However chipper he thinks he appears in public, it's quite obvious we're entering the Yuri Anropov/Konstantin Chernenko phase of wheezing sickly old geezer figurehead leadership. Even if he's brain dead on life support, they will keep his mummified hand on the autopen as long as possible

General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Yuri Andropov in his Kremlin office. 1982-83.

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Well, if you remember how Anropov just popped off in the post-Brezhvyev era…

I recall an alleged 1980s Soviet Union joke after three succesive leaders (Brezhnev, Anropov, Chernenko) died in office in a period of just over two years:
Q. How many Soviet leaders does it take to change a lightbulb?
A. None: light bulbs last longer than Soviet leaders.