BREAKING on MSNBC: Boris Yeltsin dead

Msnbc ^

[dawgmeat9]

Boris Yeltsin is dead, Russian news agencies say, quoting Kremlin.

[Moonman62]

But his liver is still alive.

[IamConservative]

Another Cold Warrior headed for the big reactor in the sky..

[NeoCaveman]

Did he say something bad about Putin?

[Tolsti]

Like his later work or not, he was a mighty brave force and did a lot to bring down the evil empire.. Or at least he kept it rearing back to life.

[libtoken]

BBC is also carrying this as breaking news.

[Bean Counter]

I think the only thing that kept him going this long was “Kieth Richards Syndrome”....he’s really been dead for years, but he was so well pickled it just took this long to find out...

[Keith in Iowa]

>>>But his liver is still alive.

Hasn’t it been pickled for years?

[Dr. Scarpetta]

[B Knotts]

RIP, Boris.

Maybe not a perfect guy, but a heck of a lot better than any other Russian leader I can think of.

[umgud]

Somehow we need to separate breaking news from important news.

[Bommer]

“Putin-cide?”

[tioga]

RIP

[Dog Gone]

Had anyone heard anything about him being ill recently?

[bert]

Was he a cold warrior?

As I recall, he stood up on a tank an gave a speech that in effect ended the Soviet Union. Prior to that he was I believe Mayor of Moscow.

[presidio9]

Wow.

Yeltsin was still alive?

[itsamelman]

The comedy world has lost a giant...



So long, funny man.

[dfwgator]

We were in the process of bringing Russia into the fold, when the Slick One messed it all up with the stupid folly into Kosovo.

[Brilliant]

Putin did it, I bet.

[AU72]

Was he a cold warrior?

He is now!

[Badeye]

I always wonder what a communist says to St Peter....(chuckle)

[Centurion2000]

I always wonder what a communist says to St Peter....(chuckle)

St Peter: Welcome to the Party

[lesser_satan]

IIRC, he also shelled the Parliament building, with hard-line commies inside.

[Julliardsux]

I hope Cheney doesn’t wear that northface coat to his funeral.

[Badeye]

No doubt, but what does a communist say when confronted by the fact they were wrong all along?

[theDentist]

Are they sure he hasn’t just passed out?

[Lazamataz]

Good man. Courageous. America could use a Yeltsin. RIP, droog.

[RockinRight]

I thought the same thing.

[bert]

.....He is now!.......

More correctly “cooling”

The good Doctor Mallard aka Ducky on NCIS has taught that the liver temperature remains warm for a long time after death.

[Lazamataz]

No doubt, but what does a communist say when confronted by the fact they were wrong all along?

Usually,

Bang.

[Dog Gone]

Natasha will be devastated.

[RDTF]

Is he radioactive?

[dfwgator]

No doubt, but what does a communist say when confronted by the fact they were wrong all along?

Yeltsin confronted that fact many years ago.

[CondorFlight]

Yeltsin was touring the US and stopped to see a supermarket in a small town. He was amazed at the quantity and diversity of goods. He asked the manager how many different items they carried, and the manager replied, “about 20,000”.

Seeing that kind of distribution system and the quantity of goods and foods available even in a small town, made him gnash his teeth at the Party apparatchniks who had been ruling Russia for so long, and keeping Russia from having similar abundance. He cursed “them”, and I think he lost his love for communism on that day.

[Heatseeker]

It's easy to joke about him. But while Yeltsin may have been a sloppy drunk sometimes, his courage launched a long-overdue counterrevolution that transformed the world.

Heaven welcomes you Boris Nikolayevich.

[VeniVidiVici]

He cursed “them”, and I think he lost his love for communism on that day.

We had an exchange student in 1998 from Kyrgistan. He said the same thing about the markets.

I went shopping in a Russian store in Munich once. They had tins of meat and fish for sale. Brand? The meat was labled "Meat" and the fish was labled "Fish". What kind and what type was not known.

Soviets also purloined the Marlboro packaging for smokes but can't remember what they called them.

Best thing about shopping in East Berlin? Stoly was about $.50 a liter!

[Bishop_Malachi]

RIP

[Valin]

I’ll always remember him standing on that tank and telling the communists that it was time to go.

[Redleg Duke]

He had a pair of brass ones when the world and Russia needed them. Facing down the tanks.

[IamConservative]

Was he a cold warrior?

As I recall, he stood up on a tank an gave a speech that in effect ended the Soviet Union. Prior to that he was I believe Mayor of Moscow.

Perhaps in my mind more that reality. I associate the end of the Soviet Union with Yeltsen. I was in my teens, but was a big Reagan fan.

[Lurking in Kansas]

I didn't realize he was still alive.

[SkyPilot]

Well, he lived a long time for his lifestyle.

The man played a great role in history. He was a serious alcoholic - I don't know if he ever went through recovery or not. I hope he at least tried to become sober.

During his first visit to America years ago, (he had some government position in old Soviet structure) Yeltsin got so drunk that the Washington DC cops had to pull him out of a public fountain. He was standing in the water, drunk out of his mind, and holding a bouquet of flowers.

[burzum]

Sad. His gravest mistake was appointing Putin. His greatest glory was helping to dismantle one of the cruelest regimes on the face of the Earth. Putin may be trying to reassemble the USSR, but what Yeltsin undid in 8 years, it will take Putin and his cronies 30.

[SkyPilot]

That evening, back in the presidential hotel suite, Secretary Christopher, national security adviser Tony Lake and I lamented the prospect of having to conduct high-stakes diplomacy under the conditions we'd witnessed during the day. Clinton told us to relax. "I've seen a little of this problem in my time," he said, referring to his experience growing up with an alcoholic stepfather. "At least Yeltsin's not a mean drunk." ........As Yeltsin emerged from the plane at Andrews Air Force Base and made his way down the mobile stairs, he was gripping the railing and concentrating on each step. His handlers did their best to block the view of the cameras recording his descent. He slipped on the last step and had to grab his wife's arm. That night at Blair House, Yeltsin was roaring drunk, lurching from room to room in his undershorts. At one point, he stumbled downstairs and accosted a Secret Service agent, who managed to persuade him to go back upstairs and return to the care of his own bodyguards. Yeltsin reappeared briefly on the landing, demanding, "Pizza! Pizza!"

[Nextrush]

Yeltsin is gone, but putrid Putin or is that RasPutin remains.

[NormsRevenge]

Agreed,, Boris was right up there with Nikita for entertainment value.

RIP Boris

[marshmallow]

A career communist who rose through the party ranks but a man who was honest and decent enough to admit that there was a better way when he saw the evidence with his own eyes. His own administration was chaotic and his behavior unpredictable and often comic but he broke the back of an evil regime and helped to start Russia on the pathway to freedom and peace.

Dasvidanya and God speed Boris Nikolayevich.

[BJClinton]

Certainly the most memorable event in his admin.

[fatnotlazy]

Sadly, I thought he was already gone.

Rest in Peace, Mr. Yeltzin.

[mfnorman]

did he eat sushi recently?