I remember well the congratulatory telegrams of foreign leaders to Soviet leaders on the occasion of the national holiday of the USSR - the anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution. They were published in Pravda and Izvestia in whole strips, and not at the end of the newspaper, but on the first pages, writes Vladimir Aabirnov in the column on Radio Liberty,.

Congratulations from the capitalist camp stood in more honorable places than from the allies and countries of "socialist orientation" - presumably, they carefully worked on the definition of this order in the international department of the CPSU Central Committee.

Telegrams meant recognition and respect. Probably, it was especially pleasant for the leaders to read the title "Your Excellency". They were awarded constitutional constitutional monarchies and dictatorships. Some states were engaged in trolling: instead of Leonid Brezhnev, who was the party's general secretary and did not hold any government posts, congratulated Prime Minister Alexei Kosygin or head of the Supreme Council Nikolai Podgorny. Perhaps, in some capitals there were heated debates: congratulate or not congratulate? But we do not know anything about this.

In general, this is a clean protocol, nothing more. And the reason is of no special significance. Congratulations, however, the British monarch of the US President on Independence Day, although the Americans and broke some British laws on this day, and in the depths of the soul to the monarch, perhaps for his power is offensive.

True, it hurts a few hasty congratulations. Still, it would be more plausible to wait for the official results of the elections. But the Russian president did not expect the electoral college to vote, he sent a telegram to Donald Trump on the second day after the election. (Who would have thought that the telegraph exists until now - and, probably, congratulatory forms are available. ) The US president did this for a third, but not a telegram, and by phone. The Kremlin press service reported this earlier to the US, not forgetting to add: "At the initiative of the American side".

Journalists in Washington worried, pestered the White House staff, hoping for an intrigue: will you congratulate? After evasive answers, headlines appeared: "The White House explained why Trump did not congratulate Putin on winning". And Trump took and congratulated. And even discussed the possibility of a personal meeting in the near future.

But the intrigue was nevertheless found: it turns out that the helpers wrote in large letters: "Do not congratulate!" However, the source of the New York Times specifies: write something written, but the president's reminder do not read. This, of course, is absurd: how can you not congratulate if Putin is just elected? And who does he call then?.

With his call, President Trump attracted criticism of influential party members. The leader of the Republican faction in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, expressed himself thinly: "Given the lack of confidence in the counting of votes, Putin's call would not appear on my list of priority matters". Senator John McCain was more harsh. In his opinion, "congratulating the dictator on winning fraudulent elections" is not an act of a leader of the free world, but an "insult to every Russian citizen who was deprived of the right to freely and honestly express his will".

American diplomacy is not the first to face a congratulatory problem. Six years ago, a civil protest against trumped-up elections was incomparably greater than now. According to the former US ambassador to Moscow Michael McFaul, the discussions of Barack Obama's advisors, whether to congratulate Putin, and if to congratulate, in what form, lasted several days, after which the president still called Moscow. At the same time, the State Department published a statement, which was congratulated not by the president, but by the people of Russia, with the fact that the elections are over. Washington, the text goes on, expects to work with the elected president after the results of the vote are officially approved and he will be sworn in..

No doubt, in the higher sense, Senator McCain is right. But in the lexicon of the current president there are no words "civil society", and in the State Department there is almost no one to write an annual report on human rights in the world. These topics are pushed into the farthest drawer of the desk. As a candidate for the presidency, Trump insisted that the election would be rigged, and for a long time could not calm down after his election, claiming that he won not only the electors but also the total number of voters.

But falsification in other countries do not bother him. And the word "democracy", which he writes on Twitter with a capital letter, for him, it seems, means unanimity and unity of command.

But there are still people in Russia and America who have not forgotten how to be ashamed. Shame is a great feeling. Maybe it will save the world.

Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty Join also the TSN group. Blogs on facebook and follow the updates of the section!.