philippe
FYI, I chase trains.
I think Leopold II would fit the bill quite well. 5 million dead, his own family droven to madness, fancied petomans, and marrier with a 17 year old prostitute on his deathbed.
Who was the most pompous jerk in history?
- Thread starter Perfection
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philippe
FYI, I chase trains.
Becuase he insisted on private concerts!
, and well if even everyone in victorian times were outraged by his colonial exploits, then you ought to be a truely horrendous man.and a 70 year old guy marrying with a prostitute who was about 16 when they first met? yup, totally not a problem there...
philippe
FYI, I chase trains.
well, they already had a romance for ten years, so yes she was 26 when they married, an error on my part. still, he remains a pompeus jerk in my book.
Traitorfish
The Tighnahulish Kid
Isaac Newton was probably autistic, though, so I don't know if it's quite fair to lump him in with the rest of these arseholes...
Cheezy the Wiz
Socialist In A Hurry
I never heard anything about him being an idiot savant...
Traitorfish
The Tighnahulish Kid
Ok, I probably should've been more specific- it's been speculated that he may have had Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism, and a lot of his behaviour- obsessiveness, anti-social behaviour, trouble communicating, etc.- conforms to the typical behaviour of those with Asperger's Syndrome.
privatehudson
The Ultimate Badass
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Well many of Lincoln's views are racist by todays standards and Luther was anti-semetic by just about any standard but I don't see anyone calling them a jerk on this thread, although you could certainly make a case for Luther. Sometimes you have to take people's remarks in context and look at the underlying motivations, otherwise you end up writing off a great many people from our past for holding opinions that we in the 21st century are rightly digusted by.
Well firstly I'm not sure xenophobia or attacking people because they are soft targets is any better than racism, but some of the current government's policies do tend to target non-europeans, often with little or no justification. I could elaborate because I live with someone on the HSMP visa but that's more an off-topic issue than one for the history forum. My point is that Churchill was a politician and a product of his time, and to single him out for holding similar beliefs to many of his generation, and for suggesting similar policies to modern mainstream politicians doesn't strike me as particularly fair.
I think that the modern conservative party has (or certainly did have under Howard, Cameron's statements on the issue aren't very clear) a policy of putting a cap/quota on immigration, usually complains about what is seen by some as undesirable immigrants being allowed to stay here and claim benefits, often emphasises the negative impact immigration has on British people and is careful to avoid being seen as racist when espousing these policies. In most news articles I've read on Churchill's comments on immigration these are the same kinds of things discussed in cabinet. The wording changes to reflect different attitudes over the 60 years but the sentiments and policies are largely the same.
Perhaps there's more information that you've seen about his comments but what I have seen isn't remarkably out of step with the modern party's thinking on immigration.
Perfection
The Great Head.
Aspies are not exempt from being called pompouis jerks in this thread.
Cullyn
red ones go faster!!
William Randolph Hearst is my nomination
CivLuvah
Deity
It's either Nietscetze (sorry that I can't spell his stupid name), Catherine the Great, or Bozo the amazing flying clown. But mostly Catherine the Great because she had "important business", if you know what I mean, with too many men.
flyingchicken
Deity
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Well, Catherine sure had a large number of lovers, but apart from that, she was nearly brilliant ruler. Pretty much as close as you can get to the ideal of "enlightened monarch". Definitely not someone I would call "mean-spirited jerk".
Traitorfish
The Tighnahulish Kid
Maybe, but I think it should be taken into consideration. Someone with a psychological inability to empathise is a little different from someone who's just a world-class tosspot.
sydhe
King of Kongs
We had a lot of pompous jerks on the Southern side defending their peculiar institution before the Civil War (and after it). John C. Calhoun was a prominent one.
theskald
This is a picture of me.
David Bowie?
Every English aristocrat ever?
I dunno, there are just so many criteria by which you could judge someone to be a pompous jerk.
Yes, but I always got the feeling that he was hiding an overwhelming self-loathing by being the biggest and most arrogant ass he could be, that way people would be too busy being offended and flustered to see the sad, lonely man staring them right in the face.
Every English aristocrat ever?
I dunno, there are just so many criteria by which you could judge someone to be a pompous jerk.
Yes, but I always got the feeling that he was hiding an overwhelming self-loathing by being the biggest and most arrogant ass he could be, that way people would be too busy being offended and flustered to see the sad, lonely man staring them right in the face.
Mowque
Hypermodernist
Cecil Rhodes was a pretty big jerk
Bowie may be rather pompous, but why's he a jerk?
And surely you wouldn't call Bertrand Russell a pompous jerk, would you?
flyingchicken
Deity
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Because lowbrow international culture dictates that everyone who has the gall to be pompous is most definitely a jerk.
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