Checkmate

Earlier this week, Gary Kasparov, the chess champion and a leading critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was detained by authorities after an opposition rally protesting the upcoming Parliamentary election. He was later released after a five-day sentence, but he immediately spoke out against the creeping loss of democracy in the country.

Mr. Kasparov said his coalition, Other Russia, would continue its protests against the Kremlin in order to spotlight what he described as a government that has grown increasingly repressive.

“We’ve entered a very dangerous period because we don’t know where this is going to stop,” he said at an impromptu news conference outside his home in Moscow shortly after being freed. The failure of the government to abide by its own laws and Constitution, he said, “could result in a catastrophe for the whole country.”

Basically, the Kremlin is rigging the election, using their official government power to disrupt the opposition parties, destroying campaign literature and signage, arresting and beating opposition campaign workers, and intimidating civilians to vote for United Russia, Putin's party.

This could be the most dangerous legacy of the Bush Administration. The President looked into the soul of Pootie-Poot and saw a kindred spirit. He ignored the blinking red lights warning that democracy in Russia was on the brink. Putin will eventually run the country from a Prime Minister post after being termed out as President. He's never going to give up power and we are impotent to effect any kind of reforms. Putin has outfoxed the President at every level, and now he's suspending the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty, which could lead to a major military buildup on the Russian border. There's really a lot to worry about regarding the future of Russia. They can use petrodollars to finance whatever they want in the short term, and they are increasingly becoming a despotic regime. So much for that freedom agenda.