obsequious instrument of his pleasure

     You can't hire the "fox" to guard the "hen-house," and that's why in the Constitution there is the "Advise and Consent" provision.

     Three U.S. Senators have a lawsuit filed, because of President Trump's appointment of Matthew G. Whitaker as Attorney General, following the forced resignation of Jeff Sessions.


     Mr. Whitaker had spoken openly on TV shows, saying he didn't think this president should be investigated.  After Pres. Trump heard what Mr. Whitaker said, he gave the A.G. job to Mr. Whitaker.

     (Nothing like being obvious.)

     That's like saying the president of U.S. is "above the law"!  It is a notorious step forward on any nation's road to fascist or communist dictatorship.

--------------------- The hypothetical "fox-henhouse" scenario is addressed in the Constitution, & the Blumenthal-Whitehouse-Hirono lawsuit bases its questions on this:

     [excerpt] ------------------ The constitutional requirement that principal federal Officers be appointed only with the Senate's "Advice and Consent," U.S. Const. art. II, § 2, cl. 2, was adopted by our nation's Founders as an important check on the power of the President.  

Recognizing that giving the President the "sole disposition of offices" would result in a Cabinet "governed much more by his private inclinations and interests" than by the public good, and could result in the appointment of Officers who had 

"no other merit than that of . . . possessing the necessary insignificance and pliancy to render them the obsequious instruments of his pleasure," 

The Federalist No. 76, at 457-58 (Alexander Hamilton) (Clinton Rossiter ed., 1961)... ------------------------------ [end, excerpt]

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     At the beginning of the movie, Manhattan Murder Mystery, a song called "I Happen To Like New York" (written by Cole Porter, sung by Bobby Short) plays over the opening credits.

     After a cheerful, tinkling, slim few notes to begin the song, the vocal comes in very strong and clear -- almost shouting out the lines like in opera, the lyrics a determined declaration!...


I happen to like New York, I happen to love this town

I like the city air, I like to drink of it

The more I see New York, the more I think of it

I like the sight and the sound and even the stink of it

I happen to like New York



I like to go to Battery Park -- and watch the liners booming in
I often ask myself why should it be
That they come so far across the sea?
I suppose it's because they all agree with me
They happen to like New York


Last Sunday afternoon, I took a trip to Hackensack
But after I gave Hackensack the once over
I took the next train back
I happen to like New York...


NEW YORK - AERIAL VIEW - EXTERIOR.  NIGHT

While the camera is flying over New York, we hear the song; the camera reaches a round building that looks like a stadium and starts moving around the building.

[Song ends.]
HOCKEY GAME - INTERIOR.  NIGHT

[Immediately after the end of the song, the noise of hockey game replaces it, with sudden chaotic audio energy.]

Long shot on the skating rink.  A hockey game is in progress on the rink.  The camera follows a player, and then pans on the audience.

MED. SHOT of Larry and Carol, a couple in their early fifties.  Larry seems fascinated by the game, but Carol appears to find it boring.  She looks at the ceiling, and then puts her hand over her mouth to suppress a yawn.  Larry turns toward her.

LARRY
Come on.

CAROL
What?

LARRY
You promised to sit through the entire hockey game without being bored, and I'll sit through the Wagner opera with you next week.

CAROL
I know, honey, I promised.  I know.

LARRY
I already bought the earplugs.

CAROL
Yeah.  Well, with your eyesight, I'm surprised you can see the puck.

                            The crowd starts yelling and we guess that one of the players has done something really good.  Carol mockingly claps her hands:

"Yay, hooray."

                      Then she raises her eyes to the ceiling....

APARTMENT BUILDING - NIGHT.

Larry and Carol Lipton walking into the lobby, from the street.  She's reading a newspaper.

LARRY
I can't wait to get into bed and stretch out.

CAROL
Yeah.

LARRY
You know, there's a Bob Hope movie on television later.

CAROL (still reading)
I know.  Can you believe this guy in Indiana?  Killed twelve victims, dismembered them, and ate them.

LARRY
Really? -- Eeh -- it's an alternative lifestyle.

CAROL
Yeah, I'll say.

                         They walk into the elevator.  We hear a voice from the hallway:

PAUL (voice over)
Hold the elevator!

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     When he says that, it's in a cheerful, eager voice, and he kind of draws out the last syllable as if he's singing... "Hold -- the elevatorrrrrr!"

     When Larry (played by Woody Allen) says "Wagner," he pronounces it  Vog - nah...

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{Manhattan Murder Mystery, 1993.  Producer:  Robert Greenhut.  Director:  Woody Allen.  Screenplay written by Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman.  Dist. TriStar Pictures.}

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