Garry Kasparov writing in Politico (that’s right: Garry Kasparov writing in Politico) says that while it’s true Putin is no Hitler, it does look a lot like 1938 — and something has to be done to stop him. Kasparov writes: “Nobody except the most naked of Kremlin apologists is debating whether Putin’s anything but a tyrant anymore. Instead, we’re searching for the right historical analogy: Is it Budapest 1956? Prague 1968? Austria 1938?”
Thugs in the street and how Russia wins in the not so democratic election in the Crimea. Via the New Yorker.
Colorado’s prison chief Rick Raemisch is out of solitary confinement and more determined than ever to bring reform, via in the New York Times: “Raemisch emphasizes that 97 percent of all inmates will eventually be released. ‘First and foremost, you have to understand that they’re going back, and it’s our job to get them prepared and determined to be law-abiding citizens when they go back,’ he said. ‘I don’t want any new victims. That’s what drives me.'”
Paul Ryan likes to talk about his Irish roots. But when he talks about the “culture of dependency,” he’s using the same language as the British during the Irish potato famine of the 1840s when, Egan wrote, “A great debate raged in London: Would it be wrong to feed the starving Irish with free food, thereby setting up a ‘culture of dependency’? Certainly England’s man in charge of easing the famine, Sir Charles Trevelyan, thought so. ‘Dependence on charity,’ he declared, “is not to be made an agreeable mode of life.'” Via the New York Times.
The Koch-backed ads against Mark Udall begin today. E.J. Dionne says he fears that Democrats are too discouraged to fight back. Via the Washington Post.
Thomas Frank says we elected Barack Obama to try to keep the 1 percent in check. So, why isn’t it happening? If the game is rigged and the rest of us are losing, shouldn’t someone be doing something? Via Salon.
The story behind the Rob Ford story, and how there would never have been a story if Canada hadn’t changed its libel laws. Via the Walrus.
