I miss the Cold War.

This thought came to me as I was deleting spam comments from the blog. The majority of my two or three hundred daily spam posts have ".ru" addresses. Now, I have many prejudices, but topping the list (or at least sharing it with the Englisch) are the Russians. I dislike most of their music, most of their art, most of their architecture, find their Patriarch a KGB stooge, and their writers overwrought handwringers. And I find vodka a silly drink.

Now, obviously there are exceptions. I like some Russian music, particularly the more folkloric (but not the Stalinist Folkloric stuff) music (and Tchaikovsky, who was really German in his music). I like some Russian literature. When I have had enough silly vodka, I find Russian architecture amusing.

But, when I have to sort through scads of Russian spam, I am ready to revive the Cold War.

I have fond memories of the Cold War. I was on the other side back then, but it was a good time.

If the Russians had tried to infiltrate a blossoming new media at that time, we would have considered it an act of war and would have reacted innapropriately. Commie fifth columnists (and, yes, just about anyone you have ever suspected of taking orders from the Kremlin was doing just that), would have clucked and tsked.

Of course now we know that Sen. McCarthy was right, and yet, his name is used as if he were some sort of demon-man (which Paul Robeson, the Commie psycho ham actor and third-rate singer, who, unlike the Hon. Joe McCarthy, was honored by a postage stamp(!), certainly was).

We won, and are overrun by tacky Russian neo-capitalists spamming us with offers of everything the decadent West has to offer, but in helpings that would make a Cold War Vegas denizen blush.

Whooo hoooo! Raise a toast to the man who brought capitalism to the Russians!

It almost makes me want to sing "Old Man River"