Not Quite Six Feet Under

There is renewed debate about the disposition of Vladimir Lenin's body, as the one of the last major symbols and tourist attractions of the Communist Era, remains on view at the Kremlin.  This from Cox News Service:

To this day, Lenin's mausoleum has millions of visitors each year, who silently pass by the glass case housing his body and gaze at his wax-like face with its famous goatee.

[Russians really need a Disney World. Or NASCAR.]

"He is part of our history, and we have already tried to destroy so many other things," said Igor Kuznetsov after a visit to the mausoleum. "We should just let him lie there in peace."

Russia has deconstructed much of the Soviet elements of its communist past. Gleaming, high-rise office buildings now overshadow Soviet architecture that once defined Moscow's skyline. This year the Duma, or parliament, threw out a Nov. 7 holiday commemorating the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917.
 
But whether to finally give a proper burial to the father of the Russian Revolution might be the hardest debate of all 13 years after the fall of communism.

The debate reignites every 18 months when a group of scientists removes Lenin's corpse, as it did again this month, and performs routine maintenance on the former Soviet leader. "Lenin's body is in good condition and could remain in the mausoleum for 100 years more if it is given the necessary care," said Yuri Denisov-Nikolsky, one of the scientists.

Lenin died of a stroke at the age of 53 on Jan. 21, 1924, seven years after leading the revolution that eventually created the Soviet Union. Soon afterward, Russian scientists scrambled to find a way to preserve his decaying corpse after six weeks of lying in state.

[We pause in this narrative to give readers an opportunity to express revulsion.]

Working in secret, two scientists finally came up with a successful embalming method. Workers labored through a harsh Russian winter to construct the massive granite structure that houses the body. Lenin's brain was sent to a Moscow institute to discover its "source of genius."

[Still looking.]

The mausoleum soon became a popular tourist site for citizens. Many considered a trip to see Lenin a pilgrimage. Today, the lines to the mausoleum are shorter, although security remains high.

Increasingly, Russians say it is time to bury Lenin, not display him. The Russian Orthodox Church has been one of the strongest advocates for laying Lenin to rest at a spot next to his mother in a St. Petersburg cemetery.

In a 2004 poll conducted by the Forum for Public Opinion, 56 percent of Russians said they supported the idea of burying Lenin, an 11 percent increase since 1994. But the Communist Party maintains that Lenin should remain on display.

"For the moment, it is too early to speak about doing anything with the mausoleum while the older generations are alive," said Tatiana Koloskova, director of Moscow Lenin Museum.

In related news, Paris Hilton has interned at a New Jersey mortuary for her reality show "The Simple[ton] Life." Quid sees a real synergy here: perhaps Ms. Hilton could go to Russia for some professional development.  Corpse preservation techniques from Russian scientists and fashion tips and life lessons from the corpse. 

Ms. Hilton, regarding your career trajectory:  you're getting warmer.  Vote or die!