Category Archives: The Winston Week

The Winston Week – #3 – Darkest Hour – Revealing the Man.

Note: The Winston Week, is an attempt by me to provide comment and the 3-5 best thoughts and links which I have come across during the week. I am an unabashed Churchillian, but will try and keep to the facts. Many times facts are hard to swallow, but in the end provide nourishment for the soul.

I rarely pay attention to the Academy Awards, especially in recent years, with all the political nonsense being spewed by today’s modern-day court jesters. I have never understood why we should put so much emphasis on what they say about politics.
We Churchillians had a stake in the 2018 awards ceremony. Our own Sir Winston, played by Gary Oldman was up for honors.

2017 and 2018 were comeback years for our grand hero, savior of the free world. With Andrew Roberts, Churchill – Walking With Destiny, released late in 2018, the comeback is continuing. I believe that this continued comeback is fueled by a world that continues on its off-kilter course. We are looking for statesmanship and leadership that may not exist today. If this combination of statesmanship and leadership does exist today, it is well hidden.

I was angry with the Brian Cox movie Churchill. It was a horrible movie portraying Winston as a buffoon and a leader that no one listened too. Gary Oldman’s Darkest Hour was the real deal.

I do cherish the Churchillian’s who are the keepers of the truth. Those that pointed out several issues with “the truth” as it was portrayed in the Darkest Hour. Biopic’s are rarely one hundred percent accurate. Within a two-hour window, which most movies average, some literary license must be applied to assist in capturing the character.

The two scenes that stand out in this case and never took place in Winston’s life were first when the King paid a late-night visit to number 10. Winston is sitting in the dark full of fear and dreading the idea of suing for peace with Hitler. The King arrived and saved the day by telling Winston he had the King’s full support and to “Beat the buggers.” The second, which was the most controversial, was the train scene. Churchill jumped out of his car, headed for the underground and takes the train to Westminster. I have heard many Churchillians call the scene unnecessary and ridiculous. I disagree. The writer was able to show in that few minutes that the British people were with Winston and ready to fight. More importantly, it brought to light that Winston was excruciatingly human. He was a person who wore his emotions on his sleeve. As has been noted, Winston cried no less than 50 times during the war.

I prefer to see Winston as the tough old bulldog, who exhibited great confidence and knew that his life was just a preparation for May 10, 1940. That was who he was, and amazingly human.

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Here are my links for the week:

Tell me what you want.. what you really really want.. Winston – Original Spice Girl

The Battle Rages On – The Attack on Churchill

My Final Post on TonyPandy

Sir Martin Gilbert Papers Gifted to Hillsdale College – Link Provided by William Schaub – The Chartwell Society – Portland Oregon

 

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The Winston Week – #1 The Villain

Note: The Winston Week, is an attempt by me to provide comment and the 3-5 best thoughts and links which I have come across during the week. I am an unabashed Churchillian, but will try and keep to the facts. Many times facts are hard to swallow, but in the end provide nourishment for the soul. 

With the increasing vitriol cast upon the man who saved democracy. There are a new uneducated revisionist millennium generation and a vile press who continue to push the idea that today’s political correctness and foundationless standards should be cast upon those of history and thus judged by them.

There is no doubt that I am a dedicated Churchillian, but I also consider myself a person of keen perception, the holder of some common sense and a person who has made their fair share of mistakes while being battered and bruised by corporate America. I fully believe that understanding the errors and victories of the past, builds the foundation for a better future.

This past week we find Churchill under attack, by John McDonnell, a Briitish Member of Parliament and a Marxist sympathizer, who called Churchill a ‘villain’ over the way he handled the coal miners strike as Home Secretary in 1910. Twenty-five thousand workers went on strike. Major rioting broke out on November 7th and 8th. Sixty-Three shops were looted and nearly destroyed. Although local law enforcement asked for military assistance, Churchill held back the request for the military and sent  Metropolitan police instead. .” In some cases the police held back the rioters with rolled up raincoats.* The Manchester Guardian praised Churchill for keeping the military out of it, stating that the decision “saved many lives.”

Mr. McDonnell continues to propel the Labor party myth that Churchill was personally responsible for brutally suppressing the innocent workers with military force.* The facts do not bear this out.

Churchill has a distinguished record of social reform while in parliament as a liberal and a conservative. Still, he is a villain according to Mr. McDonnell.
The recent surge in the popularity of Sir Winston Churchill makes him an easy target of the left. Heroes are no longer fashionable. The attempt to cover the great deeds of the past only because someone or some group becomes offended by the truth will continue to divide all of us.

One may not agree with all that Churchill did, but he led from his heart and for the love of country and empire. He was the defender of freedom. In an age where some say there are no heroes, I believe that those naysayers don’t know where to look.

Until next week.

Reference:

Andrew Roberts: Churchill – Walking With Destiny – Viking – B367eginning on page 143.
Randolph Churchill : Winston S Churchill, Volume II, Young Statesman, 1901-1914 – Hillsdale College Press – Beginning on page 367

Here are a few links to last week’s social media, personal posts, articles and such.

From The Churchill Bulletin:

Many foolish things are being said about Winston Churchill by contemporary politicians these days. Labour leader Clement Attlee, who served as Deputy Prime Minister under Churchill during the war, wrote this in his memoirs: “I have often paid my tribute to Churchill’s great leadership. Undoubtedly the hour found the man, and the man found his hour.”

Forbes – 5 Best Speech Practices

How Churchill Love of the Jews Helped Him See the Nazi Threat

 

 

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