Beating the Soviets at Their Own Games
You did not need to be a chess fan to appreciate the significance of Fischer v. Spassky, any more than you would have needed to be a boxing fan to appreciate Rocky IV. Of course, it would be a lot harder to really hate Boris Spassky than the fictional Ivan Drago.
Like the mythical Rocky, Bobby Fischer was a very unorthodox combatant. Of course, the world of chess is totally different from that of boxing. With the exception of a former national champion of Guatemala, I have never met a chess champion who was also an excellent boxer.
But during the Cold War era, outdoing the Soviets in any capacity was a high priority. They had been knocking the heck out of us in the “space race.” Yuri Gagarin knew that he was taking a great risk to be the first man in space. (See Secrets of the East) It was not until the U.S. made some progress toward its goal of landing on the moon that America was perceived to be in the lead.
A charmed American hockey team took an Olympic gold medal from the heavily favored Soviet team to brighten up one of the ugliest years of the Cold War. At that time, we had lost the War in Vietnam, and the most incompetent U.S. administration of the Cold War era was bumbling along. President Jimmy Carter had been negotiating arms limitation agreements with the Soviets whose terms were ridiculously lopsided in favor of the Soviets. “Communist revolutions” burgeoned in several regions of the world, including Central America.
Cold Warrior Recognition
So what happened to those few Americans who managed to beat the Soviets at their own game? Normally, there was considerable publicity. The victor enjoyed opportunities to receive excellent compensation for endorsing products. Thus, to some extent, Bobby Fischer had his moment in the sun.
But then, chess has never been America’s favorite sport. In fact, Fischer is probably not the greatest American chess player of all time. Fischer himself considers Morphy the greatest of all time. (See Bill Wall's Chess Master Profiles - Morphy) Most people have never even heard of Paul Morphy. But, among chess aficionados, his short-lived domination of international chess remains unforgettable.
Likewise, Fischer, the American legend of the chess world, faded into obscurity as far as the outside world was concerned.
Our New Home
As I stated in my previous article on this topic, I was not a Bobby Fischer fan in 1972. (Bobby Fischer - America's Disposable Hero) If anything, I had been hoping that Bobby would lose in 1972, and then come back to take the championship in 1975. Certainly, I was no fan of the Soviet Union and did not like them dominating the world of chess. On the other hand, I liked Boris Spassky, and I did not want to see him lose his title so soon. I also welcomed the popularity that my favorite game was getting with Fischer in the limelight. I figured that a three-year wait for a rematch would help to keep chess in the focus of American popular attention.
But now, for the first time in my life, the American government has forced me to identify with Bobby. Alida and I have started a new life that no longer includes living in Chicago.
For reasons that I will not discuss at this time, we felt the need to leave. Although this was not among our reasons for leaving, the ever-growing Islamic population near our old neighborhood gave us some cause for alarm. It is not that we are bigoted—far from it—but there had been several major arrests of al-Qaeda figures within a thirty-minute drive of our home.
While we have no reason to think that al-Qaeda ever targeted us as specific individuals, we have been writing about the evils of al-Qaeda ever since the Clinton Administration was aiding them with aerial support in their war against the Serbian people in 1999.
Life on the Road Parallels Fischer’s Ordeal
It happened that we began our travels shortly after Fischer was arrested. Like Fischer, our lives have been in limbo. We have been living on the road and working at promoting my book, The Crumbling Wall Against Tyranny: a/k/a The United States Constitution.
Two groups of people seem to be buying the book with particular enthusiasm: Serbian-Americans and Southerners. So, it makes sense for us to be traveling in the South and promoting the book.
We are planning on making a home base somewhere in Dixieland, but we are still in limbo, so to speak, as Fischer was for so long.
Men Without a Country?
Alida and I love the South and the Southerners seem to love us. But, so many events on the world stage make us feel that there will be no more America for us either. (See tvweber.com/wot2.htm)
Of course, the most significant such event was the bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999. After that, when the American voters rejected Al Gore, his bid for what would have been a de facto “third Clinton term” went down in flames. The Gore campaign team was led by a member of the Chicago Daley family, which has long been notorious for its expertise at stealing elections. Like whining babies, Gore and his team tried to undo their loss in the courts, thus putting the Bush administration behind the eight ball. How do you set up a transition team when you are not sure that you are actually going to take office?
Of course, one of George W. Bush’s promises was to remove the troops from the Balkans. Has he kept his promise? Of course not! Still, the practical Serbian-American people threw their weight behind Bush in 2004, having figured that Kerry would be even worse. (See Was It the Serbian-American Vote?) But those troops are still there, carrying on their shameful task of preventing the Serbian Army from re-entering Kosovo, as had been promised in the agreement that was supposed to have ended the war.
Ironically, I happen to be writing
this from a Cherokee Indian
reservation. (Tribal Website http://www.cherokee-nc.com)
Every good American Indian knows that a
peace treaty with the U.S. is not worth
the paper it was written on, much less
the ink!
Refighting the Cold War
Anyone familiar with Eastern Europe knows that the Communists are—and have been for years—out of business. A Polish-immigrant friend tells me that his old hometown has erected a statue of Ronald Reagan. My Texas-born friend, who has been living in Moscow since before the Berlin Wall fell, tells us about a dynamic and free Russian republic. While the problems of Eastern Europe are many, few people in the know view our former Warsaw Pact adversaries as current enemies.
Yet, various professional liars, unfortunately including some who are hiding behind the Bible, continue to speak of Russia as a threat. The Bush administration offers approval and encouragement to every faction or mob that bills itself as an enemy of Russia, just as the Clinton administration actively supported the al-Qaeda-allied enemies of the Serbs.
The dreadful events of World War II will soon pass from living memory. In our time, Hitler and the Nazi threat seem to take shape only in the minds of insane killers who burst out and attack innocent lives. But we must never ever forget that the Serbian people and the Russian people were key allies in that horrible war. Without the Russians, the Serbs and a few other brave resistance fighters, the U.S. could never have mustered the manpower and shouldered the sacrifices on the scale that was necessary to retake Hitler’s Europe with conventional weapons. Perhaps not even the two new atomic bombs would have sufficed—weapons that ultimately were used solely against Japan because they were not ready until after the end of the war in Europe.
Misplaced Nostalgia—Theirs and Ours
Within the last month, we spoke to two reasonably intelligent people who felt that a threat from “Communist Russia” still looms, because they had read or heard about a poll showing that a substantial percentage of the population felt that Russia needed “a new Stalin.” Of course, the majority of those polled, some 52%, were vehemently opposed to having a new Stalin. Furthermore, the only age demographic that polled a majority for a new Stalin were those over 60, who likely remember him as their leader during World War II and its aftermath.
By the same token, it seems that too many Americans are indulging in their own form of nostalgia for the Soviet Communist era, in that they cling to the Cold War mindset as though it were a comforting reminder of simpler times. Admitting that Russia is not the Soviet Union may not be easy for those who are still trying to use the Cold War frame of reference to make sense of the world. It implies the need to give up old prejudices, to gather up-to-date information, and to construct a new and more valid frame of reference.
Al-Qaeda Still at Work within the United States
While Americans remain focused on these and other distractions, the new threat from radical Islam remains ever-present. “Accident” after “accident” occurs in the U.S., and each time the media spokespeople instantly rule out any possibility of terrorism, even before they get around to presenting the full report. (Evidently, it’s their job to discourage private citizens from accumulating information and connecting the dots on their own, instead of relying on federal bureaucrats to do the thinking.) But we certainly didn’t have all of these mysterious fires and explosions in oil country before the 9-11 attack. In fact, there was even a mysterious natural gas “accident” right in our old neighborhood shortly after we moved out. Yet, America worries about a nonexistent threat from Eastern Europe, while stubbornly ignoring anything that might be evidence of a recurring pattern of attacks on American soil.
Bobby Fischer Deserted in His Hours of Need
I am so glad that Bobby Fischer, the former American hero, has found a home in Iceland. He certainly had none in America. Readers of a certain age may recall that America stood by while Fischer was stripped of his championship title. The chess world now has three championships. Although most chess enthusiasts ignore Fischer’s claim to the title, a great argument can be made in his favor. Speaking as a lawyer, if I had to represent one of the three claimants to the title, I think that Bobby Fischer’s argument is as strong—and maybe stronger—than the other two.
As one might expect, after my first Fischer article, I did receive a piece of “fan mail” from some ignoramus who told me that since Fischer did not play for the title, it was taken from him fair and square. As will be explained below, it was obvious that the man understood neither the game of chess, nor the history behind the title. Now I rarely have occasion to ignore “fan mail,” and I have even made an effort to answer the “hate mail” that those who write about current affairs can expect to get. But this reader evidently had not bothered to “do his homework” before writing, so I did not bother to answer him.
For the benefit of readers not part of the chess milieu who have no idea what I mean, let me give a hypothetical example. Just imagine an American swimming champion who was told that he would forfeit his championship if he did not accept a challenge to race the clock in the ocean. The challenger would be allowed to swim near a quiet beach, while the champ would be required to swim in shark-infested waters.
Now imagine that the American public, the government, and even the swimming world, passively stood by and did nothing to challenge the requirement that the champ must swim in those shark-infested waters.
While one can assume that no predatory animal would have bitten Fischer had he played for the Championship in accordance with the Soviet-dictated terms, but the wisdom of accepting those terms may have resembled that of swimming in those shark-infested waters.
Bobby You Are in Good Company
Serbian General Draza Mihailovich and his Chetnik fighters risked their lives to save over 500 American airmen and bring the to safety during the Nazi occupation of the Balkans. What was his reward? America stood by and allowed Tito’s forces to execute him. And so many ignorant American praised Tito, and to this day, look back favorably to the days of that evil tyrant.
The Serbian people suffered under Tito, and they continue to suffer today because of America’s misguided foreign policy. But it is not just the Serbs; the list of discarded heroes who helped the U.S. government is long indeed.
Bobby Fischer in Iceland
Take heart, Bobby; you and the Serbs
have something in common. The Serbian
people love chess, as you do. Some of
us will never forget the way America has
treated you, just as we will never
forget the spring of 1999.