Kasparov Speaks, Again [View all]
When we inquire about the Trump/Putin connection or think about what the Russians hoped to achieve through The Donald’s installation into the WH, I can think of no one better to give an opinion than Garry Kasparov. Why? Because Kasparov lived this—from inside Russia—and managed to survive. Certainly his celebrity status as a Chess Master gave him a protective shield for a number of years, but when he became an active dissident, life took a turn into unpleasant territory.
Kasparov was recently interviewed at WBUR’s Here & Now: link for the podcast and summary provided below.
Kasparov says a number of interesting things, issues we’ve been discussing here on DU: the internal attack on democratic institutions, how America is existing in a gray area at the moment where the sowing of doubt about the country, elections and institutions is quite deliberate, the preface to every dictator’s playbook.
He’s also quite clear that to beat the budding autocrat/authoritarian, a populace must have a long-term strategy, not simply a sharp tactical fix if citizens want democratic ideals to prevail. And that we should always choose democratic institutions over any particular personality. He feels this is where his fellow Russians went wrong, choosing Yeltsin over institutional integrity.
In addition, he said something elsewhere that made my ears prick. This is with the whole Roy Moore/evangelical stuff in mind:
When religion is in service to power, it’s always about the power, not the religion.
After reading some of Moore’s comments this morning, Kasparov’s comment really jumped out
Btw, another good podcast was an interview led by Phreet Bharara with Kasparov, Putin, Pawns and Propaganda. Link also provided.
http://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2017/12/20/trump-white-house-garry-kasparov
https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/putin-pawns-and-propaganda-garry-kasparov/
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