My dad, a Russian/Romanian who reluctantly followed my mom to the U.S. and who I don’t think was ever happy here, used to explain his distaste for America in these terms, “the difference between Eastern European governments and the West is that the Eastern Euros had the decency to be hones that they were corrupt pieces of shit instead of pretending to be good guys fighting for your freedom.”

I used to disagree with him, but over the years I’ve come to realize he was always right.