# Nelson Mandela... hero or zero? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 22, 2003, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nelson-mandela-hero-or-zero/190101 "2003-07-22T07:18:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nelson-mandela-hero-or-zero/190101/61 "2003-07-24T14:23:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MrDibble \* > **Oh, I’ve been around awhile - I just usually lurk in Cafe Society… > but thanks for the welcome, if you’re ever visiting home from London, we could always do a “Cape of Good Dope” kinda evening, get any other CT 'dopers involved - Skip, frinstance, not sure if there are any others.** _Cape of Good Dope_ - I like it :). Unfortunately, a cash flow crisis (trying to pay off the house in Pinelands) means the likelihood of coming home in the near future :(\*\* > [@](#): > > At first, I dismissed the OP as a disgruntled Gautie, but I’m hearing this all over now…it’s possible he wanted to vent after all the 85th Birthday fuss that’s been happening here. Still, the Pit’s for venting, AFAIC > > MrDibble \*\* If **Swoop** had simply been complaining about the amount of money spent on the birthday party, he would have had a lot more support from me - I too have questions about the appropriateness of the expenditure, and wonder who will be footing the bill - but an attack on the man himself was out of order, in my opinion. Grim ---
**Author:** ![Skip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@Skip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skip)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nelson-mandela-hero-or-zero/190101/62 "2003-07-24T14:38:57Z")
_I too have questions about the appropriateness of the expenditure, and wonder who will be footing the bill_ From what I saw of the telecast, it seemed that Coca-Cola ponied up most of the cash. I also hope they hit the guests up for a few donations. I’m sure Queen Beatrix could afford to get rid of a few shares in Shell… ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nelson-mandela-hero-or-zero/190101/63 "2003-07-24T22:03:01Z")
> [@](#): > > Pity about his taste in shirts, though. You know, my SO and I were just talking about how he was the best-dressed current or former world leader still on the scene! No accounting for taste, I guess… > [@](#): > > But he gets those for free - I’ve met the designer. We figured his wife Graca was dressing him. What’s the scoop? Did she get the designer for him, or is he a fashion plate as well as a hero and a statesman? ---
**Author:** ![Skip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@Skip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skip)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nelson-mandela-hero-or-zero/190101/64 "2003-07-25T09:27:49Z")
He was wearing the shirts for quite a while before he married Graca. One of the reasons I read for his preference for those shirts is that he does not like wearing ties at all. ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nelson-mandela-hero-or-zero/190101/65 "2003-07-25T16:41:40Z")
Doesn’t like ties? Madiba’s my kind of guy! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nelson-mandela-hero-or-zero/190101.md?page=3)