Though Kim Jong Il's death is also significant, it was auspiciously timed with a famous Communist dissident's death, which brings much more sorrow.
Václav Havel was a famous and principled dissident in Czechoslovakia who eventually came to be president. His reluctance to be president reminds me of George Washington, but Havel had much more healing to begin. His presidency was a testament to his good nature--he never lost himself in politics, but always searched for the light of truth. The Economist did a lovely
eulogy for this great man and his death is a sad fact of history. Havel will be remembered kindly. The eulogy touches on what his version of
The Beggar's Opera illustrated: living a lie is living a lie. He lived the truth and we loved him for it.
