Formula One Head in Hot Water for Remarks About Hitler

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

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Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone, speaking on the topic of leaders with London's The Times newspaper, stated that dictator Adolf Hitler was "able to get things done." Click through for more strange quotes from the sports world.

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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."

f1 head bernie ecclestone shakes driver's hand

f1 head bernie ecclestone shakes driver's hand

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."

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 14)

7-04-2009 @ 7:53PM

BBetel said...

Hey, I don't have a problem with what he said. It just seems that you can't use the Hitler name for saying anything without insulting someone.
It is what it is.

7-04-2009 @ 2:17PM

obiwan2112 said...

Margaret Thatcher was the best PM Great Britain's had since Churchill, but Great Britain is a democracy. This Ecclestone dude's just not too smart.

7-05-2009 @ 1:04PM

Chris said...

No, GB is similar in structure to the US - Federal Republics. There are no Democracies in the world today that I know of. However, maybe in the future it will be possible for us to vote electronically on a daily basis on bills and other legislation, and we can dissolve Congress.

7-05-2009 @ 2:36PM

Don't bandy words about or I'll get out my Ph.D. in political science. "Democracy" is Greek in origin and implies a form of government where the people are the ultimate ruling authority. In that sense both the U.S. and G.B. are democracies and also republics, implying an indirect form of democracy where we elect representatives. Lecture concluded.

7-06-2009 @ 10:38AM

planxan2 said...

obiwan2112, you can take your doctorate and use it for toilet paper. Apparently you learned nothing. The United States completely fails the test as a democracy. It is an OLIGARCHY with some flimsy window dressing in the STYLE of a democracy to keep the peasants from revolting. A winner-takes-all scheme between only two competing parties, BOTH of which are funded and supported by gigantic corporations acting in their own interests is NOT a democracy by any stretch of the imagination. Neither is the US a republic any longer. The most apt title for the system today is a Corporate Dictatorship.

7-06-2009 @ 11:27AM

Planxan2, that's the pessimistic viewpoint, and I don't accept it at all. I'll keep teaching the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and you keep believing in phanton oligarchies. I do hope we can agree that Hitler was a big mistake.

7-06-2009 @ 11:46AM

ccolotexan said...

he might not be smart ,but he was sure right about saddam

7-06-2009 @ 6:07PM

candy alkaabi said...

ccolotexan said...
he might not be smart ,but he was sure right about saddam

NO HE WAS NOT RIGHT SADAM WAS COMITTING GENOCIDE ON HIS OWN PEOPLE!! THE WEAPONS THE US GAVE HIM WERE USED MAINLY ON THE SHIA IN THE SOUTH! MY HUSBAND IS FROM IRAQ AND WAS HAPPY TO SEE SADAM GO!

7-04-2009 @ 2:41PM

ANTON said...

So much for freedom of speech, we are losing more and more each passing year. The PC crowd is controlling us and the thought police are out in force. Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Castro, Amin and many others were bad people. But Hitler did bring Germany out of poverty, in fact had he not invaded Poland in 1939 he would have been time magazines man of the year. Any leader would love to bring prosperity to their country and their people. If following Hitler's way from 1933 to 1938 but without his hatred is the way then every country should follow. Look at the will of the German people, fought a world war and was left to rot, in less than 15 years they rose again to threaten the world, lost and in less than 15 years rose again to be one of the most powerful economic, scientific country again. Very smart, resilliant, hard working people.

7-04-2009 @ 8:35PM

Clark Celmayster said...

His and you comments are just proof of how ignorant some people are! This is obviously less about freedom of speech and mostly about freedom of stupidity. Things I am sure would also get done if you and your family were exterminated. Brains obviously are not given out with our Freedoms, though those may be in short supply soon enough anyway.

7-04-2009 @ 9:45PM

dskaalrud5 said...

Hitler got Germany out of poverty by building up his armed forces as fast as the factories could build the implements of war. He did not accomplish anything peacefully and led Germany to destruction. Better pull your head out of your ass before you go and make stupid remarks like that again.

7-05-2009 @ 11:17AM

gotarmadillo said...

You have a better graSP OF HISTORY THAN MOST OF THESE POSTS

7-06-2009 @ 9:12AM

encinomangt said...

Hitler did give us the Volkswagon.

7-06-2009 @ 10:51AM

esied said...

Germany arose after the war due to the Marshall plan and the fact the US propt up W Germany as a bullwork against Communism. Get your facts straight

7-06-2009 @ 12:04PM

BALL'N said...

...and let's not forget about all the wealth Hitler STOLE from the Jews! That's where he got all of hie "prosperity"!

7-06-2009 @ 3:08PM

Dahoss65 said...

Could you imagine if that was Mexico? Your example shows the difference between what white people are capable of doing during tough times compared to some other races(mexicans, blacks, etc)

7-04-2009 @ 3:38PM

Puck said...

How can someone be an idiot and acquire a Formula-1 commercial licence? That statement right there is more dehumanizing then anything Ecclestone said. And before Hitler was taken over by the corporations and corporate mentality and extreme violence, he had a very populous agenda; sounds kinda like a Nation celebrating it's birthday today. And in typical Mass Media fashion Berniie's statements; that would be valid for any truly American civics class, are qualified by a statement he presented as a joke. Instead of helping to carry on an intelligent conversation the Mass Media trys, playing right into the corporate state's hands, to agitate and pit one group of people against another, even though they have the same desires and longings.

7-04-2009 @ 5:31PM

Wade said...

Two people can't be wrong? Idiot.

7-04-2009 @ 5:36PM

Martin Luther, moron, not Martin Luther King. Beyond that, if you want to make the (idiotic) point of intellectual superiority, it might be a good idea not to misspell every other word.