Movie Quote of the Day (‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail,’ on Executive Power)

King Arthur (played by Graham Chapman): “I am your king.”

Woman (played by Terry Jones): “Well I didn't vote for you.”

Arthur: “You don't vote for kings.”

Woman: “Well, how'd you become king, then?”

[Angelic music plays... ]

Arthur: “The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water, signifying by divine providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur. THAT is why I am your king.”

Dennis (played by Michael Palin): [interrupting] “Listen, strange women lyin' in ponds distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.”--Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), screenplay by Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin, directed by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones (1975)

Right now, I’m inclined to think that the U.S. “system of government”—if we can call the current banana republic, brought to a standstill by a minority of lunatics, such—is slightly more farcical than an “aquatic ceremony.”