Boris Nikolaeovich Yeltsin, R.I.P.

Boris Yeltsin has died.
Many commentators have written a bit about this, and what I remember about him is somewhat less than charitable. I remember him as a vodka-swilling, red-nosed lush, yanking Gorbachev out of from behind the wheel of the Soviet Union, switching the license plates, and swerving Russia down the road, less like an old Lada, and more like those fearsome Tatra trucks. One could never be too sure whether he was sober enough to drive, or if his hands were even on the wheel, but he never quite wrecked.
To go down the road that Russia had to travel took a man with a visceral understanding of the Russian people, a unimaginable determination, and a great deal of faith in the necessity of his cause. Russia should have completely melted down. That it didn't is a credit to Mr. Yeltsin.