F1 Boss Bernie Ecclestone Says Democracy Bad, Hitler And Saddam OK
Perhaps hoping to underscore why he gets along so well with Max Mosley, F1 Boss Bernie Ecclestone told The Times he doesn't like democracy and believes Hitler, Saddam Hussein and the Taliban were doing a good job.
We know Formula One has had some trouble lately, but we're not sure if these unconventional views are recent or part of the reason Ecclestone gets such a weird rap. Among things he told The Times:
"If you have a look at a democracy it hasn't done a lot of good for many countries – including this one. I like people who make up their minds.
Some examples?
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. It was the same [with the Taleban]. We move into countries and we have no idea of the culture. 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."
This isn't so bad and, all things considered, we sort of see where he's going with it. And then this happens:
"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.
And what about the Holocaust?
"In the end he got lost so he wasn't a very good dictator. Either he knew what was going on and insisted, or he just went along with it – either way he wasn't a dictator."
You can see the rest of the profile and see nothing was taken out of context. Clearly, the interviewer knew what questions to ask. There is a lot more in there beyond the headline generating stuff about Hitler. Almost more offensive to us, when asked to choose between Lamborghini or Lexus he answered "Lexus."
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