You’d have to be a centenarian to remember the old American vaudeville team of Gallagher and Shean from the 1910s and ‘20s. I heard about them from my mother. They were perhaps most famous for their eponymous theme song, “Gallagher and Shean” . . . or as sometimes referred to by its tag line: “Absolutely, Mr. Gallagher?” “Positively, Mr. Shean.”

For some reason, it came to mind as I was reading about Vladimir Putin’s reaction yesterday to Donald Trump’s election win, the reserved tone of which may have come as something of a surprise to Trump, who has always bragged about his close relationship with the Kremlin’s head honcho.

Speaking through your favorite Kremlin spokesman and mine, Dmitry Peskov, Putin gave the distinct impression that friendship — if indeed there is one — is about as meaningful to him as . . . well, as the lives of all those people he’s had locked up or liquidated for their dissenting political views. As delivered by Peskov:

“Let us not forget that we are talking about an unfriendly country, which is both directly and indirectly involved in a war against our state (in Ukraine),” Peskov said to reporters. [Guy Faulconbridge, Andrew Osborn and Dmitry Antonov, Reuters, November 6, 2024.]

Dima (as I take the liberty of calling him) went on to say that he was not aware of any plans by Putin to congratulate Trump on his victory — to hell with protocol, right? — and threw in a gratuitous reminder that relations between Moscow and Washington were at an historically low point:

“We have repeatedly said that the U.S. is able to contribute to the end of this conflict. This cannot be done overnight, but … the U.S. is capable of changing the trajectory of its foreign policy. Will this happen, and if so, how … we will see after (the U.S. president’s inauguration in) January.” [Id.]

The Russian Foreign Ministry had a few words to add on the subject as well, mentioning what they called a “bipartisan anti-Russian position among the U.S. ruling elite designed to try to contain Russia”:

“Russia will work with the new administration when it ‘takes up residence’ in the White House, fiercely defending Russian national interests and focusing on achieving all the set objectives of the special military operation (in Ukraine). Our conditions are unchanged and are well known in Washington.” [Id.]

*. *. *

Well! All right, then.

The gauntlet has obviously been thrown down, placing the ball squarely in Donald Trump’s court (if you’ll pardon the mixed metaphors). And this is where I had the sudden image of the team of Putin and Trump onstage, microphones in hand, belting out that good old vaudeville tune:

“Absolutely, Mr. Putin?”
“Positively, Mr. Trump.”

You know, on second thought, that may be exactly the way Donald Trump wanted it to go.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
11/7/24