Hitler Could "Git-R-Done": F1 Chief
British racing czar praises dictators for their strong leadership
By MARK MORALES
Updated 12:15 PM EST, Sat, Jul 4, 2009
The head of Formula One racing says he prefers strong leaders to the present day wishy-washy democratic heads of state, and praised one of history's most evil dictators for his ability to "get things done."
In an interview, Bernie Ecclestone praised Adolf Hitler, Saddam Hussein and other controversial hard line leaders according to the Times of London.
“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," says the controversial racing czar.
“In the end he got lost, so he wasn’t a very good dictator because either he had all these things and knew what was going on and insisted, or he just went along with it...so either way he wasn’t a dictator.”
The 78-year-old billionaire, outspoken as ever, took shots at democracy, saying it hasn't done Britian any good and praised Saddam Hussein's control in Iraq.
“Politicians are too worried about elections,” he said. “We did a terrible thing when we supported the idea of getting rid of Saddam Hussein. He was the only one who could control that country."
He continued his assault, this time including America in his swipe at democratic governments.
"The Americans probably thought Bosnia was a town in Miami. There are people starving in Africa and we sit back and do nothing but we get involved in things we should leave alone,” said Ecclestone.
Margaret Thatcher was praised for her strong leadership and said Britain's most recent Prime Ministers, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, were only pandering to voters. He also thought his friend, Max Mosley, the beleaguered head of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), would do a "super job" as Prime Minister.
Mosley is no stranger to controversy either. Max Mosley, the son of Olsen Mosley, the head of the British Union of Fascists, recently made headlines after a video was discovered showing Mosley's participation in a sadomasochistic,'Nazi-style' orgy with five call-girls, one of which was his wife.
Ecclestone is no stranger to controversial statements. Last month, He said Formula One needed a "black, Jewish woman who, if possible, wins some races." In 2008, he downplayed racist taunts directed at Lewis Hamilton, one of the youngest Formula One champions, who is also known as "the first black driver of Formula One," for his mixed race background.
Jewish groups and politicians came out swinging against the controversial racing mogul.
“Mr. Ecclestone’s comments regarding Hitler, female, black and Jewish racing drivers, and dictatorships are quite bizarre, " said a spokesman for the Board of Deputies of British Jews. "He says [in the interview], ‘Politics is not for me’, and we are inclined to agree.”
Denis McShane, the Labor Member of Parliament and chairman of the all-party inquiry into anti-Semitism, and chairman of the European Institute for the Study of Contemporary Anti-Semitism, called Ecclestone's distaste for democracy, fashionable and frightening, going as far as to challenge his knowledge of history.
“If Mr. Ecclestone seriously thinks Hitler had to be persuaded to kill six million Jews, invade every European country and bomb London then he knows neither history and shows a complete lack of judgment,” said McShane.
Perhaps some of the strongest comments came from Stephen Pollard, Editor of the Jewish Chroniclee, who said: “Mr. Ecclestone is either an idiot or morally repulsive. Either he has no idea how stupid and offensive his views are or he does and deserves to be held in contempt by all decent people.”
First Published: Jul 4, 2009 9:22 AM EST
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