 |  | | | |  | |  |  | Is it just me? Why once dead everyone becomes a 'hero'? |  | |  |  | |
 Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 2:02 am |
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| AirGunEric |
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In this case, Boris Yeltsin:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070424/ap_on_re_eu/obit_yeltsin
First off- while he was the first democratically elected Russian leader- he didn't "free" the Soviets/the Soviet system- his predecessor, Mikhail Gorbachev, was the one who loosened it all up and paved the way for "democracy" and so on.
Next- My own recollections of the guy were that he was a constantly hospitalized drunk who couldn't make a sensible decision if his life depended on it. Maybe this is just me- but I'm betting this is the idea a lot of people in the Western world got of him.
Third- While he "dismantled" the Soviet system generally- he created a situation/system of corruption as bad, maybe worse, than what existed previously.
Fourth- He apparently hated "authority" and thus "fought" against the Communist system (this barely makes sense) and then appoints a hardline fomer KGB man to be his replacement (Vladimir Putin)- a replacement whose actions are oftentimes "dubious" at best, and more often reflect the governing method present long before anything resembling "democracy" came to Russia. And to boot- he still defended Putin in recent years/months.
So- I'm confused. The guy appeared to be more of a confused drunk who struggled through every day he was in power until his health forced him into retirement. But now he's a "hero"?
Does death forgive all previous mis-steps and grave errors? Apparently it does when one is a public figure.
Of course, I'm not Russian- so maybe I'm just looking at this the wrong way?
Anyone here have any insight on this? |
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| Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 2:57 am |
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| Alstone |
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I think that if you are a politician in Russia and do somthing stupid it would not look good in the eyes of the people to say he was stupid, so when he dies they call him a Hero of the Soviet Union. Then 20 years later they say he was stupid. Stalin was a Hero Once.
AL |
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| Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 3:07 am |
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| AirGunEric |
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I hear what you're saying Al. Perhaps that applies just about everywhere- "being polite before the funeral" and what-not.
But- there shouldn't be any more "Soviet Heroes"- officially speaking the Soviet Republic is defunct.  or so we've all been told, despite the evidence that "Russia" isn't operating all that differently now.  |
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| Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 11:38 am |
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| broommaster2000 |
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| Everyone still thinks Che Guevara is a hero. |
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