“One has the sense that society is simultaneously characterized by DISPROPORTIONATE ACCOUNTABILITY for trivial transgressions, and zero accountability for profound institutional failure.” —David Polansky
Update: AI Churchill Quotes: Yes, We Have No Bananas
They may have slipped on a banana, but ChatGPT has only been at this for a few years. "Give them another half decade and they'll probably have picked up every word Churchill wrote." So, before we lazily laugh at the tech boffins' failure accurately to pinpoint the Great Man's every word, we might stop to consider: They are just getting started. As Churchill was wont to say on occasion: "Let not the slothful chortle."
Honor(u)red to be invited to join Lord Roberts, at Secrets of Statecraft. It was fun to chat with the author of the foremost one-volume life of Churchill, about where Sir Winston stands on his 150th birthday. We mutually concluded that he stands as tall as ever. Beyond that, we need to remember him because he spoke everlasting truths about the relations between peoples, about governance, about the value of liberty. Those are as relevant as ever today.
There’s a way to derive a mostly correct picture of the man from this show: ignore Part 1. The other three parts also suffer from occasional forays into fiction. But they are more accurate, with honest dialogue, well-chosen quotations and spectacular footage, much of it freshly colorized. Kudos to Andrew Roberts, Jon Meacham, Allen Packwood and Catherine Katz for keeping it on track, and to Lord Roberts for his eloquent finale.
As the last minutes of 1941 ticked away, Churchill’s special train was steaming south on New York Central's broad tracks along the Hudson. Appropriately close to Roosevelt’s home at Hyde Park, the Prime Minister called staff and reporters to the dining car. He entered the carriage amid cheers and applause, raising his glass to the company. “It was with no illusions,” he wrote, “that I wished them all a glorious New Year.... 'Here’s to 1942, here’s to a year of toil—a year of struggle and peril, and a long step forward towards victory. May we all come through safe and with honour.'"
At Christmas 1932, Churchill received as a present “a huge bottle of brandy, and decided to paint it, accompanied by lesser bottles," Johnnie Churchill remembered. "He sent us children scurrying around Chartwell to find them: 'Fetch me associate and fraternal bottles to form a bodyguard to this majestic container.'"
Commentator Bill O’Reilly proposes a new Cancel Culture for a collection of jargon that Churchill would define as “grimaces.” A cliché, he says, is “a phrase or opinion that is overused and lacks original thought.” Here are his nominations for grimaces we never need to hear again. He forgot “issues” but it’s not a bad list! Celebrate O’Reilly’s modest proposal: Avoid fashionable filters and fad-words in language. “Short words are best,” Churchill said, “and the old words, when short, are best of all.”
With acres of glass, low beltlines and slim roof pillars, Exner’s 1957 Flite-Sweep Chrysler products were unchallenged by any rival and prefigured the shape of American cars for the next decade.The most important thing about them was their revolutionary lowness, which was no accident. Exner had demanded that they stand five inches lower than the ‘56s. Coupled with such innovations as “Torsion-Aire” ride, TorqueFlite automatic and potent V-8 engines, they represented a pinnacle, a company reborn. They were Virgil Exner’s finest hour.
Charles Krauthammer, sage as ever, cautioned against comparing modern situations like Syria (we might now add Ukraine or Gaza) to the Second World War: “There is a difference of scale…. The Second World War was an existential struggle where the future of civilization was in the balance. It could be that Syria, or these other trouble spots, will develop into a World War-like conflict. But that is fairly unlikely right now. It is not a conflict in which the existence of ways of life is at stake.”
At Studebaker, Exner and the Loewy Associates had revolutionary ideas: integral fenders, vast areas of curved glass, doors cut into the roof. Raymond Loewy detested the use of chrome as embellishment. He preferred slim, tapered shapes, and practical devices like glass or clear plastic headlamp covers to improve streamlining. Loewy also preached lightness, warning of the cost of excess weight in fuel consumption and performance. Throughout the studio, on walls, floors and ceilings, he posted signs reading: WEIGHT IS THE ENEMY.
“I pondered what had made this dynamic but gentle character so beloved and respected. First of all that there was courage. He had no fear of anything, moral or physical. There was sincerity, truth and integrity, for he couldn't knowingly deceive a cabinet minister or a bricklayer or a secretary. There was forgiveness, warmth, affection, loyalty and, perhaps most important of all in the demanding life we all lived, there was humour, which he had in abundance.” -Grace Hamblin
