Thought for the Day

"Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervour, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword.

It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind.

And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry.

Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded with patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader, and gladly so. How do I know?

For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar."

- Barbara Streisand, quoting Shakespeare during an attack in 2002 on US President George W Bush and his policy on Iraq. She made the comments during a star-studded Democratic fund-raising gala in Hollywood and had come out of retirement to perform at the gala.

Problem: 

The words she identified as those of William Shakespeare, which she quoted to ridicule the Bush administration's policy towards Baghdad, were in fact the work of an internet prankster who had attributed the words to Shakespeare, from Julius Caesar.

Streisand later said that she had been given the words by a friend. She also commented that “It doesn't detract from the fact that the words themselves are powerful and true and beautifully written. Whoever wrote this is damn talented and should be writing their own play."