"The Russians are Coming. The Russians are Coming."

        In a 1966 comedy, a Russian submarine runs aground off the New England coast. Lots of laughs, a little bit of romance and, in the end, Alan Arkin and crew sail back home to Mother Russia to the sound of the Russian national anthem, even though all the Americans want them to stay.

       Now, here we are. Fifty years later, almost to the day, and the Russians are back. Only this time Vladimir Putin is playing himself. And nobody wants them to stay. What happened?

        Well, apparently the Russians tried to influence one of our elections. Who do they think they are? Americans?

        2015, it was Tel Aviv and Obama sent his 'team' to try and prevent Netanyahu from winning another term. Does that count?

        And before that, it was the Shah of Iran who was our guy. And Allende in Chile. Did we support Allende or try to shoot him? Hmmm, gets so confusing sometimes. Well, as long as we're with the 'good guys,' what difference does it make? Let them figure it out.

        North Vietnam. South Vietnam. Laos. Cambodia. Diem. Diem. Diem. Anybody know a guy named Diem? Didn't he live in a third floor walk-up somewhere?

        And United Fruit Company in Guatemala. Got to keep those bananas flowing. (Do bananas actually 'flow' or do they just float or maybe roll over here? Well, doesn't matter. As long as they get here and they're OUR bananas.)

        So, are the Russians really that different from us?  Are we really the "exceptional" ones? Maybe...or maybe not so much. Pass the caviar. I'll top off the vodka.