Sunday, March 6, 2011

Absolute Power by David Baldachi

In a heavily guarded mansion in a Virginia suburb, a thief by the name of Luther Whitney starts to burglarize the place. But he is trapped in the vault, with a one-way mirror being the only thing seperating him from witnessing the murder of a woman. Not only is it any woman, but it is Christine Sullivan, wife of the famous Walter Sullivan. She and the president went to her house, but she ends up trying to kill him. The Secret Service barely saves the president's life by shooting her. They clean the place up but don't realize Luther was their the whole time. They clean the place up well, but Luther finds one piece of evidence that they forgot. When the lo0cal police find the body, they are baffled at the circumstances surrouding this mysterious case. The rest of the book involves a dangerous game that Luther plays with the Secret Service, trying to reveal the president for who he really is.

The Secret Service acted quickly in doing their jobs and killing Christine Sullivan to protect the president, even while compromising their own ethics. How do people justify doing their jobs while maintaing their ethics?
Were you involved in a case like this, would you do your job and kill the woman or stand by and watch the president die?

5 comments:

Hannah K. 1-2 said...

1. I think that the only time taking another life is justifiable is when it is to save another, so that is how I would think of it.
2. For the reason stated above, I would have killed the attacker if I could have.

Kyle N.1-2 said...

1. They're supposed to save people's lives, but their highest priority is the president. So even while violating their ethics in killing a person, if she was trying to kill the president, SHE was trying to take a life, and therefore allowed them to save the president's life.

2. I would try to shoot the woman in a place where she could recover, like in the leg. I would never try to take someone's life, but if I was sworn to protect the president, you have to take that chance.

Anna W. 1-2 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anna W. 1-2 said...

1. I think people justify their actions based on the circumstance. They have to do what's best in the favor of everybody involved even if that means taking the life of one if they were going to harm many people than that way the casualties would be less if the police force were to take down the attacker.

2. If I were involved in a case like this,I would do my best to save the president even if that means possibly killing the woman. However, if possible, I would try just to take her down enough not to harm the president and preserve her life if possible.

Mrs. Sherwood said...

Thread graded.