Empty eulogies

Perhaps it was just too difficult getting V.I.P. visas for western leaders to show up in Moscow for Gorbachev’s funeral. Or perhaps they were worried about being kidnapped at the graveside. Somehow, Orban of Hungary made it—no doubt offering his respects to the late leader who made his own semi-dictatorship possible (one of the unintended consequences). Orban probably had a meeting with Putin afterwards. Of course, this was not a state funeral, since the Soviet Union hasn’t existed for a generation, but I think the non-appearance of western leaders illustrates their hypocrisy to the full. And cowardice. Had they shown up, or tried to show up Putin would have been, to say the least, embarrassed. His own excuse for not being there (scheduling commitments, too busy) was exactly the kind of disingenuousness we now expect from our own ‘leaders,’ like Johnson not finding the time to be grilled by Andrew Neil, or Liz Thick refusing to do a BBC interview. Who do they think they are kidding? This attitude of non-accountability is becoming endemic. Even my old friend Gordon Prentice, standing in regional elections in Ontario with a deliberate intent of exposing the incumbent’s friendly relationships with multiple developers is finding it hard to even get the media bothered by the silence of the said candidate—who knows, with his big electoral spend (part funded by developers) he stands a very good chance of being re-elected. This is the culture of politics today—don’t take risks, keep your head down and say as little as you can (a la Liz Thick). So, despite all the praise spouted forth about Gorby, no risks were taken. Perhaps the lesson here is that Gorbachev was the last leader who really did take risks, and all those that have followed have said to themselves there but the grace of god go I. Best stick to platitudes and no-shows. What a bunch of wankers.