One In Five Brits Think Churchill Never Existed?

Captain's Quarters ^ | Feb. 04, 2008 | Ed Morrissey

[ichabod1]

Well, even back then they wouldn’t listen to him all through the thirties, and then tossed him aside like so much rubbish when the war was over.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

It would be a good idea for the UK to remember those words...

[OCCASparky]

And we wonder why Ron Paul gets 10 percent support here.

[C210N]

I just Amazon-ordered a pair of CDs with speeches of Winston Churchill.

So, either I shouldn't expect to get them, or should immediately throw the fabrications away?

[SpringheelJack]

Down the memory hole. I guess the Holmes numbers illustrates the potency of pop culture more than anything else.

[RetiredArmy]

The Brits are falling off the map. They, who once was one of the most powerful empires on the planet, now rate about the level of Bangladesh. A county of idiots. A country of losers. Turning their country over to a bunch of Islamic murderers. Enjoy limies. You are soon to be nonexistent.

[Sudetenland]

Not to mention Beef Wellington...

[reagan_fanatic]

Probably younger people who could care less about history and think WWII was just something that happened to Grandpa.

[ThisLittleLightofMine]

And what do they believe about Hitler? This would be most revealing.

[ThisLittleLightofMine]

Double down that 50 % of white school children don’t know either.

[Sudetenland]

Yes, it is truly astounding that Ron Paul only polls at 10%.

I thought the number of tin-hat wearers was closer to 15%.

[OCCASparky]

It’s what Larry Elder refers to as the “Elivs Factor”. Sadly, he’s probably right.

[Alex Murphy]

Mohandas Gandhi appears in the Top Ten of Mythical Creatures in this poll.

You know, I could honestly agree with that.

The Gandhi Nobody Knows

[Tax-chick]

Most critically, Churchill produced some of the most important volumes of history during his long lifetime which grace libraries around the world.

"The History of the English-Speaking Peoples" can't be read by British any more ... it's insensitive and exclusive.

[avacado]

"Wanna bet that half of black Americans cannot say who Lincoln was or what he contributed to their history?"

Then after that question ask them who was the party of the KKK?

[xp38]

[BenLurkin]

Not surprising.

These are the same dolts who think 9-11 was an inside job, that Bush lied about Iraqn that we never landed on the moon and that space aliens are visiting our planet.

[Jonah Johansen]

I would like to see the actual methodology and the precise wording of the questions. It would be important to know for example how the subjects defined mythical themselves or understood the meaning of the word.

For example people often use the term “mythic” and “legendary” interchangeably. You could say Churchill or people could have heard Churchill described as a mythic character and mean that he was a real individual who myths grew up around. I could see someone saying that Elvis was a mythic individual and still know that he was a real person.
I find it hard to believe that if you sat someone down and was very clear about what precisely you were asking that many people would get things so wrong.
What is far more likely is that fictional characters are seen as real. It took a long conversation, to convince a very well educated person that Philip Nolan never existed.

[SpringheelJack]

What is far more likely is that fictional characters are seen as real. It took a long conversation, to convince a very well educated person that Philip Nolan never existed.

If you asked me whether Philip Nolan existed I'd say yes, because I'd assume you were talking about the horse rustler and spy who was killed in Texas in 1801.

[CodeToad]

“who was the party of the KKK”

LOL! I bet a few might even say MLK!