A lot of ink has been spilled already on a statement about Churchill by Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) in Thursday night’s Democratic Presidential debate.
When asked by a Facebook user which foreign leader the candidates took inspiration from, in addition to FDR, Sanders cited former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill:
“He was kind of a conservative guy in many respects,” said Sanders. “But nobody can deny that as a wartime leader he rallied the British people when they stood virtually alone against the Nazi juggernaut, and rallied them, and eventually won an extraordinary victory.”
Churchill is, of course, like Kissinger, to be lauded in some respects. Leaders can be complex. I, for one, am glad we had Churchill – and yes even Stalin – on our side and not the other during that horrible war.
But jaws dropped at the “kind of conservative guy” characterization. Not only on the left but among many who were just fully familiar with Churchill’s record. I won’t go through the details - read for yourself:
inthesetimes.com/...
www.vox.com/...
reverbpress.com/...
www.telesurtv.net/...
The gist of this is that, at a moment when Bernie had to think fast on his feet, why pick Churchill? It is not as if he didn’t have other options. Such as Gandhi, MLK or Mandela (the latter whom Hillary pounced to cite).
Or perhaps Eugene V. Debs.
When he was Mayor of Burlington, VT, Sanders had a portrait of American Socialist leader Eugene V. Debs on his wall. Why not point to Debs? Debs was a man who lived his principles, founding numerous US workers organizations and eventually running for President on the Socialist ticket (Debs was originally a Democrat). Debs was convicted under the Sedition Act in 1918 for opposing US involvement in WW1 and it is presumed imprisonment affected his health enough to hasten his death. Debs walked the walk. And it was his picture, not Churchill’s, that hung in that office.
Yet, in the hot glare of the debate, Sanders cites to a man whose bust George W. Bush had on his desk?
Go to many US right wing web sites and eventually you will run into a picture of Churchill with quotes like this under it:
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.
As the quotes and links above show, saying Churchill is “…kind of a conservative guy” is a pretty amazing understatement. It edges close to “Mussolini made the trains run on time” levels of dissonance.
Either Bernie doesn’t really know much about Churchill (possible but unlikely) or (more likely) he just wanted to throw out a name to calm Americans who may be tempted to think he is a dangerous radical.
If the idea was to calm fears of radicalism, you cannot fault Bernie for not going all-in.
Sanders went with a wealthy Tory, a descendant of the British aristocracy and a life-long hammer of Socialism – someone arguably to the right of Ronald Reagan. Someone who easily gives Kissinger a run for his money on the “who is a bigger war criminal?” tote board.
Either way, it is fair to guess a tear is rolling down the eye of that bust of Debs right about now.