What is the best way to lose friends, not influence people, and be hated and reviled in return? Disrespect their family, their heritage, their country and their flag.

And this is exactly what the rock band Bloodhound Gang did in spades when they desecrated the Ukrainian and Russian flags at concerts in Kiev and Odessa during the months of July and August this year.

As if the problems involving Syria, the Middle-East, nuclear arms control, struggle for oil and gas in Central-Asia, State Department involvement in Russian democratic process, is not enough to throw Russo-American relations into the gutter, along comes band member Jared Hasselhoff with his antics involving the Russian flag.

What is so offensive that Jared did with the flag in the storied Slavic city of Odessa? Pissing on the flag, and then a few days later at another concert, pushing the flag into the front of his pants and pulling it out of the back! How cool is that?

Imagine some Russian or Ukrainian rock or pop band comes to America at the invitation of American fans and starts pissing, stomping and wiping the buttocks with the Star-Spangled Banner! Not cool at all. We would be raving mad, leave the concert immediately, and even do some pretty nasty things to those responsible for disrespecting our great nation.

Bloodhound Gang, which gained notoriety for their outrageous music videos including Along Comes Mary and The Bad Touch have now been named as suspects in a criminal case in Russia for “inciting hatred in an organized group,” a charge that carries a maximum sentence of five years.

Matters have gotten so out of hand, that last month Ukrainian Premier condemned Bloodhound Gang’s actions and sought a lifetime ban against the group ever entering or performing on Ukrainian soil.

Ukraine Premier Seeks Lifetime Ban of Bloodhound Gang Musicians http://t.co/nTWqczsJBQ @bloodhoundgang

— RIA Novosti (@ria_novosti) August 10, 2013

US ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul also condemned the band’s actions to assuage Russian feelings and minimize any backlash. The question we have to ask is, what prompted Bloodhound Gang to do what it did?

Is it about time for them to get some psychological counseling?

[images via twitter]