Garry Kasparov: How America Can Avoid Becoming Russia

[SSJVegeta]

Worth taking seriously. From the legendary chess master who watched his country devolve into authoritarianism right in front of him

Another recommendation: Attacking Trump’s character, however abhorrent critics may find it, is futile. The president is not acting alone. In contrast to his bumbling first term, he now has a professional script, stage managers, and a plan. Project 2025 is the product of political machinery that has sprung up around Trump that seeks to tear out the roots of American democracy and then salt the ground. To accomplish this, the Trump administration, much like Putin’s team in Russia, focuses on fear and enemies, not on constructing a brighter future. It will never be tempted to reconcile or coaxed by bipartisan outreach. So set aside the specifics of Trump’s agenda and your distaste for him as a person. Resist on every level, at every opportunity, instead of picking this or that battle. Shout from the rooftops about the attacks on process and democracy, not just the policy content.

Since Trump’s inauguration, Americans have filed numerous legal complaints challenging specific cuts or orders that Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency have made. After all, what authority does Musk, as a private individual, have to collect government data, decide which federal officials to fire, or allocate resources as he sees fit? Musk and Trump have turned their fire on judges who reject the legality of their actions.

Taking DOGE to court is necessary work—by all means, throw sand in the gears at every opportunity—but it’s not sufficient. That’s because Musk, like Russian oligarchs, has proximity to power, but he doesn’t actually have legal authority. To eject his influence means bringing the fight not just to him, but to the elected offices where power still resides.

Americans had probably better get used to learning Russian, so I’ll offer a political term from our lexicon: понятие, ponyatie (pon-YAH-tee-yeh), which doesn’t quite have an English equivalent but can be translated roughly as “an understanding.” The understanding of most citizens is that proximity to power is itself a form of power, that “we all know who is really calling the shots.” What we are seeing with DOGE is an example of this phenomenon—the ponyatie that Musk, as a rich man who exercises great influence over Trump, wields tremendous governmental authority despite not having an official title or a constitutional role. The ponyatie that state power can be marshaled against his critics and rivals, while he is immune to it himself. Acquiescence to that kind of thinking must be stopped before it is allowed to permeate the American political system.

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2025/04/america-russia-trump-putin/682473/?gift=VKTPfqGIqBNOaUPDrxFJbYu1VvMXqePZ_8Y266IR1nE&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

[marble falls]

1. Easy peasey, elect Democrats.

[gab13by13]

3. What will our country look like 1 1/2 years from now?

Will we have elections? Will we have fair elections?

Waiting for the next election is Schumer's plan and his Timid 10 gang.

[SSJVegeta]

4. And if we stick to the same playbook, as Kasparov points out, even if we have a next election

We could lose.

[gab13by13]

2. The day they created DOGE I said it is illegal.

What a perfect set up for a would-be dictator. DOGE doing the work, bypassing Congress so they don't have to take votes and Krasnov doesn't have to sign bad bills.

[SSJVegeta]

5. A lot of folks are bugging their elected reps

But not all 535.

Perhaps if we keep all 535 congresspeoples phones busy, we will get somewhere.

As Kasparov points out, they still hold real power. For now.