The sexiest man alive, Glorious Soviet People's edition

"Daddy Bear" Mikhail Gorbachev
Source: Russian International News Agency
(RIANOVOSTI) via Wikipedia

The sexiest man alive. For as long as he's alive.

What say ye to that, "Boi" Putin?

Jus' sayin', Mikhail Gorbachev is The Man and always will be, while Vladimir Putin will forever remain the boy who would be tsar. Seriously, if you have to show up shirtless on horseback every so often to prove your testosterone count is still high, then perhaps you're not as strong-like-bull as you let on.

But Mikhail--what a man, what a man, what a man!

I was in Leningrad--excuse me, St. Petersburg--in 1985 when Mikhail came to town and walked through the streets to meet the people. I was in Washington, too, in the '80s when he did the same there.

Both times were electric. And both times, dammit, I missed meeting him.

From an outsider's perspective, I always thought Gorbachev was a terrific leader, pushing the boundaries of the Soviet system to open the country and the culture to the wider world, which, in theory, should have been a great plan. Compared to Ronald Reagan (ptui), he looked so vibrant, serious, intellectual, and forward-thinking, a liberal Communist leader, a real progressive chelovyek, if you will.

OK, so I only have an inkling of the "Backstage in the USSR" drama that went on during his era. And, let's be honest, one coup, some aborted attempts at creating alternative parties, and a long period of "Putinstroika" later, we can see that things didn't quite turn out the way we all wanted them to. A heavy, heartfelt sigh to that, tovarishchi.

Nevertheless, Gorbachev for me will always be one of the bravest, most daring, most vital, and most visionary leader of the later half of the 20th century.

Source: U.S. Department of Defense and Wikipedia

And just to completely cheapen the moment (as only I can), also one of the hottest. No (complete) joke, I always thought Micky G was so fine in a mature, Russian "daddy bear" kind of way. I know, I know, my Freudian slip is showing, but for reals, how could you not be tuned in and turned on by his politics and his persona? No need to overcompensate and be all attention-whorey like some politicos we know. Uh-uh. Mikhail, in the heady, trippy days of glasnost, had it going on and on and on. He is the Quiet Storm of Soviet leaders.

You can laugh, yes, but not too much. I once had a friend who use to sing the virile praises of Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu.

Personally, I don't get it. There's obviously no accounting for our tastes in men, but at least my choices have the better politics.