I’ve been away for almost a week now, chasing eclipses and other nonsense largely away from the Internet and TV news. Anything happen while I was away? What’s in the news?
I see Trump has said some outlandish things lately. Like this: “I do not consider Hitler to be as bad as he is depicted. He is showing an ability that is amazing, and seems to be gaining his victories without much bloodshed.” More: “Germans of future generations will honor Herr Hitler as a genius, as a brave man, a matchless organizer and much more.”
Wait—did I say Trump? Sorry—these comments came from Gandhi. The first quote was made in May 1940, as Hitler was readying to roll over France, and the second quote was made on June 22, 1940, the day France capitulated. Time magazine seriously considered Gandhi to be “Person of the Century” back in 1999 before settling on Einstein as a safe and uncontroversial choice. Time had to tap dance to explain why they didn’t re-up with their “Man of the Half Century” from 1950, who was Winston Churchill. Here’s how Time explained it then:
Well, the passage of time can alter our perspective. A lot has happened since 1950. . . In his approach to domestic issues, individual rights and the liberties of colonial subjects, Churchill turned out to be a romantic refugee from a previous era who ended up on the wrong side of history.
In other words, Churchill was politically incorrect. (Incidentally, there’s a statue of Churchill in front of the British embassy in Washington, accessible from the sidewalk on Mass Ave. I doubt the fact that the embassy is legally foreign territory will deter the mob when it turns its sights on WSC.)
Now Time reports that the African nation of Ghana is taking down a statue of Gandhi because of his condescending views of Africans (long known by anyone who studied Gandhi even casually), because why should the U.S. have all the fun:
Ghana has said it will remove a statue of Mahatma Gandhi from a university campus in the nation’s capital where it had sparked protests over the leader’s allegedly racist attitudes.
I love that “allegedly.” I note that Trump’s supposed racism is never considered to be “alleged.” In any case, I think Time has some old editors to erase from their collective memory for their bad judgment about Gandhi.
The real lesson here is that Gandhi, who was a hero to the Western Left precisely because of his usefulness in bashing the West, has outlived his usefulness. So he has to go. I could have filed this one under our running header, “Civil War on the Left.” How long until the Martin Luther King Jr memorial on the Mall in Washington is taken down because King endorsed the principles of the American Founding and quoted Jefferson approvingly? (And no one tell the Antifa mob about the Freedman’s Bureau Monument.)
Trump is right. If this keeps up, this will be about the only statue we’ll be able to have in any public place. Long live Jayne Cobb!
P.S. Are Browncoats the pop culture equivalent of Trump voters? Say yes! Give Joss Whedon more heartburn.
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