via Lobe Log

Something light, or heavy, depending on your views of the US constitution, just days before official voting starts for the presidential election.

In this clip from “With Honors” (1994) a homeless person living in the basement of a Harvard library (played by Joe Pesci), outwits and outsmarts a condescing Professor (played by the late and great, Gore Vidal) in a heated exchange over the powers granted to the President by the constitution.

I can’t speak to the veracity of the claims made here, and a legal friend tells me there’s no clear answer, but Pesci’s performance is representative of one of the US’s greatest contributions to modern cinema — the oscar-worthy speech.