Bananas revisited

Both Paul and I have Woody Allen’s comedy Bananas (1971, written with Mickey Rose) tattooed deep inside our brains somewhere. Paul’s reference to “A travesty of a mockery of a sham” comes from the film. In the film’s trial scene Woody Allen/Fielding Mellish condemns the proceedings brought against him in the United States as a result of his activities in the fictional Latin American banana republic of San Marcos: “I object, your honor. This trial is a travesty. It’s a travesty of a mockery of a sham of a mockery of a travesty of two mockeries of a sham.” Mellish then moves for a mistrial on the ground that the jury lacks “a single homosexual.” You can watch the scene here.

I was thinking about Bananas yesterday in connection with Dr. Milton Wolf’s comment on the Obama administration’s declaration of a one-year delay in the implementation of Obamacare’s employer mandate:

The unambiguous start date for Obamacare’s employer mandate, according to Section 1513, is the “months beginning after Dec. 31, 2013.” With the delay, however, President Obama has declared that he is not bound by mere law. All he is missing are mirrored sunglasses and a big military hat.

In Bananas Woody Allen depicted the type to which Dr. Wolf alludes in the character of the revolutionary leader Esposito as he takes office. The power goes to his head (video below, with Greek subtitles). If declarations along the lines of those issued by Esposito aren’t buried in the blizzard of Obamacare pronouncements and regulations issued to date, it’s only a matter of time.

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