Kasparov on Russia's Slide Toward Tyranny

I feel a bit like Churchill beating the drum and shouting "Look!" at the goose-steppers in the streets of Berlin. So must Garry Kasparov, chess master and outspoken critic of Putin:

In Mr. Putin's view, Ukraine provides a dangerous model. He is careful not to make such mistakes as allowing an independent judiciary review election results and letting opposition politicians speak on television. These basics of dictatorship have recently been accompanied by other disturbing scenes on the Russian political scene. In his ongoing battle for total control over every aspect of Russian life, President Putin's weapon of choice has been a justice system that provides anything but justice. An expanding network of judges and district attorneys is being used to persecute the opposition and enrich Putin loyalists. A puppet judiciary has been created to accompany the puppet parliament. To add insult to injury, a man from Putin's St. Petersburg with no judicial experience was just named to the highest arbitration court in the land, a move akin to Caligula's naming a horse to the Senate.

Keep an eye on Putin. He's using the War on Terror as a fig leaf to rebuild the Soviet Union.