4 ~ Wednesday, September 21, 1988 — North Shore News WITHOUT DOUB7, one of the greatest unfold horror stories in political history has just been revealed. Rather late — but better late than never. 1 refer to news that former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev suf- fered clinical death in 1976, but was revived and “ruled in a virtual daze’’ for six more years. According to Soviet historian Roy Medvedev, after Brezhnev was hit by a stroke and revived, ‘the found it more and more difficult to carry out the most simple pro- tocol functions and could no longer understand what was going on around him."’ This is the sort of story that is permitted in Russia under the new policy of openness. It’s a shame glasnost didn’t arrive a decade sooner. The Russians — and the rest of the world — might have been spared an interregnum of waste and stagnation. It was under Brezhnev that the Soviets barrelled ahead with a staggering deployment of weaponry, including the situating of nuclear missiles in Eastern Europe. The guy's brain may not have been al! there, but he was a useful puppet for the military kingpins, that’s obvious. Another historian has described Brezhnev in the last six years of life, or afterlife, as it may have been, as a person who ‘‘was very emotional and cried easily.” He was literally led around by the hand by members of his en- tourage, ‘‘who needed Brezhnev to appear from time to time in public” in order to sustain their own ‘‘total wallowing”’ in corrup- tion. As long as there seemed to be a leader, the rape of the public treasury could continue unabated. He had surrounded himself with old cronies from the days when he was an up-and-coming politician in the Ukraine. The fact that most of them were on the take or else directly embezzling state funds was of little consequence to him. His son-in-law went on trial in Moscow recently in connection with a score of corruption-related scandals, and dozens of other of- ficials from his era have been ar- rested or dismissed. Still, according to people who study these matters, the hard core of his team of crooks are still in positions of power in the Kremlin. Apart from the wreckage of the Soviet military machine in Afganistan and the decay of the entire industrial system, this is Brezhnev’s fegacy. The idea that one of the leaders of the two superpowers was ina daze, a living zombie, as it were, at atime when aging Ronald Reagan was nodding off during cabinet sessions in the White House, or making jokes on TV about having blown up Russia, is hardly reassur- ing. Trying to find some humor in the situation, | am reminded of writer Barry Broadfoot’s joke: Three things happen when you get old. First, you know you can't remember things. And you can’t remember the other two eithe7. But Brezhnev’s zombie phase is instructive. Asa student of the various ways in which power cor- rupts, addicts and maddens, I find this stuff fascinating. It is reminis- cent of tales from the heyday of the Roman emperors, who were famous for their pig-outs and demented behavior. At least they had the excuse that their brains may have been fried by the lead in the aquaducts. Under communism, of course, a disaster of this order — it is, after all, a disaster for the people below — can happea a lot more easily than in the gold fish bow! of democracy with its free press, especially nowadays when the press takes its responsibility for rooting out feet of clay rather seriously. { think it is self-evident that people in public office in a democracy face closer scrutiny than ever — and this has to be good, even if it is awful for the souls involved. During the Second World War, it was possible for Canada to be run by a superstitious twit who talked to his dead mother, the United States to be run by a guy who kept a mistress, and Britain by a cigar-smoking boozer who slept in late, all without anybody knowing. Wartime censorship may have been a factor in keeping these facts of life private, but there was also quite a different attitude on the part of the press, Today, it is impossible to keep certain things quiet. Brian Mulroney’s thousand pairs of Guccis are a part of the public re- cord, as well as Geills Turner’s $39.95 designer toilet brushes. I see that reporter Greg Weston’s book Reign of Error: the Inside Story of John Turner’s Troubled Leadership is under at- tack for being so cruel and nasty to the Opposition chief. The sanctimonious Toronto Star accused Weston of attaining a new low in muckraking. Yet when one thinks of the Sovict Union being led for more than half a decade by a zombie, it is clear that without muckraking, staggcring abuses of power and privilege are inevitable. There should be more muckraking, not less. Canada may not be run by vegetables, as Russia was for six years. But we have had our share of near-vegetables in power. And you can never tell when another might sneak back in @ oz) WOE UE ate Woman jailed for misleading police A NORTH Vancouver woman was sentenced Wed- nesday in North Vancouver provincial court to one day in jail and placed on probation for 18 months after she pleaded guilty to misleading a police officer. Kathleen Wiznowycz, 22, was charged following a June 14 incident in which she misled a North Van- when it had not. couver RCMP officer into initiating an investigation by reporting that a sexual assault had been committed Appearing before North Vancouver provincial court Judge J.D. Layton, Wiznowycz was sentenced to one day in jail and ordered to perform 200 hours of community work service within nine months. Buses to be back on schedule EXPRESS BUSES will soon be running again from the North Shore to the University of British Columbia. B.C. Transit announced Friday the express buses, which have been cancelled over the past couple of wecks, should be reinstated ihis week. “B.C. Transit has taken steps to alleviate the problem through reallocation of staff and equip- ment,”’ said B.C. Transit’s Com- munications Director George Stroppa. In a Sept. 9 News story, B.C. Transit blamed the express bus cancellations on driver absenteeism, while Independent Canadian Transit Union spokesman Eric Scott later claimed that the problem was due to ie number of buses waiting for repair. West Vancouver municipal clerk Doug Allan said eight buses that had been pulled from the district’s Blue Bus system following inspec- tion have already started to return to service la the iateriin, West Vancouver tried to keep cancellations to a minimum by borrowing a couple of buses from Kamloops and Vic- toria. LOBSTER MONTH All thru the Month of September Monday to Thursday only ’ Lobster with gatlic butter ‘Potato & fresh vegetable of ihe day RESTAURANT 230 - loth Sireet, West Van 8 Lunch Monday-Friday 11:00-3pm 926-6861 Dinner Monday-Saturday 5:30-11pm § SKIS sate BOOTS Sale Rossignol 4s Special. ....440.00 249° — Dachstein v3 Pro Foam Sapphir Il... 375,00 199% (incl. Skithotic)......... 595.00 389% 20... 995.00 129% Raichle RE Slalom... 200.00 139% Dynamic va 17 Carbon....400.c0 195% SKI WEAR Sale Assorted Ski Jackets. .200.00 99" 100% Cotton Zip TNecks 25.00 12% — Some items limited in quantity — All Ski Equipment 87/88 models — Sale ends Oct. 9/88 Kastle Nat. Team GS (195 & 200 cm)... .500.00 BINDINGS NORTH VANCOUVER 119 West 16th Street 985-9161 KERRISDALE 5395 West Boulevard 266-1061