Article snippet: Posted at 4:00 am on May 27, 2017 by Jay Caruso I remember when Rocky IV debuted in November 1985. Ronald Reagan was in the White House, and most people had no idea how close we were to the conclusion of the Cold War. Rocky Balboa, after watching his friend Apollo Creed get killed in the ring against a juiced up Russian boxer, made the trip to Russia to fight Ivan Drago. Not for money and not for a championship, but instead for a personal debt. The main story for the audience, however, revolved around the blatant pandering to a Cold War era audience. Rocky was going to beat the Commie bastard on his turf, and we were all invited to watch. Stallone rubbed it in by having the Russian crowd turn against Drago and become pro-Rocky towards the end of the fight. The memory surfaced when New York Times reporter Nick Confessore asked the following on Twitter: I happen to agree with that sentiment. The only surprising part of this is finding out Nick is less than five years younger than me. I had him pegged in his mid-30’s. He expanded on what he meant: From that perspective, it is odd to see this strange respect some conservatives now have for someone like Vladimir Putin. As Nick says, Putin wasn’t just the average Russian. He’s ex-KGB. The KGB was a ruthless spy agency and state-security for the former Soviet Union. Growing up in the 1980’s, the pop culture references, particularly in movies and television, was often front and center. Films such as WarGames, Red D... Link to the full article to read more