I don’t know if GWB has a “deep game” going. But I do know that misunderestimating him is always popular sport!

And I can’t dismiss Putin as klepto-in-chief because he has a constructive vision for Russia, which is to give back to the Russians their national history. Part Czarist and part Soviet, but nonetheless, theirs. The nearest equivalence I can think of is the restoration of the concept of America in the aftermath of the Civil War.

Lastly, a smart Putin might use his gas and oil to bankrupt the US and the West, just as we did to the USSR with the arms race 25 years ago. But a wise Putin would see that a broken America wouldn’t be good for Russia. Not with neighbors like China and Islam.

I guess we’ll find out.

Kasparov’s lies follow the same pattern:
• Putin is ignorant criminal and cannot have any arguments (at least presented on US TV); he is guilty of all crimes happened in Russia and former USSR during all times
• Any Kremlin’s statement which does not suit the theory about criminal Putin’s regime is a lie and is a part of Putin’s plot
• Kasparov has a right to consider any assumption made by himself as absolute truth and proven fact
• Any fact that does not fit into the story about evil Putin does not have any relation to the subject and is just another Kremlin’s lie
• Any fact that strengthen Kasparov’s story about bloody Putin regime is of course real and proven, even if it has been just made up by Kasparov
• Fact which Kasparov did not bother to familiarize himself with does not exist even though it is well-known to public

The most common comment by them: that Americans don’t really understand what’s going on within Russia…that Kasparov is connected the the Yeltsin-era gang-ocracy…That democracy takes time, and that Russia is starting from a weaker position, vis-a-vis public understanding of the concept, than did America over 200 years ago…reminds me a bit of what happened in the months leading up to Bush’s re-election in 2004.

No German with whom I then spoke could understand how such an incompetent, corrupt cowboy (Fahrenheit 911 was a ‘huge’ hit here) could possibly beat a well-educated, sophisticated patrician like John F. Kerry.

I told them that they didn’t understand American domestic politics at all, and that Bush would win on a combination of economic arguments, and the fact that the American people would decide that Iraq was too important to lose…which is what they did do in the end.

I don’t like the guy either, and none of the other mittel-europeans (Poles, Germans, Czechs, Ukranians) whom I know trust, or even can stand him…but the Russians are all a lot more cautious and non-condemning.

May be they know something we don’t…

Thank you for your inadvertantly hilarious comment, “No German…could understand.” etc. Yes, the German people certainly qualify as experts in choosing leaders.

BTW, though I disagree with it, this comment is not abusive, or bigoted and, though anonymous–and I prefer not to post anonymous comments–speaks calmly and rationally. If your comment has not posted it’s either because I’m off doing something else and apologize for delay, or because it’s an abusive bigoted post that cowers behind anonymity.I suggest such sad cases read my subsequent post on “The Art of Intellectual Self Defense”.

In a kleptocracy, the rulers steal everything that isn’t nailed down, and they get some of the nailed-down stuff too. I encountered such a government first-hand in Jamaica a few years back. I grieve for the Russian people.

We’ve got zero influence on them financially. They’ve got oil and gas and supply much of Europe, so they can simply threaten to cut off supplies if we make too much of a fuss.

We can’t do anything militarily, obviously. So what’s left? Just hot air.

Maybe GW buddying up to Putin didn’t work. But pissing him off doesn’t seem to be a good strategy, either.

Ultimately, it’s up to the Russian people themselves.