My Favorite Undertakers, Slapstick makes a comeback!

Woody golden moments with Jens and Antony

In these dark times we must allow ourselves some mirthful moments. To be able to chuckle and chortle at the dismal cast of characters constantly confronting us is essential to our mental health. These characters have strong connotations of others from our earlier lives.

Jens Stoltenberg, Sec Gen of NATO, and Antony Blinken, US Sec. State are two of my favorite vaudevillian slapstick characters .

Every time I see them together I am reminded of the Addams Family and their famous film of 1991. They were very good at turning horror into comedy and leaving us laughing and snickering at their horrific eccentric behaviors.

You may have noticed both Antony and Jens have a penchant for black suits that look like they have been hanging in the closet for too and a closer look would reveal lint on their shoulders and moth balls in their pockets. They remind me of morticians at their national convention; or possibly actors applying for bit parts in a remake of The Addams Family. Both have the “dead eyed” look that would get them such a part.

Their body language has a sort of woodiness to it. Their delivery of speech has a perfunctory, jaded, officiousness to it as if to say, “ lets get out of here as quick as possible”…. before anybody asks a pertinent question. Their dark suits are well suited to the dark halls of power where the light of day doesn’t penetrate.

They also remind me of The Three Stooges, except there are only two of them. We can throw Genocide Joe in for the third. The problem is he can’t remember his lines, and Antony gets very upset when Genocide Joe keeps referring to Chinese president Xi Jinping as a “dictator”. Even in the rough and tumble world of US foreign policy the word is verboten. Canada’s stumblebum prime minister also likes the “D” word and has had his knuckles rapped for numerous indiscretions.

Antony and Jens also remind me of Frank Sinatra, singing the golden oldy, I Get A Kick Out of You, listed below for your listening pleasure.

Then too, they remind me of the good old vaudeville days when bad actors got the hook. Schtick, is still schtick.

Light moments are essential in dark times, stay safe, stay vigilant.