Not only are you in no position to understand what I think but this characterization of the post WWII Russian actions in Eastern Europe is grotesquely incorrect. Like Russia, many in those nations had good reason to fear yet another invasion from Germany. Tragically, Russia demonstrated to them that it was an equal threat, and one that insisted on occupying and dominating them.

Germany's crimes against humanity in no way excuse Russia's crimes against humanity; they are equally heinous, they are equally dangerous. You can characterize post war Germany any way you want, you can pin any motive on the Marshal Plan you want, the outcome has been a Germany that respects human rights, that respects and practices the regular, peaceful, and democratic transfer of power, that does NOT invade its neighbors.

NONE of this is true for Russia, which not only violates the human rights of its own citizens with impunity, but also those of the innocent people of its neighbors, often with horrific and massive military destruction.

Motives are hard to know and impossible to prove, outcomes are not. "We" may not be the "good guys", I certainly have known this since my nation tried to draft me 50 years ago to fight in Vietnam. There are damned few pure "good guys" to be found. I do know that any sane person would prefer to live in a nation like Germany over a nation like Russia. In Germany, or in the U.S., you and I can have this discussion with NO fear of government interference. Were we in Russia, or China, that would be dangerously untrue.

Mark Twain, were he alive today, could state his many wise and funny opinions with impunity, could set up a PA system and blast them at the White House. Doing so in Russia would buy him a bullet, a polonium cocktail, or a lifetime vacation in a Siberian work camp.