TGIF readers! We made it through another week and you are undoubtedly weary of the Russian hubbub as I am.

It’s amazing! Russians are still interfering, they are hacking us, cyber attacking BLAH, BLAH! So, for this week’s shoot the shit I thought it might make some sense to take a look at Russophobia, and yes it is an officially diagnosed phobia.

I believe that we have been psychologically condition by Hollywood to fear Russia. In all of my years going to the movies, I have yet to see a movie where Russians were portrayed as nice people; which, by the way, is inconsistent with a couple of Russians that I know. Hollywood has created this image of burly low toned tattooed guys running around saying “DAAAA” They’re either killing you or attaching 12 volt batteries to your testicles.

If you don’t believe that, watch the 2014 Danzel Washington film, “The Equalizer”, in which the Russian oligarch named “Vladimir Pushkin”, living in Moskva, is head of a Boston crime mob. Note that the oligarch doesn’t look like the clean cut guy on the left; instead he looks like the guy on the right.

Now, I don’t know who the hell this is supposed to be but he was portrayed as Pushkin’s right hand man – looks a little like Dmitry Medvedev don’t you think ?

We’ve been programmed by the film industry to see Russian women like this…

This is a more recent batch of Russian military ladies. Not too shabby and I will bet you that at least two or three like Harley Davidson.

I’m not here to support or condemn  Vladimir Putin, or Russia,  but Russophobia has worked its way into our diplomacy. Remember that Russians are deeply nationalist as the German Army found out during WWII. They’ve suffered for years and survived. Our approach to repairing Russo relations requires an understanding of their psyche as much as good diplomacy. Russophobia has no place in our interactions with Russia or Putin.

Feel free to share your opinions, this is a shoot the shit, so there are no rules. Feel free to make unsupported statements, use profanity, insult anyone you wish or change the subject altogether. And, we’ll never say that you’re in denial.

Have a great weekend! Be safe and spend some quality time with your buds and family.