Norm

I always liked your video tag "I thought these things might be clues".

Why have you dropped it? It was and is a clever close. Per usual, a good link.

unlike the 70s and 80s?

just because it was the cia not the army publicly doesn't mean we weren't just as big a hypocritical imperialist

I just wanna pick Kasparov's brain for a few hours.

Kasparov might be an amazing chess player, but he's not politician, and he knows very little about world geopolitics.

In Russia he is the leader of a very small US-backed opposition movement against Putin. Putin is incredibly popular among the Russian people, and has the economy running great. These opposition movements are mostly bankrolled by Washington to try to weaken a regime that is making Russia a world power again.

What is so stupid is that in the US, when we want a view on Russia we go to the most extreme opposition voice we can find. Why not give a more balanced analysis of what is going on in Russia? Because we want to demonize Putin. Period.

Russia is not a police state. There is much more freedom of speech than Kasparov implies. He is simply a vicious opponent of Putin, and knows that he can say anything he wants to ignorant America and get away with it.

Product placement on TV or in movies is no coincidence. I wonder how much CITGO had to pay MSNBC/ Hardball producers for the constant shot over Matthews left shoulder. Funny that they’re talking about high oil prices!

The guy above in Venezuela makes me laugh. The Bush regime has strongly criticized Chavez for his shutting down a criminal private tv channel that supported the coup d'état against him, but doesn't seem to have anything to say about democratic channels that behaved legally in Russia that have been silenced by Putin.

I wonder if Venezuelan gringo supports the fascist opposition, supported by the CIA and various other U.S. agencies, in Venezuela.

Other than that, I love the way that Kasparov pronounces "Bush" as "Boosh".

Putin is incredibly popular among the Russian people, and has the economy running great.

It must be great to be in Venezuela and say this. The Russian with whom I spoke yesterday says almost exactly the same thing as Kasparov - right down to the emphasis on oil prices.

Is "Venezuelan gringo" your cover name? Sure seems that if you're indeed a "Gringo" and living in Venezuela, the chances of you being an oil industry wonk or a CIA op is fairly high. And if you're not working for Langley, as Kasparov asked of Bill Maher a few weeks ago, where do you get your information on how Russians think and what they believe? I'm just saying.....

I agree with Garry Kasparov 100%. While it is true that he is "not a politician", everyone who dives into the political arena was something else by trade. Besides, making that statement implies that being a politician is a good thing. Politicians as we all know are some of the most deceitful self-serving people in the world. It is good that Kasparov is not one of them. He genuinely loves his country and has put his life in danger for his beliefs while giving up a life of luxury in chess. Kasparov has a great grasp of the world's situation and articulates his position in english well; better than George Bush does despite it being his primary language. My own governor in the state of California was an actor before his life in politics and despite my being a liberal democrat and he being a republican, I have to admit he is doing a pretty good job. I fear for Kasparov and his family's lives. I know that Putin and his KGB cronies can easily kill Kasparov without leaving a shred of evidence. Then the jealous Kasparov haters will claim it was someone else's doing or an accident, just like they do for the other dissidents that have died mysteriously. Good luck, Garry and God bless you.

once again rinzou, i just dont understand why you are 100% pro kasparov instead of 100% pro russian people, which you seem to care less about than their so-called voice.

the venezuela guy had a few good points, and yet you write:

"Politicians as we all know are some of the most deceitful self-serving people in the world. It is good that Kasparov is not one of them."

so kasparov is not fit the description of all politicians just because he himself says hes not a politician?

"Putin and his KGB cronies can easily kill Kasparov without leaving a shred of evidence. "

once again, check berezowskis alleged body count (im not even mentioning his much more substantial non-murder criminal record - brazilian authorities would like a piece of him these days for example, just another in a long list) and compare to putins alleged body count - do you honestly think supposedly killing famous people like politovskaya was in his mind, when he knows what the western press thinks of him? do you honestly think politovskaya had any more political impact (hence "worth killing" for putin) rahter than a mere symbolic value for the opposition? or will you give me the "why are there no suspects" when in reality ca. 10 people are under interrogation.

"He genuinely loves his country and has put his life in danger for his beliefs while giving up a life of luxury in chess"

a chess player is just like an athlete: there comes the time when you have to retire. now quitting 15 years ago to try to sort out the mess would have been noble.

once again, youre just a "kasparov extremist" buying every word he says - try to get a more balanced view, reading international press would be a start. and as someone who has an appartment in moscow, trust me, putin is not that unpopular (i have mixed views on him personally - not this ignorant "kgb once and for all" generalizations)

The World War III comment is one of Bush's all-time stupidest. The neo-cons are so wrapped up in wishful thinking (WW III would probably be the only last remaining possibility of them holding on to power in the US forever, as they'd hoped) that they've completely lost touch with reality. You read the Weekly Standard, and it's no exaggeration: they really believe that Ahmadinejad is Hitler who is going to roll across Iraq and Israel with some army of well-armed fanatics, or suicidally drop the bomb on Israel.

So the US is going to have a world war, against whom? Russia and Iran? Iran, which doesn't even have an air force to speak of and Russia whose army is so decrepit that it got its butt kicked in Chechnya multiple times? The world wars were between the greatest industrial powers in the world, not two-bit regimes in remote corners of the world.

ZZzzzzzzz Kasporov talking politics - More Morm Genson porn. Please bring your filth elsewhere. Morm censoring and being a hypocrite -zzzzzz same old story how boring. You know who I am - since I am the only one who ever beat you at chess.

Andrej - Kasparov did not retire because he was a spent force. He was ranked #1 and won the last Linares tmt he played in 2005. I remember following his last round loss to Topalov (He had already won the event) and soon the announcement of his returement came - and it was a huge shock.

He could have dominated chess for a 4-5 more years easily. In fact with the reunification scheme, he would probably have regained his title.

Ever since he lost his title in 2000 to Kramnik , up until his retirement, his record has been incredible. Probably he was stronger than in 1989 when he broke Fischer's record.

I do not completely agree with him politically. But he does make good points about Russian situation. After all the polonium pisoning incident is just too recent.

But actually I would rather he gives up politics and plays chess again. A Kasparov-Anand or Kasparov-Kramnik match will be great for chess.

ZZzzzzzzz Kasporov talking politics - More Morm Genson porn. Please bring your filth elsewhere. Morm censoring and being a hypocrite -zzzzzz same old story how boring. You know who I am - since I am the only one who ever beat you at chess.

Thanks for the info Wilfried, my mistake.

but i still dont buy the born-again-activist thing he got going there. some of his fellow activists are just too sleazy oligarchs for one to not associate him with them ideologically (for kasparov has made good money, and i just believe his primary goal is doing better business (again, when looking at his associates) - not his only goal, sure he wouldnt mind happier russians along the way...)