Comments Posted By Publius
Displaying 11 To 20 Of 20 Comments
Bary - well I'm not going to debate Eric Haney's bona fides, and really don't know when he made Sergeant Major, but I find it interesting to note that Mark Bowden (writer of Blackhawk Down, and Killing Pablo) has a story in this month's Atlantic Monthly about the Desert One fiasco, and he has a brief passage in it mentioning Haney being there - nearly identical to the description in Haney's book (which at least puts him in Delta in 1980, and the authorization for Delta came in 1977).
Since Haney claims in his book that he was in something like the third class to go through selection for Delta, perhaps it's a stretch to say he was a "founding member," but as it was not officially stood-up until after he joined a Squadron, it might be reasonable to conclude that he's not exaggerating.
Comment Posted By Publius On 11.04.2006 @ 14:10
Had Mr. Proby ever watched "The Unit?" It's great television. Yes David Mamet is a producer, but so is Eric Haney a former Command Sergeant Major with Delta Force who was at Desert One, in Beruit, Central America, Grenada, etc. If you want to read an excellent book check out Haney's "Inside Delta Force."
I've been watching "The Unit" all season, and while I don't like it's solve everything in one episode, it is pretty entertaining and they (like CSI) carry some back-stories through-out.
Liberal world-view? I guess last week when the team assassinated a terrorist in Spain using a sniper or on the season opener took back over a plane full of middle eastern terrorists hearkens-back to the good old days of the Clinton administration (periods I guess I must've forgotten somewhere). Anyway, I know this is a 24 board, but liking 24 doesn't mean you have to do "The Unit."
Comment Posted By Publius On 11.04.2006 @ 10:20
Another great write-up as usual.
But, I'm really not buying the conspiracy at all at this point. Just completely unbelievable. If the Pres had these type of stones why have all the misdirection in the first place? Manipulate Cummings through a cut-out, agonize about giving the motorcade route to the bad-guys? Doesn't seem convincing.
I'm glad the VP wasn't involved, because I thought that was too obvious. Though the reversal was also pretty obvious - I told my wife half-way through - he won't be the guy. I also said that Evelyn would take a bullet, but that's as obvious as predicting that the red-shirt guy on Star Trek is going to eat it. Anytime someone holds back info from Jack until a) a relative is released, b) he gets a Presidential pardon for them, c) he gives them the money, or d) he gets their brother out of prison - you can expect that they're going to be shot and likely give him some cryptic message before dying.
Is it likely that Wayne Palmer would really be free to skulk around like this the day after his bro gets killed? Is that what RFK was up to? Can anyone see Roger Clinton doing this if Bill had been shot? I could see JEB doing this, but only b/c he's a robot.
And what's up with Homeland security going nuts about firing everyone from CTU, but then Chloe and Sheryl Crowe can spend the next hour moving satellites around?
Comment Posted By Publius On 4.04.2006 @ 09:22
You know I've never liked Audrey, and I for one cringed the entire time with Jack's superiority and "knowing in his gut" that she was innocent. It's as difficult to watch as any of his scenes with Kim. I think they just don't ring true.
But a few questions: Could you really blow up a natural gas plant and not level a few blocks? Not that it would be worse then a nerve gas attack, but somehow I don't think it'd be enough to run out of the building and stand in the parking lot.
Where did Wayne get the rifle? Did we see him get it from someone?
Minor correction to point out in your otherwise flawless review: the hotel was in MD (near DC for a tryst), not in Tennessee when Walt and Audrey hooked up.
Comment Posted By Publius On 28.03.2006 @ 16:52
OF TURF BUILDING AND CARVING OUT KINGDOMS
I assume "Tio" is actually Theo, which would be a German name, though I guess his British accent (explained by his time with MI6?) is as likely as Bierko's British accent, and his guy's Ruskie ones.
Why would anyone get upset about martial law in LA? Didn't they have that happen a few seasons ago? And didn't Pres. Bush deploy the 82nd Airborne and National Guard there during the riots?
Not sure if Audrey was set up, but as it was pointed out before, Robocop talked to some woman on the phone about what Jack knew before he tried to blow him up.
And how convoluted is the plot that the VP would have had to be in on? They planned to send the nerve gas to Russia, detonate it there, but that was really all a diversion knowing that Bierko would find it, and then try and blackmail the US and launch it on LA?
Comment Posted By Publius On 21.03.2006 @ 09:39
"AS THE FATES RULE THE AFFAIRS OF MEN"
At the risk of trivializing Tony's death, I just kept thinking that was he was really saving to Robocop was:
"My name is Tony Almeda. You killed my wife. Prepare to die" - all in a Castillian accent.
Comment Posted By Publius On 14.03.2006 @ 09:38
Not to get into a legal argument, but I'd certainly suggest that the President's deputization of Jack gave him state authority. He's ordering people around, commandeering equipment, etc. as if he had authority, so I'd say that anyone seeing him would assume that he was an agent of the government.
Plot questions - they've suggested that Jack was dead b/c of someone in the government, but wasn't it really to hide him from the Chinese? What are the odds they're going to show up?
How many twists are there to this nerve gas? Ignoring for a minute that the military doesn't make it, and second that you can't just put some together on a business campus in downtown LA, wasn't the plot to give the gas to the terrorists and then explode it on them in Central Asia? Are we expected to believe that the conspirators knew that the terrorists would find out about their plot and take the gas (making Cummings and the other guy dupes) and use it in the US? Does that make sense?
When did Kim and Audrey meet? Last season wasn't Audrey and Jack's relationship a secret?
Is Lin dead? Do we care? What the heck is growing on C Thomas Howell's face?
Three cheers for finally killing off Edgar.
Comment Posted By Publius On 7.03.2006 @ 10:59
You know Jack took the 3rd option - let them release a little gas, kill 10-20 people, and not catch the terrorists. I think this winds up being worse than either of the other two choices being offered.
Maybe I'm just a geek, but I keep being bothered by this nerve gas that is "super" powerful, but that you can get around with a gas mask and short-sleeve shirts. Nerve gas generally gets in through the skin.
I like the Vince Foster route for Cummings.
Comment Posted By Publius On 14.02.2006 @ 09:40
I'll ignore the obviously moronic things - like a SWAT team going into the connex shipping container 5 minutes after hearing about it (though it took an hour to raid the airport), or the fact that wearing short-sleeves isn't going to protect you from nerve gas - absorbed through the skin.
Question: Are we going to figure out how David Palmer found about this plot? I always assume Palmer is a stand-in for Clinton. Could we suspend disbelief long enough to believe that Billy Boy dropped his sandwich or a girl and was digging for terrorist links?
Question 2: Is it me, or does the first lady look a lot like a fat Michael Jackson from some angles?
Comment Posted By Publius On 31.01.2006 @ 09:34
I think they had red shirts last season already. Look like low-rent mall cops.
Questions I've got: Who is the new VP? Can he be worse than Keeler?
What is Mike Novack's role if Cummings is Chief of Staff (ignoring the issue of how ridiculous it is that Novack would be in a Dem and apparently GOP white house inner circle)?
Why would you steal this hidden nerve gas from the same airport that you just brought media and police attention to with a hostage situation? Wouldn't it be easier to steal it at night and cause a diversion elsewhere?
Comment Posted By Publius On 24.01.2006 @ 17:17
