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iceburns288
07-04-2009, 05:36 PM
I saw this today on the ESPN ticker and checked up on it because I couldn't believe my eyes.

From the AP:

LONDON -- Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone faced criticism from politicians and Jewish groups Saturday after being quoted as saying that Adolf Hitler "got things done."

In an interview with London's The Times newspaper, Ecclestone expressed a preference for "strong leaders," citing former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher and Max Mosley, outgoing head of Formula One's governing body, as examples.

He was quoted as saying that democracy "hasn't done a lot of good for many countries -- including this one."

"In a lot of ways, terrible to say this I suppose, but apart from the fact that Hitler got taken away and persuaded to do things that I have no idea whether he wanted to do or not, he was in the way that he could command a lot of people, able to get things done," Ecclestone was quoted as saying.

"In the end he got lost, so he wasn't a very good dictator."

Ecclestone also said the West had been wrong to depose Iraq's Saddam Hussein, saying: "He was the only one who could control that country."

The Board of Deputies of British Jews told The Times that Ecclestone's views were "quite bizarre," and Jewish Chronicle editor Stephen Pollard said he was "either an idiot or morally repulsive." Labour Party lawmaker Denis MacShane told the newspaper that the remarks revealed ignorance of history and "a complete lack of judgment."

Calls to Ecclestone's London office were not immediately returned Saturday.

Ecclestone, who owns F1's commercial rights, is no stranger to controversial remarks. He once said women should dress in white "like all other domestic appliances."

In The Times interview, Ecclestone said that had been a joke, adding: "I would love to have a good lady race driver and preferably black and Jewish, too, but they might take maternity leave."

I think the last thing Mad Max needed was to be associated with Hitler... again...

Trini
07-04-2009, 07:27 PM
what a fool
I'll rejoice when he is gone

Twin_Cam_Turbo
07-04-2009, 07:44 PM
:facepalm:

DJ Lazy
07-04-2009, 08:25 PM
:rofl: :rofl: .... Never a dull moment in F1..

cloud7
07-04-2009, 10:37 PM
From the article and the words he was quoted, I don't see anything wrong with it except it was maybe a little politically incorrect for today's time. He didn't say Hilter was right to kill Jews... he just said he got things done. It could mean many different things he got done before he went all crazy and started to kill Jews. Hilter is a big taboo subject in Western society to be honest. This article is much ado about nothing really. Must be a slow day in F1 news.

Mibz
07-04-2009, 10:55 PM
Originally posted by cloud7
From the article and the words he was quoted, I don't see anything wrong with it except it was maybe a little politically incorrect for today's time. He didn't say Hilter was right to kill Jews... he just said he got things done. It could mean many different things he got done before he went all crazy and started to kill Jews. Hilter is a big taboo subject in Western society to be honest. This article is much ado about nothing really. Must be a slow day in F1 news. Yeah, to somebody with common sense it's not bad at all. I think it's silly to discount someone's qualities based on the bad things they've done (Michael Jackson anyone?) but when you're a public figure or in a position of power you get held to a higher standard than the layman and 99% of people in that position know it. I guarantee that Bernie did.

Guy fucked up, for sure.

95EagleAWD
07-04-2009, 10:59 PM
There's always a better example than Hitler.

For ANYTHING.

jsn
07-04-2009, 11:19 PM
Originally posted by cloud7
From the article and the words he was quoted, I don't see anything wrong with it except it was maybe a little politically incorrect for today's time. He didn't say Hilter was right to kill Jews... he just said he got things done. It could mean many different things he got done before he went all crazy and started to kill Jews. Hilter is a big taboo subject in Western society to be honest. This article is much ado about nothing really. Must be a slow day in F1 news.

exactly. He didn't say that genocide was justified or anything like that. He just said hitler was able to get things done efficiently. People just seem to automatically read between the lines whenever they hear the name Hitler. Not saying that Hitler is a good example to use or is the right example to use in any case, but i don't think what he said was that big of a deal. And I agree that democracy can be really inefficient at times, but it's still better than the alternatives.

Chris Elyea
07-04-2009, 11:28 PM
I've been waiting for Bernie to wade into the fray. It's been worth the wait! What a gem. He's certainly diverted attention away from Max. F1 needs its own version of Operation Valkyrie.

iceburns288
07-05-2009, 10:42 AM
Originally posted by cloud7
From the article and the words he was quoted, I don't see anything wrong with it except it was maybe a little politically incorrect for today's time. He didn't say Hilter was right to kill Jews... he just said he got things done. It could mean many different things he got done before he went all crazy and started to kill Jews. Hilter is a big taboo subject in Western society to be honest. This article is much ado about nothing really. Must be a slow day in F1 news.
I agree that he actually didn't say anything that stupid, but the point is when you are that much of a public figure you should know better than to say anything in defense of Hitler, really.

I think someone had it down in the article when they said he was either "an idiot or morally repulsive"- I think it's just clear he's an idiot at this point.

Chris Elyea
07-07-2009, 02:21 PM
Bernie's decided to stop defending himself and apologize, so the crisis will now pass.

Ecclestone apologizes for pro-Hitler remarks (http://www.tsn.ca/auto_racing/story/?id=283986)

scat19
07-07-2009, 02:35 PM
Originally posted by 95EagleAWD
There's always a better example than Hitler.

For ANYTHING.

How do you describe a hitler 'stash?

civic_stylez
07-07-2009, 04:42 PM
the domestic appliances comment is funny as hell though....

Destinova403
07-08-2009, 12:42 AM
it gets better though

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/07/07/followup-ecclestone-fans-flames-again-reportedly-blames-jews-f/

apparently the financial crisis is all the Jews fault


"It's a pity they didn't sort the banks out.... They have a lot of influence everywhere."


:facepalm:

B4tMan
07-08-2009, 01:40 AM
do you have proof that it's not their fault ? ; )

TorqueDog
07-08-2009, 10:00 AM
Originally posted by civic_stylez
the domestic appliances comment is funny as hell though.... I howled at that one, not gonna lie. Hilarious.

seer_claw
07-08-2009, 10:15 AM
Originally posted by scat19


How do you describe a hitler 'stash?

Charlie Chaplin's mustache :dunno:

spikerS
07-08-2009, 12:52 PM
i see nothing wrong with his hitler mark. He didnt say he supported him, or was a fan, or what he did was right.

Kinda like stating "slavery gets shit done" - that statement does not condone it, or agree with it, just a simple fact.

some people are too fucking sensitive, and the media will jump on anything to make someone look bad.