Tom Brokaw's Never-Ending Gorbasm

Not many people still ooze over former tyrant Mikhail Gorbachev as a historical giant who liberated the inhabitants of the Soviet Union. But former NBC anchor and current Meet the Press host Tom Brokaw still does. From a chat at the women’s-news site Wow-o-Wow.com:

From Dabney: Who did you find most interesting to interview during your career? Why?

Tom Brokaw: Mikhail Gorbachev. I was the first journalist to interview him and I was deeply impressed by his intelligence and visions as he went about the daunting task of undoing the political and economic oppressions of the Soviet Union. He will be a giant in future history books.

Brokaw has been consistent in his everlasting adoration of the man who undemocratically ruled the USSR from 1985 to 1991. His 1996 interview with Gorbachev on MSNBC -- then a brand-new channel -- was a feast of fawning. This is the beginning and end:

"From the perspective of the West, the former President of the Soviet Union of course was a courageous, far-seeing prophet whose reforms set in motion the collapse of the Soviet dictatorship and the end of the Cold War....We know that you’ve devoted your life to peace and to changing your country and those of us who have gotten to know you count ourselves among the privileged."