Posted on 10/14/2004 8:37:41 AM PDT by Stoat
Nicole Brodeur / Times staff columnist No debate: Gorbachev a leader
By now, we know what leadership is not. Flip-flopping. Defensiveness. Big displays of power that come back as a thousand heartbreaks. So we continue to scour the political profiles. We watch every word, every nuance, every back bulge of the debates, looking for that hint of something that will settle our souls. Then Mikhail Gorbachev comes to town. And you see right away what you have been looking for. Gorbachev, 73, was in Seattle Tuesday to open the Northwest office of the Rosinternetfund, a nonprofit seeking to develop Internet use and talent in remote parts of Russia. The hope is that the country will learn the skills to better compete and work with the rest of the world. Gorbachev is the group's chairman, an ace-in-the-hole to attract business and money, but also to inspire. "He means credibility," said Alexander Ostrovsky, who, with fellow Russian and Microsoft retiree Yuri Starikov, will head the firm's Kirkland office. At a reception at the Columbia Tower Club, people paid $300 to be photographed with the man who led the former Soviet Union through the end of the Cold War and into the openness of glasnost. He left office in 1992, two years after he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He has since formed the Gorbachev Foundation and Green Cross International, an environmental group based in Geneva. "Gah! I am so busy," he said through a translator. "I don't have the time to fry eggs." In person, Gorbachev is less imposing than the history he carries within him. His hair has turned snowy white, and the famous birthmark fades in the light of his charisma. I asked if he knew what he was starting when, in 1986, he introduced perestroika, a program of economic, political and social restructuring.
It became the domino that knocked over 75 years of totalitarianism and gave the Russian people new freedom. But, he said, they have yet to grasp the spirit of the program. "Perestroika is a change in the way people behave, not just their property," he said. "People have to rebuild their minds rather than changing the furniture in the room." He misses being president, even though, "Like here, once a president, always a president." That said, "I never felt as free as I feel now. And the kind of person I am, being free is the most important thing. Not the ability to act at will, but the ability to speak and speak out. So I have been doing my best." He lost his wife, Raisa, in 1999. "Too early," was all he said. He spends his free time reading and writing. Ronald Reagan once described Gorbachev as "a true world statesman." But the man I met was also the former farmboy who can still recognize the thrum of a combine. And maybe that's what makes a leader clearing fields so history can grow. Nicole Brodeur's column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Reach her at 206-464-2334 or nbrodeur@seattletimes.com. She may just write him in.
Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company |
For those unfamiliar with our "culture" here, this piece worshipping Gorbachev and his legacy is actually fairly tame for The People's Republic of Seattle. Don't forget that this is the city that has a giant statue of Lenin on display, and whose city council has essentially offered to lick Castro's boots through official channels.
Alert readers will note the line "she just may write him in" at the bottom of the page. This was not added by myself and is part of the original published page. Although it may well have been added by an editor, I have no doubt that the author approves of the inclusion wholeheartedly.
I still think that's Rush's best update theme.
I think that's what she meant to say and who would want a leader that lost a war when we in the U.S. currently have and need one that's out to win one.
I accord Gorbachev the credit I would anyone who sees a train coming down the track straight at them and has the sense to step out of the way. But I don't mistake that for leadership, vision or any of the other accolades bestowed on him by people who just can't quite face the fact that President Reagan won the cold war.
Rush Limbaugh is spending 20 minutes on this, with Empire Strikes Back music playing!
MahaRushie Sees All, Knows All....
It was great...
Close, but pronounced slightly different.
Skipper of Titantic a sailor.
Funny how liberals need to rely on outsourcing to get leadership.
He kept referring to the writer as "Nick" and saying "he" was having a Gorbasm. Surprised Rush didn't notice Nicole is a female - makes it even funnier.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.