Last week was witness to the good, the bad and the ugly:
Not only good, but brave and inspiring, “the hero of Harlem” started his year off by saving a young man’s life. As everyone knows by now – heck, it’s probably already a made-for-TV movie – on Wednesday, Wesley Autrey, a 50-year-old construction worker and Navy veteran, was waiting for a subway in Manhattan when he saw Cameron Hollopeter, 20, suffer a seizure and fall onto the tracks. In the distance, the train appeared.
Autrey jumped off the subway platform and lay on top of Hollopeter, pressing him down between the rails. The train braked, but could not stop. Cars rolled over the men, passing just inches from Autrey’s head.
Hollopeter, a student at the New York Film Academy, was hospitalized, suffering only bumps and bruises from the ordeal. Autrey declined medical attention and was only a half hour late for work.
He said he acted “because someone needed help.”
Mayor Michael Bloomberg bestowed the Bronze Medallion, the city’s highest award for civic achievement, on Autrey. Bloomberg called him a “great man – a man who makes us all proud to be New Yorkers.” For everyone outside New York, he makes us all simply proud.
But bad follows good in this case. After meeting with the mayor, Autrey was whisked away to meet with none other than … Donald Trump. Because he just doesn’t get enough publicity, Trump had to insert himself into this story and give Autrey $10,000. Another person might give anonymously, or quietly. But Trump trumpets himself, even as HE honors another’s man selfless act. You don’t have to be a cynic to imagine the $10,000 grandstand won’t inspire at least one crackpot to stage a “rescue” for the chance to be “hero” … and make money off it.
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The ugly, sadly, is another attempt to take a bite out of our privacy rights:
Dear Great Aunt Peggy,
Thank you for the scarf you gave me this Christmas. It is lovely.
(Hi, President Bush. To help you save time, “scarf” is code for, well, scarf. She gives me one every year).
I hope your gout has cleared.
(Correct. “Gout” refers to deep opposition to your signing statement that asserts the authority to open U.S. mail without judicial warrants in “emergencies” or “foreign intelligence cases.” We agree with critics, civil liberties and national-security law experts who say the statement’s language is unduly vague and appears to go beyond long-recognized limits on the ability of the government to open letters and other U.S. mail without approval from a judge.)
Please don’t call, dear Aunt Peggy.
(Exactly. A reference to the fact that the administration’s wiretapping program was found to be overreaching, and hence, illegal).
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