I’m a big fan of Kasparov, though I think the simpler “how did this happen” explanation is that Russian law enforcement is corrupt, incompetent, and cowardly.
As we repeatedly saw in the Soviet Union, their infrastructure for suppressing dissent doesn’t translate into fighting crime, much less engaging in open gunfights with scary armed men. A similar story explains why the Russian armed forces spend so much money and enlist so many mobiks, but have been fought to a stalemate by the poorest country in Europe, standing alone with 1/5th their population.
But his point about the American and NATO betrayal of Ukraine is a good one.
It may be good politics, when your opponents are at 10, to take up 9.9. But it’s bad policy.
The GOP’s alignment with Russia is disgraceful. Any decent person knows Republicans are hateful, stupid, and selfish beyond all reason.
But the Democrats adoption of a “do nothing” approach has created a human catastrophe on a massive scale. It’s not enlightened.