It appears not to be in the current US administration's interest, nor in US oil interests, to rankle Putin, or to publicly take on the corrupt take-over of Yukos and the jailing of its former ceo. Understandable on one level, but hardly positions the US as the leader of the free world. Makes the US adminstration seem more like the men's club or 'secret' societies of the past century. These politics however, define everything, and Khodorovsky is making an intelligent move to gain his freedom by standing for election to the Russian Parliament. Bravo!