“People who hate Trump (all 898 of you on Fluther) and all the news media seethe with hate about Trump and his supposed ties with Russia.” – No, it’s not about being favorable towards Russia overall. It’s about illegal and unwise entanglement with Putin, Russia’s role in the 2016 election, mafia ties, likely private negotiation for the Trump administration to cooperate with Putin, in exchange for who-knows-what secret personal deals with Putin. US sanctions against Russia over imperialism towards Ukraine and the oil profits at stake for people like Trump’s former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, etc. “But here’s the deal: Obama sought to build relations with Cuba, Hillary and Obama LOVED Russia a decade ago (remember Russian Reset anyone? Obama’s ‘Open Mike” promise that he’d have more flexibility after the election and to pass that on to Putin?” – Yeah, I would say that is because Hillary and Obama are also ultimately under the thumb of elements who see various opportunities in positive relations with Cuba and Russia, and also just generally sane things like preferring the Russian Republic to Soviet Russia. “There has been plentiful Russian and Soviet influence in our educational system and entertainment industry.” – So? “The American Left was virtually married to the Soviets in the 1960s through the 2010’s.” – They were? I missed that. Maybe it just seems that way in comparison to more hawkish views towards Russia? “Mainstream America realized we were in a ‘cold war’ but the Left assured us that things were okay and all we needed was understanding and globalization and a New World Order, which raised red flags with conservatives.” – That sounds like a hawkish/conservative version of the narrative, to me. “The cold war was won, and the Soviet empire crumbled. Christians in prison were released. Soviet Bloc countries were liberated and dictators overthrown. But the left STILL supported communism. Even today, many young Democrats and Green Party supporters favor a form of Socialism that would have given conservatives pause.” – “the left STILL supported communism”??? What are you talking about? – The language around socialism and communism is nearly useless especially if you try to reconcile people from different perspectives. So I don’t know what you mean by “favor a form of socialism”, or what “conservatives” you mean. Seems to me nowadays Reagan could be a modern Democrat and Eisenhower’s words and policies could be thought communist by some modern Republicans. “Yet now, you on the Left are saying Russia has been our enemy all along, and that Trump supporters are Pro-Russia Pro Putin (even though you were friends with them 10–15 years ago and we, even Romney, didn’t trust them but Obama ridiculed this). Russia is the new axis of evil. And Trump is the puppet.” – No, we’re not. As in my first remark above, it’s about many hints that make it look like Trump and Putin and various associates worked a shady deal that involves using the presidency to make all of them richer. – Russia is a complex field of study. Anyone who has or expects others to have a consistent and simple “for or against” relationship to Russia is being ridiculously simplistic.