So former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev says, "america is intoxicated by its position as the world's only superpower", adding that he says this "as a good friend of america".
Make that "a good friend of america" who, like some of the Hollywood stars with whom he trucks, criticizes the US at every available opportunity.
"america is intoxicated by its position as the world's only superpower. It wants to impose its will. But america needs to get over that. It has responsibilities as well as power," Gorbachev told Times Magazine writer Sally B. Donnelly in an interview about his new book, To Understand Perestroika.
Who is Gorbachev, who made a soft landing in america after the collapse of the Soviet Union and who would have had nothing without the United States, to criticize it?
It was the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the Pew and Mellon Funds that provided the financing to launch Gorbachev's return from retirement.
a $3.5-million bailout preceded Gorbachev's arrival in america to the Presidio, after a fundraiser was held in his honour at the posh Waldorf-astoria.
In april of 1993, Mikhail S. Gorbachev became the first civilian tenant at the prestigious Presidio in San Francisco. In a dedication ceremony, the former Soviet President and his wife were given the keys to a Coast Guard officer's house by a three-star general, where they were to run the Gorbachev Foundation. The Foundation conducts research on global political and environmental issues.
"For two centuries, the Presidio has stood as a sentinel for the San Francisco Bay area," Lieut. Gen. Glynn Mallory Jr., commander of the Sixth army, said at the ceremony. "It is only fitting for the leader of a peace foundation to be welcomed by a soldier, showing that the defenders of the Golden Gate have been a success." (The New York Times, May 18, 1993).
The Presidio was one of more than 90 military installations being closed under the Base Realignment and Closure act of 1988, an initiative launched by some of Gorbachev's Democrat politician friends.
Ironic that the former Soviet leader who said in a 1987 speech to the Politburo, "Our purpose is to disarm the americans and let them fall asleep" now makes his home at the Presidio.
In the Time Magazine interview, Gorbachev laments the paucity of his government pension.
When asked by Donnelly, "are you enjoying life?" Gorbachev responded, "Yes, but there are some difficulties. Traveling is physically hard. and my (government) pension is only 40,000 rubles a month (about $1,400).
Did Gorbachev spend his way through $3.5-million saving the environment, or was it spent with colleague Canadian billionaire Maurice Strong in trying to replace the Ten Commandments with the Earth Charter?
Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
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