Brian O. Sheppard x349393:
> It's this kind of adoration of "great leaders" that is such a threat to
> our chances of having a really democratic society.
>
> Emile Zola:
>
> "At bottom, yours is not yet the real republican blood; the sight of a
> plumed helmet still makes your heart beat quicker; no king can come
> amongst us but you fall in love with him.... It is not of your Army that
> you are thinking, but of the General who happens to have caught your
> fancy."
>
> This was cited by Hitchens, someone that I disagree with 50% of the time
> otherwise. In my teens, when I listened to punk, I hated rock stars. It's
> no different now.
"No God and no king!"
(Actually, though, I don't have a problem with Gods that are two large or diffuse to beat me with.)
I've always thought that Gorbachev was just a cut or two too decent a person to be a successful politician. I liked the suggestion, made of old, that he become a talk-show host. Maybe he could team up with Slick -- the angel and the devil. With that band they were talking about....
-- Gordon