Rudy, Motorola and the toll on 9/11

Issues of Accountability and Brave New Films’ “The Real Rudy: Radios” by Joan Brunwasser Page 1 of 2 page(s) http://www.opednews.com

reddit_url=’http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_joan_bru_071023_issues_of_accountabi.htm’; reddit_title=’Issues of Accountability and Brave New Films\’ “The Real Rudy: Radios”‘

digg_url=’http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_joan_bru_071023_issues_of_accountabi.htm’; digg_title=’Issues of Accountability and Brave New Films\’ “The Real Rudy: Radios”‘; digg_bodytext=’This documentary from Robert Greenwald and Brave New Films is less than seven minutes long.Within that small package,the case against Rudy is efficiently and effectively laid out using interviews and film clips.Remarkably free of hysteria considering that the grieving families are among those interviewed, the film poses questions that need answers.’; digg_topic=’politics’;

http://therealrudy.org/radios

I saw Michael Clayton last night. The issue of accountability, or the lack thereof, threads its way throughout the movie. Simply put, no one is willing to take responsibility for anything. And, depressingly true to life, there seems to be an inverse correlation between taking responsibility and the rich and powerful, as those with more power run away from it the fastest. There’s the Westchester big wig who calls in Clooney, the fixer, to clean up the mess he left behind at a hit and run. And Don Jeffries – the CEO of UNorth, the agrobusiness giant – who signs and then suppresses a report laying out the health hazards of their product. And don’t forget UNorth’s top lawyer who sweeps the problems under the rug by outsourcing wiretapping, surveillance, and eventually murder. Even the title figure Clooney portrays does not eagerly don his superhero cape. He is dragged in after his friend and colleague is murdered, and he himself barely survives a car bombing. While Clooney’s character sticks up for the little guys in the end, it’s only once he begins to question what has become of his life that his values start to shift and realign. These days, we are so desperate that we’ll take any hero we can get, even one who only inadvertently does the right thing. Machiavelli is the new American idol, everyone has a price, and whistleblowers are an endangered species. Look around. This is the poisonous atmosphere that the current administration has perfected.

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