He took the midnight train going anywhere
Mar. 19th, 2008 03:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
geebsJust hit the mall and got Samurai Warriors 2:XL and used the gift card I got from Auntie this past Christmas to buy some new dress pants and socks, since I'd been using the same pair of pants for every special occasion the last five years.
Tuesday TV commentary:
Okay, I finally finished last night's Jericho ep. So John Smith is a crazy JR guy who wants to destroy JR, so he implemented the plan so that JR would consolidate power and thus there would be a centralized target for him to strike at with the bomb. Of course, the problem with that is, how would he know, when implementing the plan, that there would be someone like Hawkins who'd not carry out an attack and save the bomb for later as evidence? I'm sure that's not in the "how to take over the country" plan.
Owel, back to the whole Beck vs Jake thing, I see what they're trying to do. They're trying to unite the Hawkins storyline with the main storyline by painting Beck as a guy stuck in the middle, and Jake will have to convince him he's fighting for the wrong side. The problem is, the whole Goetz murder thing is a poor way to do it. As I said previously, yeah, maybe Beck was a little heavy handed when he took Jake into custody. But the country had just been practically wiped out! He's been dealing with insurgents, and in a mind set to find the terrorists responsible for the attack, since that's his main job, so he's bound to forget certain civil liberties while doing his job.
But as I said, Jake and the Rangers aren't in the right. They should've let Stanley turn himself in- he's feeling guilty as hell already, and they should've focused on trying to get him leniency or something, rather than being all, "We won't give you Stanley, because he was a nice guy killing a bad guy!" That's still vigilantism! And then they took the convoy hostage!! And somehow, Jake's turning it into this whole, Beck is a pawn for JR thing! For trying to enforce a law, a real one, and not a J&R implemented one?! Now, if JR/Ravenwood was doing something hincky, and Beck was being forced to enforce it, and that's why Jake was taken into custody, that would be fine. But the Big Lebowski calling for revolution, because the military, who've been spending the last half year quelling unrest and trying to find the people responsible for the largest terrorist attack in US History, most of whom prolly had families who are now dead or they haven't seen in a long time, played it a little too hard when trying to arrest a vigilante and his crew who've done insurgent things? That's not right! Owel, I guess this show is almost dunzo. I found it interesting, and I only hope if it doesn't return, there'll be something resembling a conclusion next week. No cliffhangers please, given the likelihood of this show returning is about zero to nil.
Tuesday TV commentary:
Okay, I finally finished last night's Jericho ep. So John Smith is a crazy JR guy who wants to destroy JR, so he implemented the plan so that JR would consolidate power and thus there would be a centralized target for him to strike at with the bomb. Of course, the problem with that is, how would he know, when implementing the plan, that there would be someone like Hawkins who'd not carry out an attack and save the bomb for later as evidence? I'm sure that's not in the "how to take over the country" plan.
Owel, back to the whole Beck vs Jake thing, I see what they're trying to do. They're trying to unite the Hawkins storyline with the main storyline by painting Beck as a guy stuck in the middle, and Jake will have to convince him he's fighting for the wrong side. The problem is, the whole Goetz murder thing is a poor way to do it. As I said previously, yeah, maybe Beck was a little heavy handed when he took Jake into custody. But the country had just been practically wiped out! He's been dealing with insurgents, and in a mind set to find the terrorists responsible for the attack, since that's his main job, so he's bound to forget certain civil liberties while doing his job.
But as I said, Jake and the Rangers aren't in the right. They should've let Stanley turn himself in- he's feeling guilty as hell already, and they should've focused on trying to get him leniency or something, rather than being all, "We won't give you Stanley, because he was a nice guy killing a bad guy!" That's still vigilantism! And then they took the convoy hostage!! And somehow, Jake's turning it into this whole, Beck is a pawn for JR thing! For trying to enforce a law, a real one, and not a J&R implemented one?! Now, if JR/Ravenwood was doing something hincky, and Beck was being forced to enforce it, and that's why Jake was taken into custody, that would be fine. But the Big Lebowski calling for revolution, because the military, who've been spending the last half year quelling unrest and trying to find the people responsible for the largest terrorist attack in US History, most of whom prolly had families who are now dead or they haven't seen in a long time, played it a little too hard when trying to arrest a vigilante and his crew who've done insurgent things? That's not right! Owel, I guess this show is almost dunzo. I found it interesting, and I only hope if it doesn't return, there'll be something resembling a conclusion next week. No cliffhangers please, given the likelihood of this show returning is about zero to nil.
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no subject
Date: 2008-03-20 12:26 am (UTC)As for your anti-vigilantism... in a situation where the government crumbles only to be replaced by a more corrupt government, that's the kinda situation where vigilantism is called for. I don't think that was necessarily the right move killing the guy, but I think the reason the rangers are holding out is that at this point, they're not recognizing Beck's authority over them, since he's an agent of an illegitimate government.
In any kinda war situation, if you stop and think about the opposing soldiers, you know they probably think they're doing the right thing, a sense of duty, following orders, patriotism, told all sorts of stuff about how evil the people they're fighting are, etc. The average Nazi grunt was probably a pretty good guy, but you have to try to kill him or else Hitler might win. If that makes sense.
no subject
Date: 2008-03-20 04:04 am (UTC)I mean, I guess people have disagreements with J&R policies, and how Ravenwood are a bunch of thugs and criminals carrying out its orders, but again, that wasn't the case in this situation. Regardless of what government was in power, I think Beck would still be after them! He was originally sent there to quell unrest (in addition to trying to find one of the terrorists responsible for the attack). And people killing each other (even if Stanley was just seeking justice for Bonnie and Mimi) is unrest. And its not like the government/J&R were pressuring him to find Goetz's killer. Beck is an honorable man, and I think any honorable person would look into the situation thoroughly. The problem is that he didn't hadn't it quite right.
Granted, you can argue that J&R/Ravenwood policy was the root cause of all this, and the amnesty Goetz and his men got as long as they were in J&R employ fostered their crookedness and made people think they couldn't see any real justice. And I can see it turning peoples' stomachs that J&R only cut Goetz loose because he was embezzling, so they felt their only recourse was vigilantism.
But my issue isn't so much the vigilantism but the handling of the situation by both sides. I don't see anything wrong with Beck wanting to find Stanley. Even if he killed Goetz for being a bad guy, I still feel he should at least be put on trial and defend what he did. Is Stanley wrong? If someone killed my sister and almost killed my fiancee just to cover up some dirty dealings and I found out he was responsible for countless atrocities, I'd prolly go after him. I don't think I'd shoot him after he was subdued though. But Stanley was also going through a whole rollercoaster of emotions because of what Goetz did to him and his family, and that emotional disturbance could've caused him to shoot Goetz in cold blood. Hence there should be a trial rather than just saying outright that Goetz needed killing and Stanley is a good guy.
I would have issue with Beck throwing Stanley into a supermax prison without trial, but we have no idea what he would do because Jake wouldn't tell him where he was. Though I guess it is partly Beck's fault for just tossing a hood over Jake's head and practically torturing him. So mebbe people thought Stanley wouldn't get a fair trial.
In any case, I realize one needs to compartmentalize and dehumanize the enemy in war, but there's no reason for the people of Jericho to feel at "war" with the government yet. (If it were New Bern, that's another issue!)