In reading the New York State travel advisory, I am reminded of one of my favorite scenes from a Woody Allen movie, this one from Bananas. Having ascended to power, the dictatorial rebel leader Esposito announces his new rules for San Marcos:
“From this day on, the official language of San Marcos will be Swedish. … In addition to that, all citizens will be required to change their underwear every half-hour. Underwear will be worn on the outside so we can check. Furthermore, all children under 16 years old are now…16 years old!”
Woody’s character Fielding Mellish cracks, “What’s the Spanish word for straitjacket?” The Spanish word is camisa de fuerza. The Swedish word is tvångströja. In any language, Gov. Andrew Cuomo surely needs one. It is bad enough that he is running the state by executive order. Worse is that the orders are nuts. If Woody Allen were to make a comic version of 1984, he could model “Big Brother” on Andrew Cuomo.
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