Boris Yeltzin died

[Mapraputa Is]

I loved the man, I was 20, I was only 20, and then he (as I thought) betrayed everything -- damn man, clown, alcoholic!

But now - he decided to die???

[ April 23, 2007: Message edited by: Mapraputa Is ]
[ April 24, 2007: Message edited by: Mapraputa Is ]

[Mapraputa Is]

I can't believe he died.

I never cried for any political man, but I will cry for him.

[Ulf Dittmer]

All that you mention, and much more a patriarch than the democrat he pretended to be. My own (negative) view of the man -particularly in relation to his predecessor- is obviously skewed by my nationality, but I don't imagine too many will join you in your tears. Given all this, care to tell us why you will shed any?

[Mapraputa Is]

Ulf, this man turned the country upside down.

I can say all bad words abouth him, but he still did it.

[Aj Mathia]

My sympathies.
But, life goes on, don�t worry there will be another, in a different place and different time.(may not be a vodka lover though)

[Mapraputa Is]

He climbed the tank to say his speech!

[Jason Menard]

Boris certainly cemented his place in history.

[Christophe Verré]

I can remember a scene where he had a good laugh with Bill Clinton. That was hilarious. I can't check the video here, but I guess that was it :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzXNXjbZafU

[Mapraputa Is]

Ulf: All that you mention, and much more a patriarch than the democrat he pretended to be.

Don't judge him too hard. He was as bad as the country was
[ April 24, 2007: Message edited by: Mapraputa Is ]

[Chetan Parekh]

Have we allowed political discussion in MD?

[Ulf Dittmer]

Politics was never banned per se. It's just that many people seem to be unable to talk about it in a civilized manner, thus those discussions have tended to be moderated more heavily and trashed sooner.

Any further discussion of this should go into a new thread in the JavaRanch forum, where site policies are discussed.

[Jim Yingst]

To reiterate: any further discussion of "is politics banned in MD?" should go in the JavaRanch forum. Specifically, this thread. The chance of this thread here surviving much longer is fairly small, given its nature, but it will be better if people read the simple requests made by moderators here. Thank you.

[Frank Silbermann]

It was a tragic situation in Russia. My impression is that Boris Yeltzin tried to make things better, but he had a very difficult task on his hands. I believe that societies operate like living organisms, and surgical change, no matter how necessary, is always hazardous.

Anyone can speculate as to what sort of policy might have worked better, but considering the optimism people had for the original Russian revolution (and the resulting crushed hopes) there's no guarantee that our prescriptions would have proven any less disastrous.

[Paul Clapham]

What's your Yeltsin number? My daughter met Yeltsin and Clinton when they were in Vancouver some time around 1992, so her Yeltsin number is 1 and mine is 2 (because I have met her, duh).

[Michael Matola]

PC: What's your Yeltsin number?

I'm one handshake away from Yeltsin, Gorbachev, Clinton, and Gore.

[Devesh H Rao]

Any human being deserves a "RIP", however the person may be perceived when alive...

He got onto a tank and stopped a coup.. for all his follies(which i cannot comment on but i belive other ranchers)... I would still respect him for that moment.

Boris,hope there is vodka wherever you go. RIP.