CNN’s hagiographic obituary contains the initial details:
Nelson Mandela, the revered statesman who emerged from prison after 27 years to lead South Africa out of decades of apartheid, has died, South African President Jacob Zuma announced late Thursday.
Mandela was 95.
“He is now resting. He is now at peace,” Zuma said. “Our nation has lost its greatest son. Our people have lost a father.”
“What made Nelson Mandela great was precisely what made him human,” the president said in his late-night address. “We saw in him what we seek in ourselves.”
Mandela will have a state funeral. Zuma ordered all flags in the nation to be flown at half-staff from Friday through that funeral.
Mandela, a former president, battled health issues in recent months, including a recurring lung infection that led to numerous hospitalizations.
More as it comes in, beginning with Jim Hoft of Gateway Pundit, who includes a photo of Mandela making a power fist gesture while embracing fellow leftist Fidel Castro when the two socialists met in Cuba, shortly after Mandela’s release from jail.
Update: This July New American article offers some pushback against the media’s canonization: “‘Saint’ Mandela? Not So Fast!”
More: Shocker! “WH Marks Mandela’s Death with Pic of Obama in Mandela’s Cell,” Ben Shapiro writes at Big Government. “Even in paying tribute to a historic figure, President Obama couldn’t help but make it about him.”
Jon Gabriel has a sneak preview of what’s to come from the White House on December 7th.
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