By Prem Gongaju

I

For starters, it is good from the get-go to own a banana republic for the banging production of endless bananas. (In Hawaii, the pineapples were second to none; and “Climate crisis” jinxed the State of Florida from winning the title of Banana Republic.)

The credit, all of it, belonged to O. Henry, who, while holed up in the Republic of Honduras, peered “Through the Looking Glass” and discovered the Central American country of Anchuria.

Subsequently, O. Henry fathered the bitter-sweet phrase. Viola! We have got banana republic.

Fast forward to the current Tariff-ic situation in America, the public saw/heard the grilling of Commerce Secretary Lutnic by Rep. Madeleine Dean: You Can Not Build Bananas in America. She firmly held up the Exhibit A in her right hand, and said, You Can Not Build Bananas in America.

II

Perhaps O. Henry might be entertaining from beyond the grave that he rued his days in the greener pasture by dropping an M before [a]nchuria. Clearly he can see that this is the age of Manchuria.

The Manchurian Candidate – to be precise.

“The Manchurian Candidate” would have earned O. Henry the coveted literary pedestal of the prestigious kind, keeping his critics from panning his oeuvre. Frank Sinatra would have unveiled his bust before the gathering of American heroes who were the valiant defenders of “embattled human autonomy.”