This week, President Taylor actually did something besides look old and weary. She gave a rousing speech to her advisors, who were ready to buckle under the threat of a radiological attack against Manhattan. She marched out to dramatic music, and they pretended to look inspired. Then they proceeded to ignore everything she said.
Well, two of them did, anyway.
Can you blame them? Although the show clearly makes Rob Weiss and the General out to be the bad guys, if you were one of the people living in Manhattan, about to be irradiated, I think you would side with Weiss and the General. President Taylor is just lucky that she still has fifteen minutes left for Jack Bauer to come up with a third option. But if she didn’t have any way out — if she had to choose between Hassan’s life and 40 blocks of New York being wasted by radiation — I would be pissed if she chose Hassan’s life, wouldn’t you? And if Jack had to make that choice, I would also be pissed if he chose Hassan’s life. Remember poor old Ryan Chappelle? Jack shot him in the head (on President David Palmer’s authority) simply because the Season 3 terrorist, Stephen Saunders, demanded it.
That said, I’m no fan of Rob Weiss. He’s pretty quick to try to save his own ass. Did you see how fast he started yelling, “How could you let his happen?” when Hastings told the President that he could no longer guarantee the safety of Manhattan. He may as well have simply shouted, “Not my fault!” I was relieved that Robby had the decency to give Ethan his medicine — we don’t want a repeat of Sherry Palmer’s stunt (also in Season 3), when she “killed” Alan Milliken, one of David Palmer’s old friends, by preventing his wife from giving him his medicine during a heart attack.
So I love how Jack’s so used to getting calls from the President. He’s like, “Later, man. Got the White House on the line.” And how about when he told that captured soldier, “I only take orders from the President.” Haha. It’s like last week, during the shootout, when Tarin yelled, “IT’S JACK BAUER, THE BEST CTU AGENT IN THE WORLD!!!” Jack is a superhero. He’s now so much larger-than-life that it’s a good time for the series to end. I’m sure you’ve read the cancellation news elsewhere, so I won’t reiterate it. I’ll just say that I thought the series was going to end after seven seasons (one week, you know?), but I’m very glad that it hung on for an eighth season because I’m enjoying the ride. How about you?
Clacked by Ruby T.
on Mar 30, 2010 @ 09:04 EST5EDT
It is certainly a tough call to make, but I think she made the right one.
This decision is never really just about THIS decision. Giving in to one terrorist’s demands is opening yourself up to any terrorist with demands. The only reason that this policy works is that, at least to the public’s knowledge, we’ve never given in.
Yeah, my instinct is to agree with you. If I were the President, I would probably do what she did, refuse to negotiate.
However, during the episode, I started to think – what if I was one of the people in Manhattan that night? If it came down to it and there was no third option, I would want her to put my life first.
Fortunately, Jack will probably give her a third option.
I did not love it when Bill Clinton (not in office @ the time) had to sit with Kim Jong Freak and made nice with him to get those 2 gals back. Although, when I saw those girls reunited with their families, I felt better. Tough call, but the no negotiation policy is a good one.
People here saying President Hassan should have been handed over need to ask yourselves a question: Would these Americans do the same if the terrorists asked for President of USA? Never in the wildest dream.. Keep the rules same for everyone and then play the game.
That’s a fair analogy only if we imagine the following scenario: The U.S. President is visiting the IRK under the protection of President Hassan. American terrorists threaten to kill 58,000 of the IRK’s people if Hassan doesn’t turn over Taylor to them. In that case, I wouldn’t blame Hassan for turning her over to save his people. One president is replaceable. So, I can’t speak for anyone else, but my position is consistent.
If this situation were actual rather than television, it wouldn’t even be a question. There is no basis for good faith negotiation with a faceless, stateless terrorist cell as there would be with another nation. The U.S. could not hand over a foreign dignitary (much less a head of state) that was under its protection. Even if it did, there would be absolutely no reason for the terrorists not to detonate the radiological dispersal device on their enemy’s soil after they had gotten the man they wanted. The only way both parties could come together was a simultaneous exchange that did not give one side the advantage over the other, which would obviously be impossible.