Snak's Man of the Year

While I may be bias toward Canadian Conservative Leader Stephen Harper and his ability to unite two federal parties, run for the leadership and easily win, and come just over 30 seats from becoming Prime Minister, all within 6 months, his obstacles weren't nearly as great as one man whom I admire greatly.

Hands down: Ukrainian opposition leader and presidential candidate, Viktor Yushchenko is Snak's Man of the Year for 2004.

In the past several weeks, the world's attention has focused on the presidential elections in Ukraine. This country, with a rich culture of tradition, compassion, industry and work ethic, has been supressed by Russian Soviet influence, starved to death by Stalin, taken over by Nazi's, and since its Independence from the Iron Curtain in 1991, has been ruled by an autocracy of thugs under the umbrella of quasi dictator of Russia, Darth Vladimir Rasputin.

This event has been earmarked as a defining time of the post Cold War era. It's East vs. West again. The U.S. and Canada declared the election bunk while Putin congratulated fraudulant winner Yanukovych. Putin played his cards badly and now has yiachi juice on his face.

Viktor Yushchenko not only has proven that he has the majority of support of Ukrainians in that country, but all around the world. Orange-clad Yushchenkomania has swept the hearts of all freedom loving peoples, Ukrainian or not. His calls for closer relations with the west, NATO, and the European Union, while continuing strong trade with Russia, make sense for this breadbasket of a country.

He has rallied hundreds of thousands of supports to camp out in the bitter cold to protest in Kyiv for weeks on end. He has gracefully subvered the ruthless propoganda campaign from eastern Ukraine and civil war threats from the Russian northern border. Yushchenko has the entire democratic world rooting for him. Thousands of people from around the world are coming to observe the election, ensuring a fair vote ensues.

The east-west divide you see in Ukraine just simply isn't true - it's propoganda that has become a false reality. Yushchenko supports are now getting in their cars and travelling to eastern Ukraine to connect with those same supporters who have been threatened and beaten for not supporting the other candidate and current Prime Minister Yanukovych, who was appointed by Leonid Kuchma, outgoing president and Putin lacky.

Yushchenko knows how to play the art of politics to the extreme to achieve the result you really desire. His masterful decisions have stymied a propoganda machine propped by Russian dollars.

And to top that off, he has been poisoned by dioxin. The Yanukovych campaign recently said it was a campaign ploy. What crap. Mr. Yushchenko's once movie star face has been badly potmarked and disfigured. He has now proven that good looks aren't what Ukrainians are looking for - they're looking for freedom, democracy, human rights, not continued bullying, and Viktor Yushchenko is the man that's taking them there. He will win this mini cold war on December 26, the date marked for the repeat vote of the presidential election run-off, on behalf of true Ukrainians, and for all freedom loving peoples of the world.

And his charisma reminds me of another man who won the Cold War for all - former U.S. President, Ronald Reagan.