Mikhail Gorbachev passes

[Grumpy]

 MOSCOW, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Mikhail Gorbachev, who ended the Cold War without bloodshed but failed to prevent the collapse of the Soviet Union, died on Tuesday at the age of 91, Russian news agencies cited hospital officials as saying.

Gorbachev, the last Soviet president, forged arms reduction deals with the United States and partnerships with Western powers to remove the Iron Curtain that had divided Europe since World War Two and bring about the reunification of Germany.

"Mikhail Gorbachev passed away tonight after a serious and protracted disease," Interfax news agency cited Russia's Central Clinical Hospital as saying in a statement.

Gorbachev will be buried in Moscow's Novodevichy Cemetery next to his wife Raisa, who died in 1999, said Tass news agency, citing the foundation that the former Soviet leader set up once he left office.

http://www.reuters.com/world/mikhail-gorbachev-who-ended-cold-war-dies-aged-92-agencies-2022-08-30/

[Grumpy]

 Putin too busy worrying Ukraine to attend funeral.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/03/mikhail-gorbachev-funeral-moscow-putin-too-busy-to-attend

[Trenchcoat]

Putin too busy worrying Ukraine to attend funeral.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/03/mikhail-gorbachev-funeral-moscow-putin-too-busy-to-attend

I don't think Putler was a fan, he said that Gorbo had 'abdicated power' I think meaning that as he said that he won't use force in stopping uprisings and didn't that the Soviet Union fell apart because of that. Putler did however say the reforms were necessary (even though some say Gorbo lost control of them and they caused shortages etc that at least partly contributed to ending Communism in Russia). So that suggests to me that probably Putler is no so bothered about Communism - so not so bothered about bringing that back, but is bothered about a Russian Empire and seeks to get back what Gorbo lost. I understand that it can't be easy for probably many Russians to stomach that they once had a large Empire and with that prestige and that was pretty much fumbled away by Gorbo. Pretty much all countries in the world if you rise up against the government the government will put you down with force. Thing is what happened has happened it was the Soviet system which put a man like Gorbo there so the system brought that about. Russia really had no claim to hold people and territory outside its own borders it did so as a result of the outcome of WWII. So it really should move on from those days and the days of Empires of hundreds of years ago.

I think Gorbo was a nice decent guy but I don't think he was a good politician or economist. On that front he was a bit of a simpleton, he could look the part but I don't think he really ever had it up top to realise what he was doing and the impact it would have. I don't think many people recognised at the time that he wasn't really up to the job because he looked like he fitted the part. Apparently he was a farm boy of mixed Russian & Ukrainian heritage. End of the day for better or worse (probably for better for us in the west)  Gorbo fumbled it pretty bad for the Soviet Union and dropped the ball on his watch. Had someone else been there the Soviet Union might still be there, a curious thought but that if course would likely mean no joy for us guys wife hunting abroad in Eastern Europe lol.