I rarely pay attention to the Oprah Book Club picks. I think over the years I’ve only purchased one book from she suggessted: I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb. It was an excellent book. After the brouhaha stirred up by her last pick, A Million Little Pieces, this one seems like a safe choice. It’s also a great choice. I read Elie Wiesel’s Night for a college history course and I was glad I did. I’ve read other books and memoirs about the Holocaust, but Wiesel’s has always stayed with me.
This exchange is not interesting because it showcases dissent among our service men and women. Having friends in the mililary I know full well they don’t always agree. They may serve with dstinction when called, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have differing opinions on a wide range of military subjects. The exchange is interesting because of the young man who equates serving in war with being on a football team. To me, that’s frightening. Granted, there will always be people like this in the service, and I have personally met a person like that, but that doesn’t make it any less scary. Bravo to the two men who replied to the soldier’s diatribe. We don’t need "robot" soldiers, we need men and women who can think for themselves. Some might think independent thought will hurt the cohesiveness of the unit, but groupthink is even worse. While a commanding officer’s orders must be followed, a willingness to see both sides of an issue are important, as well. In the end, the commander’s orders end the discussion, but a true leader is willing to consider different points of view.
Where was this Al Gore in 2000? Being hamstrung by too many consultants most likely. Could Al Gore be gearing up for a 2008 run? I seriously doubt it, but if this Al Gore ran he would have an excellent chance of winning.
Via AMERICAblog.
I loved this episode. Hats off to
Bradley Whitford for writing an excellent episode; one that could be
compared to the heyday of Aaron Sorkin. The best part, at least to me, was the
underlying message of the show: the horrendous genocide in The
Sudan and the world’s lack of interest. Whitford, through his church, has been very outspoken in his
disgust at the lack of leadership from out elected officials on The
Sudan. This is the most press the issue has received — EVER! I
especially enjoyed the human rights guy who had absolutely no problem
telling CJ what a lousy job she and president were doing as concerns
The Sudan (and the fact that CJ secretly agreed with him). Doubtful
that would ever happen in real life, but it’s great to see and I’m
sure he was speaking with Whitford’s voice. More people need to have
the balls to hold politicians to the fire like that.
I also thought the little storyline
with Danny was interesting in that he was growing tired of the
“gotcha journalism†that runs so rampant through the mainstream
media these days. Too bad we don’t see real “journalists†making
that decision. Of course, any journalist who made that decision
would mostly likely lose his or her job because he or she wouldn’t be drawing
readers to the respective news organizations.
Sometimes my liberal sensibilities are offended by the choices Jack Bauer makes as he tries to keep the country safe from terrorism, but damn is 24 a WILD ride!
***SPOILERS***
When the promos said you did not want to miss the first 10 minutes, man were they right. In the first 10 minutes the producers pretty much cleaned house with characters from previous seasons. First President Palmer, Bauer’s staunchest ally in government, is shot through the throat and killed on the spot; then a car bomb explodes outside of the home of Tony and Michelle Almeida, killing Michelle (I’m going to miss the very hot Reiko Ayelsoworth) and severely injuring Tony; and finally, someone comes for Chloe, but she escapes. From that point forward, it’s the usual non-stop action and violence. A fantastic ride!
I enjoy this show — a lot! — but as I’m watching it I often find myself wondering about Jack Bauer’s thought processes. Take, for example, the first hour of the show. Chloe calls, tells Jack what has happened to Tony and Michelle, and that people are trying to get her, as well. So what does Jack do? Jump in the car and race towards Los Angeles? No! He drives to some business with an emergency rescue helicopter, knocks out the pilot, discovers that the teenage son of the woman he’s been boarding with has followed him, drags the kid on to the rescue helicopter, and proceeds to steal it so he can get to Los Angeles and help Chloe. That’s one fucked up thought process, but true to character for Jack Bauer.