Yet another rant

History is weird.

There's seems to be this tendancy in people to always try and remember the best about a deceased person, regardless of other (possibly huge) indiscretions.

And today's Daily Shirt is an example. Typically regarded as a statesmen of statesmen, this guy actually had some pretty huge gaffs to his credit. So, in the interest of balance:

Let's see...first recorded authorisation of the use of poison gas on civilians (a note; logistically, it's highly unlikely that this use actually happened, but the authorisation of it's use speaks volumes) against - surprise, surprise - occupied Iraq in 1920.

Overseeing Britain's return to the gold standard in 1924, this return brought with it deflation and unemployment throughout the country, and led ultimately to the infamous general strike of 1926.

He was an early (mid-20's) supporter of Mussolini's facism, seeing it as a bulwark against the dreaded communist revolution (lesser of two evils, you say? Didn't quite work out like that...)

Was he a monumental speaker and rallier of the people? Definately. Did he not get the British through one of the darkest periods of modern British history? Without a doubt.

But the point of today's Daily Shirt is that niceties and revisionist history do us all a disservice. Correcting the mistakes of the past in history books (or omitting them all together) only leads to confusion about how we got to where we are, and what methods might work to get us out of the current mess.

So, here's to you, today's Daily Shirt - for better AND worse...