Mandela leads tributes to S.Africa's Botha (no, this is not from the Onion)

[bluestateguy]

I'm sorry, but just because someone dies that does not mean that they deserve to have nice things said about them.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061101/ts_nm/safrica_botha_dc

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Nelson Mandela led South Africans on Wednesday in remembering former President P.W. Botha, the defiant face of apartheid who doggedly clung to white rule and refused to free Mandela from jail.

"While to many Mr. Botha will remain a symbol of apartheid, we also remember him for the steps he took to pave the way toward the eventual peacefully negotiated settlement in our country," Mandela said in a statement.

Botha, 90, died at home on Tuesday. His wife Barbara said he will be given a private funeral on November 8.

News of his death prompted an outpouring of conciliatory statements from President Thabo Mbeki's government and others who had fought to wipe away his regime's strict racial divisions and embrace the multi-racial reconciliation embodied by Mandela.

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[requiem99]

1. When my wife said "Hey, PW Botha died!" -- I said "Good."

[Jed Dilligan]

3. Just like me and Reagan!

[requiem99]

5. Just like ME and Reagan, too.

[lapislzi]

2. Mandela demonstrates the true nature of forgiveness

How many of us could say the same?

I have no love of Botha by any manner of means. I lived in South Africa while he was president, and there's a reason why he's known locally as "the great crocodile." However, Mandela is acting as graciously as it is possible for a human to act. I, for one, feel humble in the face of his overwhelming humanity.

[Selatius]

4. I think Mandela shows us true forgiveness right here.

I favor forgiveness, but that does not mean I favor forgetting.

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. If you want to hear a South African who didn't forgive him, try this

The interviewer sounds a bit embarrassed at how relentless Dennis Goldberg's condemnation is (he was imprisoned at the same time as Mandela).

3 minute 44 seconds of audio

His list of what Botha did wrong goes on for about a minute after she tries to get a word in - and then he's really pissed off when she asks if Botha wasn't 'just a product of his time'.