Re: Exclusive: Garry Kasparov Says ‘It’s a Fact Russia Helped Trump’ | Playboy

On Garri Kasparov's Playboy interview

Kasparov, "known for his brusque charisma and flashes of mordant wit, brought his fierce intellect, intense presence and forceful style"

This nicely summarizes Kasparov. I've never heard of anyone else described as having a "brusque charisma". Heh.

"The whole story of the rise of Donald Trump is extraordinary. Putin believes that if you're strong enough and if your opponent is not responding, you can go as far as you want. "

That sounds like Trump. Just how tight are they?

"Now, President Barack Obama is very much reaping the harvest of his weak foreign policy because Russia  tried to demonstrate its political might by attacking the very foundation of American democracy."

Our foreign policy isn't weak, but it appears that way. Perhaps the easiest explanation for it is our huge debt, a leftover from Republican governance. Another explanation for the approach, which hasn't been articulated very well yet, is that we seek to let strong power have influence in their own regions, to allow their personalities to be exhibited without wars and to let each solve their region's problems if they can. Our role is more limited, to assistance. Combine these two things (debt and a more limited role for America) and you get the current policy. It is deliberate and not from weakness. Putin just can't comprehend that we would choose such a policy because it is so foreign to him.

One issue with such a policy is that the other powers of the world aren't used to this kind of thing and haven't quickly adjusted to it. Is Europe in good working order? Is Russia capable of playing business instead of war? Is China capable of handling problems outside their border (see N. Korea)? America will have to be the world's

policeman for some time, but maybe just a little less so.

I would also remind Kasparov (if he were reading this) that whatever intervention was made in America's political system, it wasn't military. It was just sneaky KGB crap which wouldn't have had any legs if the Republicans and our media weren't also such crap.

Why haven't the Democrats responded more forcefully? Aside from fixing our systems,

which Ms. Stein's recount efforts hopes to reveal, Congress could act, but Republicans

control too many levers of power. Let Kasparov tell the Republicans what to do and

let's see how frustrated he gets. Anyway, the American voters knew what was happening

and they could easily have decided differently. We got what we got despite them knowing

what was happening (maybe not the specifics, but enough).

"Hillary Clinton was prematurely talking about cabinet positions. She virtually ignored Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. She could have had Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren campaigning there [until the end]."

To give the Clinton campaign a bit of credit, there were few if any pollsters anywhere saying those states were going 'red'. I think the Trump campaign spotted it first, but after the Comey statements it was just too late to change the trend.

Until the serious voting in Florida showed how close the race there was going to be the Clinton campaign had been trying to win more senate seats. I agree with GK that early talk about governing was not good, but I don't know how much of that there really was. It's very hard to remain cautious and keep in mind that the FBI director might break all the rules and destroy everything. That's a rare, if unheard of thing.

I'm still looking for the investigation of the FBI agents who leaked information and forced Comey's hand. /sarcasm


"Clinton was wrong. She was the wrong candidate. She was the candidate of the status quo, with too much baggage from the past. The fact that she lost to Donald Trump shows how weak she was as a candidate. "

I agree she wasn't ideal, but she got 2.7 million more votes than Trump. That's not "weak".

"I think Ronald Reagan put it most concisely when he said, "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.""

I suspect someone else put it most concisely and Reagan's speech writer just handed the quote to Reagan to read.

"We are responsible for reaffirming the values we cherish in the present and finding a path for them into the future, because they are always in danger of being brought back into oblivion. As the motto of Soviet dissidents went, "Do what you must, and so be it.""

I think today's Democrats, and particularly the politicians involved in the fight on a day-to-day basis realize this and are more keenly aware of the motto than most others. But, we always try to do more than just "what we must". We also try to do what is proper and just.

"Dictators who stay in power too long basically turn their countries into political deserts. And unfortunately animals or trees that can survive in deserts are the most rigid and not the nicest ones."

We see that kind of thing in America too, that's why there are protests on the streets and in Congress. It's too bad the media has fallen by the way-side and only sees money. Life in the political desert may be possible, but it's not the way most people are happy.