What's your favorite color.

My deepest condolences to you Paul.

@Flashman:

Return to Oz was seriously disturbing.

Oh my God… I forgot about that one. Yeah, I have some vague memories of seeing that at my aunt’s house late one night… made absolutely no sense to me. I just recall monkeys on unicycles.

Undoubtably,…The Big E
CV-6 Enterprise

“Tall Paul”

LOL… I"m listening to Hellbilly Deluxe right now  :evil:

That’s rather funny actually if it wasn’t so close to the truth.

Rune Blade

Thank G-d! That explains everything. :D

I think most of the backing came due to two facts:
(1) the USSR needed reforms, that was obvious.
Still, they probably wanted a long term leader that could be influenced => a younger one, after the two short reigns of Andropov and what-was-his-name… Probably, the influentials wanted some change, but surely not that much that it would threaten their power-base, one of the reasons for the coup that failed due to Jelzins help for Gorbachev.
(2) The general secretary and all the other positions he fills made him the most powerful man in the USSR. Probably, whoever put Gorbachev into place, underestimated him. Pretty much the same underestimation that Hitler faced when he was appointed Chancellor, but luckily Gorbachev used that to reform positively, and i consider the new freedom of information, the right to ask wether the party is right and that the crucial reform.

So, I don’t think that there was “real” backing, i believe Gorbachev was kind of a compromise candidate, kind of a makeshift. Of course, once he was into power, you ccouldn’t remove instantly, that would have meant that the party made a mistake (which was not “allowed” before Gorbachev). And he was clever enough to stay into power, and use his popularity at the beginning (which soon, after the economy started to collapse openly, was reduced to more or less nothing) to enforece the reforms.

@TG:

Haha, good historical joke (is it alright if I call it that) you go there! :wink:

But little tidbit about Hitler’s chauffer having to drive backwards has more to do about his Eagle’s Nest in Obersalzberg. Apparently Hitler was so afraid of heights on his way to the mountain hideaway that he forced his chauffer to drive backwards on their way up!

Drugs does that to you!