Thursday, September 01, 2022
Mikhail Gorbachev - "Out, damn spot!"
The last Soviet dictator has died.
In the West there's been a certain amount of lamenting his demise. I haven't followed developments in Russia but I'm guessing there's a lot less Gorbachev nostalgia there. Frankly, it's hard for me to think a well-informed person would think he was some sort of great man who should be mourned, regardless of one's values. He was a failure... by his own standards, by Western (classical) liberal standards, and by Soviet standards. He was a dictator and a thug... sure, much less thuggish than the other Soviet dictators, but being "not quite as evil" is not exactly a virtue.
I'm surprised at some of the reactions I've seen from people who should know better. There's a silly and somewhat shameful piece on the usually sensible Powerline blog, with the usually sensible John Hinderaker lamenting his passing. I object in several places in the comments, but like a fool billygoat I used a nom de web. One would have to know a bit of Russian to ferret out these comments.
My friend Jane Shaw also disappointed with a piece on her usually good "Jane Takes on History" blog. "Was Mikhail Gorbachev a Hero? Yes."
No! He was an unrepentant communist dictator! I left a number of comments on the blog, rebutting Jane and the usually superb Constitutional law expert Rob Natelson. What are they thinking?
I can only think that these people are simply lamenting a fictional image created by Western media. People of the former USSR, ranging from Soviet apologists to anti-Soviet liberals and nationalists, have nothing but contempt for this defunct man. He was anti-liberal, pro-communist, a murderer, and an incompetent by everyone's standards. He was simply a failure, the last failed leader of a failed system and a failed empire...
The Kyiv Post published the best analysis of him that I've seen. It's really worth your time.
Mikhail Gorbachev -- "Spot," -- good riddance!
