I am starting to understand why so many cartoonists feature
politics as their go-to source for comedy...
Prominent figures (especially political leaders) find it
hard to avoid the public eye, and so the flaws that might have gone unnoticed
in the common man quickly become headlines of national scrutiny. Such was the
case of Russia’s first freely elected President, Boris Yeltsin.
Former President Bill Clinton (himself no stranger to the
spotlight) details an event in which Yeltsin became so intoxicated during a
visit to the White House that he stripped down to his underwear, stood by the
road and attempted to hail a taxi, all because he wanted a pizza...
Supposedly, just a night later Yeltsin once again slipped
past his Russian bodyguards and made his way to the White House basement, where
he was mistaken for an intruder.
But Yeltsin is known for more international incidents than
those in America. In 1992 the Russian leader, while on a mission to mend the
social relations with the post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan, drunkenly decided to play
musical spoons on Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev’s bald head.
Needless to say, no treaties were negotiated.
Yeltsin kicked off a Swedish conference in 1997 by comparing
famous tennis player Bjorn Borg’s face to Swedish meatballs, and subsequently created
headlines by announcing his intention to ban the production of all nuclear
weapons.
Then, while overseeing the departure of Russian troops from
Germany in 1994, Yeltsin apparently found it appropriate to join the performers
onstage to dance, sing (questionably), and wave a baton at the band like he
knew what he was doing...
We can say what we’d like about our state of presidential affairs,
but at least when our President gets onstage to sing, he doesn’t sound like a
Wookie.
And we wonder why we don’t hold our leaders to a higher
standard…
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