𝗠𝗬 𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡'𝗦 𝗔𝗗𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗔𝗟 𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗨𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗔𝗡𝗦 𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗦 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗔 𝗪𝗛𝗜𝗠𝗣𝗘𝗥 𝗔𝗦 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗣 𝗪𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗟𝗬 𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗧𝗢 𝗣𝗨𝗧𝗜𝗡

 I’ve learned to hate Russians

All through my whole life

If another war starts

It’s them we must fight

To hate them and fear them

To run and to hide

And accept it all bravely

With God on my side

"With God on Our Side," Bob Dylan

Like Dylan wrote above, my generation grew up in rivalry with the Russians.

The editor, 1957

On October 4, 1957, I was in my front yard in the Highland Park subdivision of Renton, Washington, the home of Boeing, looking for it, when I saw the first Russian sputnik arc across the sky, blinking.  It was hard to miss with the sky not as crowded back then, nothing else going across it in seconds like the satellite.

Sure, it bothered me that they put up the first satellite, but I personally didn't "hate" the Russians.  When Nikita Khrushchev took off his shoe at the United Nations, banging it on the table, my juvenile mind thought that was "stupid."  When Khrushchev and Vice President Nixon went back and forth on which country was the greatest, that seemed "silly" to me.  And, why wouldn't Nixon let Khrushchev visit Disneyland like he wanted?  I'd have been proud for him to see that amusement park even though I hadn't.  

One of the first sub-orbiters of Earth in 1961, Russian Cosmonaut, Comrade Yuri Gagarin, declared that he saw "no God or angels" in his 1 hour, 48 minute flight just above the planet's atmosphere. Even at age 13, Gagarin's statement didn't seem scientifically conclusive as it's not like he'd explored every nook and cranny of the universe.  I remember giving a talk in school where I compared Earth to an apple, saying Gagarin's suborbital flight had extended just past the apple's "skin."

Years later, President Ronald Reagan called what was then the Soviet Union, the "Evil Empire" before sitting down with President Mikhail Gorbachev for a summit.  I was intrigued by two words used by Gorbechev, glasnost and perestroika, working them into my talks and writings whenever it seemed appropriate.

Now, in a strange turn of events, the U.S., joining Russia, North Korea and other countries, voted AGAINST the U.N. resolution calling for Russia to "immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all its military forces from Ukraine," also cease attacks on civilians and facilitate the exchange of prisoners.

Incredibly, President Trump, acting as if Putin has some incriminating information on him, won't even admit that Russia invaded Ukraine.  What the Hell?  What a mentally and morally-crippled man occupies the Oval Office!