What beat Kasparov is not Vladimir Putin's goons, but the people of Russia themselvs -- whose unflagging, craven apathy, cowardice, indifference and complicity force one to ask the question: "Are these people really worth fighting for, much less risking your life to save?"

NO. Absolutely not.

Want to bet it was spelled out to Kasparov that his wife and/or kids could meet with an untimely accident.

I don't blame Kasparov either. What's the point of risking your life when the majority of apathetic/ignorant Russian sheeple aren't supportive. They didn't join him on the public streets in a show of solidarity. Across the globe, Chavez met his match against the college kids in Venezuela, his power grab referendum failed. They have consistently stood up to him. Why weren't large numbers of Russian college students or anyone that had first hand experience with Stalin's evil out on the streets with Kasparov?

Russia is a failed state and culture. It will linger on for awhile thanks to oil and gas revenues which throw a few crumbs to the masses on their way to Swiss bank accounts. The demographics are appalling. The intellectual capital is dimming. The gulag will be more refined than in Stalin's days.

Brain dead or indifferent, Russians are complicit in their fate.

VADIM: That's exactly what the Bolsheviks said about the "losers" who opposed them. And look where the glorious state created by the Bolsheviks is today -- in the dustbin of history. The same place Russia is headed under the rule of a proud KGB spy educated (or better to say indoctrinated) solely by those same Bolsheviks.

It's the people of Russia who are the only losers.