Then Gorbachev took her by the shoulders, leaned in, and pecked her on both cheeks.

Miranda blushed and began to pull away.

“No, no, in Russia, we do it three times,” Gorbachev said. Palazhchenko did his part.

“For you, Mr. Gorbachev, four, five—as many as you want,” Miranda said.

Wonder what the story would have been if that had been Arnold.

You mean the Austrians have a centuries-old cultural custom of grabbing women's breasts and squeezing them, reaching under their skirts, pull their shirts up in public places, and all without their consent? How exciting for all the girls who waltzed to Strauss in Vienna! (And to think the Can-Can was condemned as corrupt...) I wonder if that's how Captain von Trapp won the hand of Maria.

Two problems with history instruction:

1. The attitude that anybody can teach it. Not true. Nevertheless, there is little effort put into it in the elementary schools, and at the secondary level, pay attention to how many coaches are given history to teach so as to qualify as a teacher and remain on the payroll with a living wage.

2. The tendency to teach all one way, and then to overcompensate in the other direction. History is complicated. What helps the most is to teach the very young how to look at things from different viewpoints and to know the skeleton of facts. Telling the same story from several points of view gives excitement and vitality to the subject. It also sharpens critical skills. Listing the facts in order gives structure and also some sense of the cause-and-effect cycle in human relationships.

If the Reagan people are angry, maybe they realize they have lost the initiative. If all that Reagan's legacy is based upon is his personal charisma, which was considerable, they have every reason to be worried. History makes its own judgments. We'll see.

Regards--
Mary Anne