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Post Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2013 4:44 am |
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Joined: Wed May 15, 2002 12:00 am Posts: 11381
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I'm sure you've all heard of Nelson Mandela. A shining example of what a politician should be; a man of strong convictions, willing to compromise where necessary but not giving in to greed. He was arrested in the early 1960s and stayed in prison until 1990; from 1994 until 1999 he was the President of South Africa (one term) and then, having steered the country safely through an exceedingly difficult time, he retired, leaving the office in the hands of a succession of, so far, inferior candidates (to be fair, it would be extremely difficult to find any other sort). He then retired from retirement a few years later, dropping almost entirely out of the public eye to go back to family life; nowadays, he only gets on the news when something happens to him.
He's also ninety-four years old. (Ninety-five next month). Given his age, and his almost 30 years in prison, one can expect that his health is not at its best. On occasion, he goes to hospital (and that is reported on; though the reporters are firmly kept away, they have a bad habit of camping outside the hospital and reporting on all the politicians who come to visit their former comrade; on at least one occasion, the reporters were tricked into watching what turned out to be the wrong hospital, which says a lot about what Mandela and his family think about this). So more-or-less all that gets reported on is "he's in hospital"..."politician X is visiting him in hospital"... and a few days later... "he's out of hospital".
This time, it's a little different. This time, the reporters have been given a few words; those words being "critical condition". It doesn't look good.
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kitoba
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Post Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2013 9:27 am |
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Joined: Mon Sep 23, 2002 12:00 am Posts: 2699
Website: http://kitoba.com
Location: Televising the revolution
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He's the living person I most respect.
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Jorodryn
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Post Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2013 10:17 am |
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Joined: Wed May 13, 2009 2:42 am Posts: 1959
ICQ: 8854007
Yahoo Messenger: jorodryn
Location: Well since the universe expands infinitely in all directions, The center of the universe.
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Yeah, it's kinda hard not to like the guy. He did a lot for his country and made a pretty decent impact on the world. Nobody's perfect, he has his flaws, but he is definitely a leader I can respect.
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Passiflora
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Post Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2013 1:22 am |
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Joined: Tue May 21, 2002 12:00 am Posts: 12406
Location: The things, they hurt
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kitoba wrote: He's the living person I most respect. Aside from Aung San Suu Kyi, me too.
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s.i.l.
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Post Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2013 3:08 am |
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Joined: Wed Dec 19, 2007 10:02 am Posts: 1210
Website: http://circular-illogic.deviantart.com/
Location: Somewhere, Texas
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I admit I don't know much about Mandela the man as opposed to Mandela the symbol but he is obviously the kind of guy the world needs more of. It will be sad to see him go. I honestly can't see him lasting much longer. Even though he is black, in his frailty he has begun to resemble my Mexican grandfather in the time shortly before his passing.
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