# Henry Kissinger Has Died **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 30, 2023, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-kissinger-has-died/993884 "2023-11-30T01:59:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-kissinger-has-died/993884/1 "2023-11-30T01:59:43Z")
From what little I knew of him, I’m not a fan, but I will leave the longer eulogy to others. > **[Henry Kissinger, dominant US diplomat of Cold War era, dies aged 100](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/henry-kissinger-dominant-us-diplomat-cold-war-era-dies-aged-100-2023-11-30/)** > > Henry Kissinger, the most powerful U.S. diplomat of the Cold War era, who helped Washington open up to China, forge arms control deals with the Soviet Union and end the Vietnam War, but who was reviled by critics over human rights, has died aged 100. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-kissinger-has-died/993884/2 "2023-11-30T02:04:29Z")
As Paladin put it, "The good die young that they may not be corrupted; the wicked live on that they may have a chance to repent.” ---
**Author:** ![SwissMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@SwissMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwissMan)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-kissinger-has-died/993884/3 "2023-11-30T02:07:28Z")
> [@Kropotkin](#): > > the wicked live on that they may have a chance to repent.” I think that chance was squandered in Dr. Kissinger’s case. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-kissinger-has-died/993884/4 "2023-11-30T02:09:06Z")
I generally find it crass to cheer a death, no matter who it is. Tonight, I’m at a favorite bar with two drinks in front of me, celebrating most crassly. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-kissinger-has-died/993884/5 "2023-11-30T02:14:53Z")
A link to the 1982 Doonesbury cartoon wherein Kissinger’s heart surgeon reflects on holding the heart of the man whose policies once condemned thousands to death [Saturday March 13, 1982 Doonesbury Comic Strip - Andrews McMeel Licensing](https://licensing.andrewsmcmeel.com/features/db?date=1982-03-13& __hstc=110897754.2f3f33a24b44870ec4a577029c49e44b.1694822400273.1694822400274.1694822400275.1&__ hssc=110897754.1.1694822400276&__hsfp=985481114) ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-kissinger-has-died/993884/6 "2023-11-30T02:15:31Z")
Man, I looked all over youtube for 1980 Al Franken as Henry Kissinger getting busted by Bill Kreutzman for taping the Dead concert, but to no avail. Believe me, it would have made a wonderful 2nd post to this thread! ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-kissinger-has-died/993884/7 "2023-11-30T02:18:48Z")
Old joke: I’ve been told you should only speak good of the dead. Kissinger is dead. Good. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-kissinger-has-died/993884/8 "2023-11-30T02:18:49Z")
Kinda gotta go with this sentiment. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-kissinger-has-died/993884/9 "2023-11-30T02:21:15Z")
Liberal CNN is praising him at the moment. A woman I worked with long ago described him as slime. I had admired some international settlement he worked out. I particularly admired his refusing to say anything when asked about a political killing, “The United States does not condone assassination as an intrnational tool.” I was not following international events closely at the time. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-kissinger-has-died/993884/10 "2023-11-30T02:27:48Z")
Murder of tens of thousands civilians okay, but assassination? Can’t condone it. WTF. His grave better have good drainage to a sewer treatment plant. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-kissinger-has-died/993884/11 "2023-11-30T02:27:52Z")
> [@Kropotkin](#): > > A link to the 1982 Doonesbury cartoon “Good oath, that.” ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-kissinger-has-died/993884/12 "2023-11-30T02:28:33Z")
I don’t pay much attention to Rolling Stone these days, but I do appreciate that the tag line for their obituary is “Good riddance” ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-kissinger-has-died/993884/13 "2023-11-30T02:28:43Z")
> [@SwissMan](#): > > I think that chance was squandered in Dr. Kissinger’s case. Not so much squandered as a spendthrift of moral compromise: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/lfcMW1OEw4o/hqdefault.jpg "Christopher Hitchens - Discussing the crimes of Henry Kissinger") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfcMW1OEw4o) > [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Liberal CNN is praising him at the moment. CNN is not particularly liberal; just ethically flexible, avaricious for attention, and perpetually in need of viewership that isn’t running on a gym treadmill. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-kissinger-has-died/993884/14 "2023-11-30T02:32:03Z")
Don’t hold back, stranger, say what you really think. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-kissinger-has-died/993884/15 "2023-11-30T02:33:17Z")
I’ll leave the kind words to Anthony Bourdain. And the historical portrayal to Doctor Strangelove. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-kissinger-has-died/993884/16 "2023-11-30T02:35:13Z")
High time. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-kissinger-has-died/993884/17 "2023-11-30T02:35:50Z")
Here’s another Doonesbury, from 1979, with Honey asking for advice about what to bring up in a seminar led by Henry Kissinger: > **[Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for January 01, 1979 | GoComics.com](https://www.gocomics.com/doonesbury/1979/01/01)** > > Duke: Good God, Honey! Do you have any idea how early it is? Honey: Yes, sir, but it couldn't wait... I'm just about to go into my foreign policy seminar with Professor Kissinger! I need your advice... Duke: My advice? On what? Honey: Well, on what... ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-kissinger-has-died/993884/18 "2023-11-30T02:39:01Z")
The best that I can say about him is that he wasn’t quite as despicable as Robert McNamara. Probably. It’s not a hill I’d die on. Unlike, say, [a hill they made young Americans die on](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hamburger_Hill) in a series of frontal assaults lasting a week only to immediately abandon it. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-kissinger-has-died/993884/19 "2023-11-30T02:40:40Z")
I read, I forget the author or the name of the book, that Dante wrote of people whose souls were burning in Hell while still alive. Demons lived within their bodies. The author said Henry Kissinger was one of these sinners ever since the bombing of Cambodia. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-kissinger-has-died/993884/20 "2023-11-30T02:58:59Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Don’t hold back, stranger, say what you really think. ![](https://c.tenor.com/nCQUWimelJUAAAAC/the-fate-of-the-furious-the-fate-of-the-furious-gi-fs.gif) Stranger [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-kissinger-has-died/993884.md?page=2)