How times change.  All throughout the cold war American leftists looked longingly to the Soviet Union. (that's Russia for those of you educated in public schools.)  Why you ask?  Because the Soviets communists were building heaven on earth.  Starry eyed progressives saw the world's largest big government mommy and daddy who looked out for all needs while the common people wanted for nothing.  In reality the Soviet Union was the world's largest police state where walls were built not to keep people put but to prevent them from escaping.  Where a random innocent comment could land you in the gulag or worse.  Now Russia is the whipping boy because the left clings to the whacky notion that Russia helped Trump spank Waldo Clinton.