Prince Charles 'should abdicate' after comparing Putin to Hitler, says MP

[Jesus Malverde]

Source: Guardian UK

Labour MP Mike Gapes calls for prince to 'abdicate and stand for election' if he wants to make controversial statements

Prince Charles is facing a call for his abdication and a frosty response in Moscow after reportedly comparing Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler over Russia's annexation of Crimea.

Charles blundered into the international crisis over Russia's actions in Ukraine during a tour of Canada, when he spoke to a woman who fled the Nazis and lost family members during the Holocaust.

According to the Daily Mail, the prince compared the Russian president to the Nazi leader when talking to Marienne Ferguson, a museum volunteer who moved to Canada with her Jewish family when she was just 13. "Now Putin is doing just about the same as Hitler," Charles is reported to have said.

Charles's remarks have been criticised across the political spectrum in Britain: the Labour MP Mike Gapes called for his abdication, while the outspoken Ukip leader, Nigel Farage, said the prince was wrong to get involved.

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/may/21/prince-charles-vladimir-putin-adolf-hitler

[CBGLuthier]

1. Are they saying he is not fit to pretend to rule a country?

[DeSwiss]

21. Absolutely!

[JVS]

54. They had the same problem back in the 30s

[EmilyAnne]

2. He should abdicate because of a "reported" private conversation?

Just asinine.

[DeSwiss]

19. “If you want to keep a secret, you must also hide it from yourself.” ~George Orwell, 1984 n/t

[EmilyAnne]

38. Do you not get how ironic your comment is? nt

[DeSwiss]

40. I AM irony.

''We live in our fantasies and endure our realities.'' ~Robert Anton Wilson

[Drunken Irishman]

3. Oh for fuck's sake.

[Psephos]

18. You beat me to it. n/t

[snagglepuss]

4. Complete bollocks. Charles simply stated the obvious and supported

that assertion with facts. Furthermore he didn't say Putin was Hitler he said Putin actions were similiar to Hitler's. Nothing wrong with stating the truth.

[DeSwiss]

17. .

[CSStrowbridge]

44. Let's see...

Let's see...

Putin has begun land grabs in order to protect "ethnic Russians" and has done nothing about neo-nazis kidnapping and torturing suspected gays.

Yep. I think the comparison is apt.

[T_i_B]

53. Couldn't agree more

Sometimes prince Charles puts his foot in it. Not on this occasion.

[Beacool]

5. Oh please, the drama........

[reddread]

6. "the drama"?

short shrift to a disturbing high level remark that diminishes the truly serious nature of the holocaust?
massive testes.

[Beacool]

7. His comment was about Putin's land grab.

It was similar to what Hitler did in 1938. He wasn't trying to equate it to the Holocaust.

[reddread]

11. went Godwin

despicable indiscretion from high level observers like that goes well appreciated by warmongers.
just sayin.

[MADem]

32. He was having an individual conversation, his reference was to the land grabbing, and

he wasn't writing an editorial for the Times.

And he was right.

Maybe Putin shouldn't run around stealing chunks of other people's countries if he doesn't want to be likened to a guy named Adolph who did the same thing.

[LibertyLover]

56. And Sometimes a reference to,Hitler

is correct. In this case Charles was comparing the land grabs engineered by Putin to those engaged in by Hitler. No Godwinning at all on Charles' part.

[RufusTFirefly]

24. "he spoke to a woman who fled the Nazis and lost family members during the Holocaust. "

Gosh, I don't see how a woman who fled the Nazis and lost family members during the Holocaust could possibly fail to appreciate the nuance in the Prince's statement. I'm glad you understood it, too.

[muriel_volestrangler]

47. She agreed with him

It was heard by several witnesses. Mother-of-three Mrs Ferguson said: ‘I had finished showing him the exhibit and talked with him about my own family background and how I came to Canada.

‘The prince then said “And now Putin is doing just about the same as Hitler”.

‘I must say that I agree with him and am sure a lot of people do. I was very surprised that he made the comment as I know they (members of the Royal Family) aren’t meant to say these things but it was very heartfelt and honest.

‘I told the prince that while my family and I were lucky to get a permit to travel, many of my other relatives had permits but were unable to get out before war broke out on September 1. They were sent to the concentration camps and died.’

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2634400/Putin-behaving-just-like-Hitler-says-Charles-Princes-controversial-verdict-Russian-leaders-invasion-Ukraine.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

[RufusTFirefly]

8. That does it. The next time the Prince comes up for re-election, someone should primary him n/t

[awoke_in_2003]

9. If the jackboot fits. nt

[Monk06]

10. Spitting Image has had Charlie pegged as an idiot 30 years ago. Nothing new.

[Kaleva]

12. Reading the article , it seems that the people upsrt by this a few in number.

[sofa king]

13. So Britain has doofuses, too.

[Demeter]

14. Abdicate what?

It's not like Charles is or amounts to anything....

[daleo]

15. Forcing someone to abdicate over a comment he or she made

That sounds like a denial of free speech, kind of like a certain person whose name started with capital h might agree with.

[Psephos]

20. well said n/t

[ForgoTheConsequence]

23. No one is forcing anyone to do anything.

Try reading before jerking your knees.

[DeSwiss]

26. He is not being ''forced.''

As a constitutional hereditary-monarch he has strict limits on political speech. He can't have it both ways.

A monarchy is a form of government in which sovereignty is actually or nominally embodied in a single individual (the monarch).

All those freebies, those castles, ladies-in-waiting and horse-drawn carriages? That's the price.

- He can say whatever he wants the minute he gives it all up.

[former9thward]

16. Maybe Charles should worry about his own family first.

[RufusTFirefly]

25. Harry's following in the fine tradition of his great-great uncle

[HuckleB]

31. The Sun?

[former9thward]

34. Are you saying it is a fake picture?

Did Harry apologize for a fake picture? Did the BBC publish a fake picture?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4170083.stm

[HuckleB]

43. Did you push a red herring?

[ForgoTheConsequence]

22. Predictable thread.

The neoconservative underground posters take sides with Prince Charles over a center left politician.

[Nye Bevan]

37. Nigel Farage (who criticized the Prince) is "center-left"? (nt)

[hrmjustin]

27. Charles made an inartful comment but should not abdicate.

If the people want to change the system then they should speak up but he shoukd not abdicate for that comment.

Putin is a creep imo.

[Hoppy]

28. What about Charlie's First Amendment rights?

--- Yeah, I know...

[Ash_F]

29. Something, something, royal family is useless, something /nt

[DeSwiss]

36. Thank you.....

[HuckleB]

30. Charles pushes homeopathy, which could actually harm people.

And one one cares.

This is just silliness.

[Blue Owl]

33. Putler -- the celebrity dictator mash-up

n/t

[Nye Bevan]

35. "Gaffe" = when somebody accidentally tells the truth (nt)

[MisterP]

39. Labour, eh?

[DeSwiss]

41. ....

''Authority, when first detecting chaos at its heels, will entertain the vilest schemes to save its orderly facade.''

~V

[Lint Head]

42. Who gives a good shit what a "king" does or says. He wasn't elected. He's just a rich fuck living

off the peoples taxes.

[olddad56]

45. People in high places shouldn't express their feelings.

[LeftishBrit]

46. I think he should do that anyway. I think it is good to have a figurehead President separate from

the Prime Minister; but I think they could have a rather lower salary without risking starvation; and I don't think that, in the 21st century, it should be hereditary.

Whatever you think of monarchy, Elizabeth Windsor has IMO done a good job as figurehead president. If she did abdicate and stand for election, I think she would in fact get elected by quite a large majority against most likely alternatives. I am not at all sure that the same would hold for Charles!

As regards the specific comment: I intensely dislike Putin, but he ain't Hitler. Lots of countries and leaders have made unjustifiable land-grabs, including a number of Charles' ancestors. Putin is IMO comparable to the Godfather of the Mafia, but not to Hitler.

[dipsydoodle]

48. In return Gapes is being accused of being a Putin apologist.

Ilford South MP Mike Gapes yesterday faced accusations he was a “Putin apologist” after criticising Prince Charles for comments comparing the Russian president to Hitler.

The Labour politician, a former Foreign Affairs Select Committee chair, suggested the Prince of Wales take a lesson in discretion from his mother after a former Polish war refugee claimed the prince said Vladimir Putin’s actions in Ukraine were “not unlike” Hitler’s takeover of countries in the build-up to the Second World War.

“My position is that our Queen has been fantastic because she is seen and not heard,” he said.

“She never makes any controversial comments and that’s why she’s been so popular. [Prince Charles] could do with taking a lesson from his mother.”

http://www.ilfordrecorder.co.uk/news/news/mike_gapes_mp_accused_of_putin_apologism_after_prince_charles_snipe_1_3611571

Aside from that the fact is nobody knows exactly what his nibs did say.

[Jesus Malverde]

50. Sounds very familiar...nt

[dipsydoodle]

51. lol

[intaglio]

49. As a Labour supporter all I can say is this MP is a moron

"Abdicate" FFS that is what the reigning monarch does not one of the nobles.

He means that the Prince should renounce his titles and abandon his right to succeed. Not a bad idea but not for this particular storm in a teacup

[treestar]

52. What does this Labour MP care?

What effect has it had? Has it harmed international relations between the two countries? Everyone knows the Prince has no political power.

[leftyladyfrommo]

55. A Tempest in a Teapot?

Poor Charles.

[yurbud]

57. the monarchy is tourist attraction and jobs creator for tabloids. Although this fits that second

perfectly.

[Sunlei]

58. perhaps the MP should 'quit' and move to lovely 'free' Russia.

[Doctor_J]

59. and what would be the difference if he did?

[Wolf Frankula]

60. I Don't Blame the Prince

Everybody knows that Chucky Jugears is dangerously inbred. He really can't help himself.

Wolf

[Tom Ripley]

61. Actually, he is considered the "odd duck" intellectual of that family

[JCMach1]

62. With Putin spoutng genetic Russian superiority shite...

probably the shoe fits pretty well.