TIME MACHINE CHATS PART 2

YESTERDAY, SIMANAITISSAYS IMAGINED a time machine capable of linking famous personages past and present. Today in Part 2, we take this theme to a reductio ad absurdum. All in good time-travel fun. 

Sir Winston Churchill and Donald Trump. It is to laugh. One, perhaps the world’s most articulate statesman; the other, denier-in-chief of the 2020 election results, coiner of the words “covfefe” and “Nambia.”  

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, 1874–1965, British statesman, soldier, and writer; Prime Minister of the U.K., 1940–1945, 1951–1955; honorary citizen of the U.S. Portrait, 1941, by Yousuf Karsh.

Churchill is remembered for numerous observations, among them, “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.” And, “Clement Atlee is a modest man who had a good deal to be modest about.”

Donald John Trump, Queens, New York City-born 1946. American politician, media personality, businessman; 45th President of the U.S. Image from AP, August 25, 2023, and the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office.

What would they talk about? Maybe The Don could share hot-move hints as he did with Billy Bush back in 2005. Sir Winston might describe what he really said to Lady Astor.

Henry Ford and Elon Musk. Geez, this one is a natural. Innovators of the automotive field. Rich guys. Avowed antisemites. Occasional hypocrites.

Henry Ford, 1863–1947, American industrialist and business magnate. Portrait by Fred Hartsook, c. 1919.

Wikipedia notes, “Ford was known for his pacifism during the first years of World War I, although during the war his company became a major supplier of weapons. He promoted the League of Nations. In the 1920s Ford promoted antisemitism through his newspaper The Dearborn Independent and the book The International Jew. He opposed United States entry into World War II, and served for a time on the America First Committee board.”

Also, Wikipedia notes, “In July 1938, the German consul in Cleveland gave Ford, on his 75th birthday, the award of the Grand Cross of the German Eagle, the highest medal Nazi Germany could bestow on a foreigner.”

As SimanaitisSays observed in “Henry Ford Lore,” he was “certainly complex.” 

Elon Reeve Musk, Pretoria-born 1971, business magnate and investor, the wealthiest person in the world. Citizenship: South Africa, Canada, United States. 

Wikipedia cites among his business interests SpaceX, Tesla, Inc., Twitter, the Musk Foundation, The Boring Company, X Corp. xAI, Neuralink, OpenAI, Zip2, and X.com (part of PayPal).

Whatever would Ford and Musk chat about? Musk might ask Ford about “being entertained” by the neighbor lady to whom he later gifted a Model A. Ford might ask Musk about the status of X, “previously known as Twitter.” ds

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2023