Giving the raspberry to Rasputin
A heated debate over Russia's first tsar, Ivan the Terrible, and the lecherous mystical healer Grigory Rasputin, who compromised the monarchy in its waning years, is threatening to create a split in the Russian Orthodox Church.
At issue is a campaign to canonize the two men that is rooted in a widely embraced belief that the monarchy fell victim to a plot masterminded by Jews and Freemasons.
Last week, a group of theologians, church historians and official Orthodox journalists de facto proclaimed what has long been discussed privately in church circles -- that the campaign is being carried out by a sect that is undermining the Russian Orthodox Church from within. [Full Story which include an icon of Rasputin]
I know this story is about a week or two old but this song has been in the back of my head.
Rasputin (Sung to Roxanne by the Police)
Rasputin
Your face on an icon would be a blight
Said to be a lover
Did you seduce the Empress one night?
Rasputin
You don't have to chase that dress tonight
Walk the streets for a honey
You don't care if it's wrong or if it's right
Rasputin
Your face on an icon would be a blight
We tried many times to kill you
Feed poisoned cakes and wine to you
And asked you just how you feel
Shot you point blank with a gun
But still you had got up
To stop your licentious make up
Bludgeoned and put in a lake with a chain
Put you in a bad way
Rasputin
Your face on an icon would be a blight
Rasputin
Your face on an icon would be a blight
Known as 
Cute. I'm also fond of a tune Boiled in Lead covered, with the refrain "Rah, rah, Rasputin/Russia's greatest love machine."
Foolish item. Rasputin didn't compromise the monarchy, nor cause the downfall of the Romanov empire, beyond being a convenient scapegoat. At the time, he actually played a surprisingly small role in history. This is a complex issue, complicated by the jealousy of the Russian elite (including clergy)who found it incomprehensible that the royal family would permit this ordinary peasant into the "inner circle" of the palace. Nicholas and Alexandra had to keep the medical condition of the czarevitch as secret as possible, and without being able to explain that, they couldn't explain why this peasant was periodically called into the palace. Lacking an explanation, people invented their own versions of the reasons, from claiming that Alexandra and Rasputin were lovers to claiming that Rasputin had some magical power over the czar. Some believe Rasputin---the real man, not the lurid, maniacal character--was a saint. Many more believe he was a holy martyr, a man who was, like the rest of us, subject to sin, but who also had an unwaivering faith in God, and recognized the real role he had at that time in history. Not only did he ease the suffering of the czarevitch and strengthen the faith of so many, but he willingly allowed himself to be a scapegoat, deflecting criticism from the royal family.
So did he cause the revolution? No, that's a very naive conclusion. The war (which Rasputin opposed, although he supported the czar once Nicholas made the decision to go to war)destroyed Russia's economy. As poverty increased, resentment against the wealthy increased, royalty represented wealth, this turned to violence and, before long, revolution. That's an over-simplification, of course. But the downfall of the Romanov empire can be summed up by borrowing a phrase from the former president, Bill Clinton: "It's the economy, stupid!"