Rep. Olver Confuses Winston Churchill and Vito Corleone

Congressional candidate Nathan Bech reports that Congressman John Olver (MA-01) incorrectly attributed the quote “keep your friends close but your enemies closer” to Winston Churchill in a speech on Iran back in February.

U.S. Representative John W. Olver (D-Amherst) misidentified the author of the famous phrase “you keep your friends close but your enemies closer” in a February speech on Iran.  Olver attributed the quote to the late British prime minister Sir Winston Churchill.  The saying actually originated with fictional movie character Vito Coreleone, the mobster patriarch of Mario Puzo’s “The Godfather” series.  Puzo did not publish his first book until 1969, four years after Churchill’s death.  The film that made the saying famous was not produced until 1972.  Puzo has said in interviews that the quote was loosely inspired by the writings of Chinese warrior Tsun Tzu.  Olver’s statement was captured on a video obtained by his opponent’s campaign. 

Olver’s statement elicited a strong response from challenger Nathan Bech (R-West Springfield).  “It seems John Olver owes Marlon Brando and Robert DeNiro some credit for his foreign policy position. As someone who has fought alongside our Afghan and Iraqi allies, I have a problem with keeping our terrorist enemies closer than our real friends — the Iranian people.  Iran has a brutal regime that suppresses women, minorities and the press while killing American troops. Iranian-backed militias have killed religious leaders, peace activists, and Iraqi soldiers on Iraqi soil. Not only that, but their religious intolerance leads them to question the Holocaust and finance terrorism around the world.  To describe that at the level of a movie quote is beneath a member of the U.S. Congress”, said Bech.

…and yet, it’s such a common attitude of Democrats in congress.

Matt Margolis is co-author (with Mark Noonan) of Caucus of Corruption: The Truth About The New Democratic Majority. He also blogs at The Buffalo Bean. Follow Matt on Twitter.