Some of you may have heard this one before.

Stalin, on his deathbed, called Khruschev to his side. "Here," said Stalin, handing Khruschev two envelopes labeled "1" and "2", "I have prepared two letters for you. Open Letter 1 during an economic crisis. Open Letter 2 during a political crisis. Good luck."

A few days later, Stalin was dead and Khruschev was head of the Soviet Union.

Soon he experienced an economic crisis, so he opened the first letter. It said, "Blame everything on me. Denounce me. This will distract people, who will want to believe ill of me, and give you time to correct the problems."

It worked.

Many years later, the Politburo decided that Khruschev was no longer an asset to the nation. Khruschev decided to open Letter 2. It said, "Prepare two letters. ..."