You're judging them by the standards of contemporary liberal politics. Okay, what about gay rights? Neither side supported that. Were they all evil? Is anybody NOT evil except you and your fellow travelers?

Ever run across the phrase, "bright red murder flag"?

The current US political climate encourages us to regard slavery as an absolute evil, where a more anthropological approach would accept it as just another social institution or societal phase (as in Marx). Is Turkey evil because wife-beating and honor killings are tolerated there? But every society has its rough…

Hell, most *gays* didn't think this was politically possible back then.

He was the Bill Clinton of his day.

Unless the Irish and / or Communards revolt in Manhattan.

Titty rape scenes, then?

What if Martin Landau played Spock?

That was done in some kung fu movie, the one where Jackie Chan has to fight his evil double from a parallel timeline.

Or just that old cartoon of Hitler and Stalin shaking hands over the Polish border, each with a knife behind his back.

"Male Rising" was totally not what I thought it would be.

Earth Girls are Easy?

Black people secretly control the world.

Yee ha and cowabunga.

Like ancient Rome?

Not really. The Central Asian states were delimited in the 1920s. Before that they were part of Russia. Before that there was the Emirate of Bukhara…it's complicated. The Caucasus was contested between Russia, Persia, and the Ottoman Empire. The Soviets created nationality-based republics such as Armenia, following…

At the time, George Bush (the father) reacted to the development with great caution, and without encouraging the former Soviet republics. He was obviously caught by surprise, and hadn't had time to think through what the US policy should be.

If you are American, then your ancestors WERE traitors.

"Land sakes, it shore is sultry in heah! Ah had better ventilate mah bosoms befoah ah swoon!"

Did the Catholics quit being a Satanic cult at Nicaea?