“…he is a good-for-nothing-man [who] simply betrayed his people…”

When the news media touts an individual as a great human being, one should immediately become cynical. When Hollywood touts an individual as a great human being, one should immediately become cynical. When the news media and Hollywood, in conjunction with a bunch of other luminaries, celebrates the birthday of such an individual with universal applause, one might ask what manner of evil this individual has done. While the reference could apply to Nelson Mandela, who is lauded as a latter-day-saint (with due apologies to the Mormon church) for the unique achievement of delivering South Africa to predatory international capital[1] while not delivering an iota of benefit to the Black masses, despite the miracles that are supposed to invariably attend universal franchise and equal rights, the bouquets are on this occasion going to Mikhail Gorbachev.

Gorbacheva and BushGorbachev earned his sainthood for his role in dismantling the USSR, and precipitating the fall of the Warsaw Pact. For this, people of goodwill throughout the world are supposed to be eternally grateful, as this ended the “Cold War” and achieved “peace,” so long as one has a very skewered definition of the word. While conservatives quoted Lenin that “peace simply means communist world rule,” today we might paraphrase, “peace simply means capitalist world rule,” or alternatively, “US global hegemony.” We have “peace” only insofar as there is no longer a specter of nuclear holocaust poised over the world. Harmony between nations, tribes, ethnicities, cultures, and religions remains elusive, however, and this in no small measure because those who hurrahed the demise of the Soviet bloc have ever since been even more avid in promoting their globalist agendas by promoting wars, civil wars, and “spontaneous revolts” because they no longer have the restraining factor of the Soviet bloc. With the Soviet bloc gone the Yankee is now astride the Earth like a half-witted adolescent, devoid of tradition and High Culture;[2] a child cut free and told to do as it likes; a spoilt brat with weapons of mass destruction.

So against this background, we come back to Gorbachev.

Eightieth Birthday Celebration

ABC News described the nature of the “gala celebration,” hosted by actors Sharon Stone and Kevin Spacey, aptly stating that the “movie stars, singers and politicians” who turned out for the show, “underlined the celebrity status Mr. Gorbachev enjoys in the West, where he is widely perceived as the man who freed Eastern Europe from Soviet rule and ended the Cold War.”[3]

Spacey opined that Gorbachev’s actions in helping to dismantle the Soviet bloc continue to reverberate, the latest manifestation being the “velvet revolutions” in the Near and Middle East. The analogy is apt, considering that the revolts that helped topple the Soviet regimes were encouraged, funded, and otherwise assisted by the same NGOs – with US Governmental backing – that are behind the present tumult in the Muslim states.[4]

The Reuters report states that the Russian view of Gorbachev is ambivalent. Quoted is a middle-aged Moscow lawyer who states: “To me he is a good-for-nothing-man [who] simply betrayed his people, he destroyed the mechanism of the state and sold his country for nothing.”[5]

President Medvedev, on the other hand, awarded Gorbachev Russia’s highest honors, yet enigmatically stated that the “big work” Gorbachev did, “can be assessed in different ways.” What might one think of this “compliment” other than that Medvedev, while feeling obliged to pay tribute to someone so esteemed by the “rich and famous,” has to live with the quagmire that he inherited from Gorbachev.

From Communist Functionary to Global Elitist

The gala celebration at the Royal Albert Hall, London, for “Gorby’s” eightieth was accurately labeled “The Man who Changed the World.” For his part, Gorbachev honored as “a man who changed the world” the “founder of the internet,” Sir Tim Berners-Lee. Others honored by Gorbachev with the annual “Gorbachev Awards” were CNN founder Ted Turner[6] and Kenyan engineer Evans Wadonongo. Lech Walesa, father of post-Soviet Poland, was also present.[7]

Y-Net News, one of the large Israeli media outlets, stated of the Gorbachev festivities that among the attendees were Israeli President Shimon Peres, and unnamed “oligarchs.” The Israeli account is more informative than other news outlets. Peres was a featured guest of the event, and presented the Kenyan engineer Wadonongo with his award. Y-Net News reporting on Peres’ speech states:

In his speech, the Israeli president said Gorbachev fought to regain what his country had lost to communism, adding that the former Soviet leader changed history.

Peres also called Gorbachev a good friend to the Jewish people, saying many Soviet Jews were permitted to make aliyah under his rule.[8]

It is evident from Peres’ statements that Gorbachev realigned the USSR in its official attitude towards Israel and Zionism, a factor in itself meriting his elevation to celebrity status among some influential quarters. Russia, more than any other state,[9] has historically given Jews a lot of worry. The Menshevik and subsequent Bolshevik revolts were greeted by some sections of Jewry – high and low – with messianic fervor, but their hopes, along with those of international capital (Jewish and Gentile),[10] were soon dashed by the rise of Stalin and the exiling of Trotsky, et al. Especially after World War II and the creation of the Israeli State, the USSR viewed Zionism not only with suspicion, but as a primary world enemy. Soviet academe gave much attention to the international ramifications of Zionism. Just how well informed the Soviets were is indicated by the official publication of well-informed books such as Caution: Zionism! By Yuri Ivanov,[11] indicating that the upper echelons of the Soviet bloc knew precisely what the Zionists were up to. The Israeli media account continues:

Leonid Shlachover, the event’s general producer, said “this gala has been organized to honor Mikhail Gorbachev, a man who truly changed the world for the better through his actions and example. “This event will celebrate his achievements by bringing together major artists from East and West in a night of celebration.”[12]

Klaimant comments that,

Gorbachev’s perestroika and glasnost reforms altered the course of history by burying the Soviet Union and liberating eastern Europe.

He turned 80 on March 2, marking the occasion by advising Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin against running for a third term as president and warning about the dangers of Arab-style social revolt.[13]