Obama Should Call in National Guard to Restrain NYPD in Occupy Wall Street

Consider the following -

• Professor and author Cornel West was just hauled off in a police paddy wagon up in an Occupy Harlem protest - see photos
• Professor and author Naomi Wolf was led off in hand cuffs earlier this week when she was walking on a street deemed off-limits - a public street - by the NYPD - see article
• a woman seeking to close her Citibank account as part of the Occupy Wall Street protest was arrested - see video

Obama finally announced the end of the US occupation of Iraq today.  Now he should send some of our National Guard to New York City to restrain our out-of-control NYPD.  Clearly Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Kelly either can't or don't want to restrain the NYPD.

Earlier this week, we also saw the inspiring lecture that former Marine Shamar Thomas delivered to the NYPD - "you're supposed to protect us, not attack us," he said.  Here's the video.  (He was not arrested - Bloomberg still has a clever sense of public relations - he doesn't want a video of the NYPD taking into custody a former Marine.  But professors and authors and other law-abiding citizens are apparently fair game to arrest on camera.)

It is becoming more clear, every day, that what we most in New York City need protection from is our own police.

(I taped an interview and talked about some of these issues Thursday (Oct 20) morning - part of a panel discussion broadcast on Good Day Street Talk, Fox-NY-Channel 5, Saturday, October 22, 6-6:30am - here's the video.)

Street Talk, Oct. 22, 2011: MyFoxNY.com

-Paul Levinson, PhD
Professor of Communication and Media Studies
Fordham University




Occupy Wall Street Chronicles, Part 1

24 8.20: Jack vs. Dana

You know what I really like about Jack Bauer?

He comes upon the guy holding a gun to Dana's head.  He needs her alive, so he can get the evidence she says she has about the people behind Renee's murder and the almost-dirty bombing of Manhattan.  The guy with the guns tells Jack he won't dare shoot, and risk killing Dana (because the guy could get off a shot an instant before Jack's bullet got him).  How many times have you seen that before?   On how many shows?   But not here, not now.  Jack shoots him dead, before the words are out of his mouth.  That's what I like about Jack.

So he springs Dana, and she leads Jack and Cole to the evidence, only to get the jump on Cole, kill a few more people, and nearly escape from Jack.   And he finds her, he gets the evidence she is carrying- and kills her.  Saved and killed by the same hero.   That's power of 24.

But with Dana's death, we'll now never know if Jack was telling Cole and Dana the truth when he said he wasn't interested in killing Dana, just finding out who was behind Renee's death and the dirty bomb so he could being them to justice.    Was he telling the truth?   I'm really not sure.   And that's part of appeal of 24 - razor-sharp plots that could turn either way.   And sometimes you can't be sure what happened even after you've just seen it.

Maybe the most likely explanation is that Jack would have let Dana go, but decided he'd better not, after he'd seen the new damage she'd done, after she'd almost gotten away.   Maybe he didn't believe her when she assured him she hadn't killed Cole.   I probably wouldn't have, unless I'd seen it with my own eyes.

So Dana's now history.   She started out a little slowly, but in her own way wound up one of the superior villains on 24, in one of the best seasons of the series.

And Jack's still got Logan and his aide and the Russians to contend with....

Note added 4 May 2010:  At the press conference held earlier today about the capturing of one of the suspects in car bomb that almost went off in New York's Time Square this weekend, NY Police Commissioner Ray Kelly - one of the best commissioners in NYC history - quipped that they nabbed the suspect in 56 hours, not quite as good as "Jack Bauer" and his 24 hours.  Shows how relevant 24 still is to the dangerous world in which we live, especially if, like my family and me, you live in or near New York City.


5-min podcast review of 24


 
See also Season 8 reviews: Hours 1 and 2 ... Hours 3 and 4 ... Hour 5 ... Hour 6 ... Hour 7 ... Hour 8 ... Hour 9 ... Hour 10 ... Hour 11 ... Hour 12 ... Hour 13 ... Hour 14 ... Hours 15-16 ... Hour 17 ... Hour 18 ... Hour 19

And see also Season 7 reviews: Hours 1 and 2 ... Hours 3 and 4 ... Hour 5 ... Hour 6 ... Hour 7 ... Hour 8 ... Hour 9 ... Hour 10 ... Hours 11-12 ... Hour 13 ... Hour 14 ... Hour 15 ... Hour 16 ... Hour 17 ... Hour 18 ... Hour 19 ... Hour 20 ... Hour 21 ... Hour 22  ... Hours 23-24 

---

Special Discount Coupons for Angie's List, Avis, Budget Rent-a-Car, eBags, eHarmony, eMusic

---

---

                           






 The Plot to Save Socrates




"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book