One reason the US was caught by surprise by the first Soviet atom bomb in 49 is that we assumed that the Germans during the war were way ahead (because: Germans) and the Russians were far behind (because: Russians). The idea that we didn't "vilify Russians" during the Cold War is just dumb.
@hlayfield.bsky.socialMy recollection from the Cold War is that we very much vilified Russians in general, not just the Soviet system. It was kind of a requirement for getting behind the idea of killing 100 million of them if the war were to go hot.
