.
Churchill has less happy connotations for Mr Obama than those American politicians who celebrate his wartime leadership. It was during Churchill's second premiership that Britain suppressed Kenya's Mau Mau rebellion. Among Kenyans allegedly tortured by the colonial regime included one Hussein Onyango Obama, the President's grandfather.
The rejection of the bust has left some British officials nervously reading the runes to see how much influence the UK can wield with the new regime in Washington.