| WHAT ABOUT JACK?
by Kelly Thomas |
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My friend's partner just had a baby boy, so I asked her what they were going to name him. She said, "We are giving him an
All-American name: Jack. She went on to amplify, "No way are we two Moms going to have a son that has to deal with a name like Cedric or Foster(not disparaging these good names but she wanted a typical boy name); we want a Jack, a Sam, or Joe. I had to laugh.
I, too, have a Jack that is my hero: Jack Bauer of the show 24 . If you don't already know by reading the webzine, I am a big 24 fan. A deceased friend of mine who was a great guy has a son that looks like Kiefer Sutherland(aka Jack Bauer), so I'm pretending that his son is Jack. How's that? I know, crazy, but love the show and have the hardest time getting to sleep after watching it because I am still thinking about the storyline.
The TV show, 24, has redeeming value. It keeps terrorism on the forefront, shows how bureaucracy thwarts often the good intentions of many, and how self-interest plays such a part in our lives. On the show, there are those in charge who are more concerned with their power than the safety of the country. We see that in reality every day. Think about it!
Below are two previous 24 commentaries.
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| Review of the Television Show "24" | Kelly Thomas
January 19, 2005
 | I've thought about watching the TV show, "24", for a long time and recently caught it. I am hooked. It is more than a spy movie; a post 9-11 real life potential scenario is what it is! And, one of the reasons it "hooked" me is that it is so NOT politically correct. When I started watching the first thing that struck me is that the script writers for this show write as if they don't care what the PC police . How refreshing. I was blown away.
Jack Bauer, aka Kiefer Sutherland, is great. I've never been all that much a fan since he dumped Julia Roberts or was it the other way around or was it Julia Roberts anyway. Who knows? I am about as interested in that sort of thing as flying to the moon. But, this is one good show.
Another thing that intrigued me about the show was that it does not shy away from the bureaucratic hassles and infighting and utter self-serving that goes on. Here we have "life and death issues" and the bureaucrats are fighting among each other on who should have jurisdiction, who does what, etc. It portrays utter fury to me based on, I think, what goes on daily with Washington insiders who are the epitome of bureaucrats.
If we play the scenario up to 9-11, it is a miracle that we escaped such an event as long as we did with Intelligence agencies fighting amongst each other, i.e., backbiting while the bad guys are raising hell and killing Americans. The bureaucrats are ten times more intent on protecting their turf than they are the country. It is appalling and we know the show merely reflects what goes on in government.
The only redeeming character is Jack Bauer; and, on occasion one of his cohorts who is willing to risk helping him. Bauer will do whatever is necessary to protect the country. Wow, if it were more than a TV show. In real life, he would be in jail for life. In the show, they are constantly after him as the culprit and not the bad guys.
I only watched the first two episodes, which were two hours each. The story I can give away as it will catch you up.
This season (I'm going to try and catch the first season) the secretary of defense is kidnapped by the bad guys who happen to be Muslim extremist. Some would say this is too real life, too 9-11. There's a family of Muslims (who are Middle Eastern); a live terrorist cell operating in the country(whole family) to the degree that they have a teenage son who gives the appearance that somehow he has not embraced the cause but must go along with his family. All of this is involved in the kidnapping of the Secretary of Defense and his daughter.
There's intrigue, Clint Eastwood type of stuff: Jack shoots one of the terrorist in the kneecap to make him talk. Obviously, Jack will go to jail for this; and, if he was a soldier, he could count on being court-martialed for torture. Watch this show.
An aside: the next day after watching the show, I listened to Richard Clark, the former terrorism chief on NPR (national public radio). Clark is talking about an article that he's just written for Atlantic Monthly, which lays out the sort of scenarios of Jack Bauer. Clark has apparently reinvented himself as a pop literature star as he is now writing a fiction book with the sort of stuff that Jack Bauer is involved in. (Related article on Richard Clark and his book, Against All Enemies dated March 30. 04)
The line between fiction and reality are intertwined more closely than we probably want to admit. To me, again it smacks at some utter miscalculation on our part in fighting the war on terrorism abroad, i.e., Iraq.
Jack Bauer believes the war is here. I'm not so sure he's not right.
Check your local listings for 24. It is usually seen on Monday Nights on the fox network at 9:00pm.
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| The Recent News Makes Me Think of Jack Bauer
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A. Cooper-Contributing Writer
Monday February 6, 2005
| With all the recent hoopla over the legality of the Bush administration's wiretapping of Americans who have contact with suspected Al Qaeda members outside the United States and yesterday's escape of Jamal al-Badawi, the mastermind behind the USS Cole bombing, from a Yemen prison makes me think of Jack Bauer, the character from the TV show 24.
Jack Bauer, would go after the terrorists, and find them. The terrorists would most likely be in prison or back in prison or whatever before we, the American people, would know any wiretapping was done.
Would it be legal? Jack is all about patriotism: protecting his country and its people whatever it takes. So let's face it, Jack would probably be in prison if he were a real person.
I don't agree with the Bush administration on much, especially the way, in my opinion, they have mishandled the war in Iraq and I have not decided whether I believe the wiretapping in question is legal and how much difference it makes any way. But I do know with the time and money we are wasting with hearings on the subject and giving the Senators face time on C-Span, more special ops, maybe some Jack Bauer types, could be searching for the bad guys in Iraq, Yemen, and elsewhere.
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