[QUOTE=Dead Badger]
But this is (from my point of view) beside the point. I find the idea of the President being a terrorist so utterly, completely, fundamentally stupid that I can’t even begin to care about whether it’s in keeping with his character.
[/QUOTE]
Logan wasn’t a terrorist. He didn’t want the terrorists to succeed, and he didn’t want the nerve gas to be used on U.S. soil.
He was in on a government plan to get the nerve gas into the hands of a terrorist cell, in an attempt to double-cross them and use it against them once it got to Russian soil. (i.e. use it against the terrorist cell).
This actually isn’t so different (except in scale) from the plot at the start of season 3 that Jack, Tony, and Gael hatched – to break Salazar out of prison in order to re-establish Jack undercover with the Salazar clan, make them think he was really going rogue and betraying CTU. That plan ended up causing the deaths of some innocents in the process, like the prison guard made to play Russian roulette with Jack. The main difference between the two plans was that Jack’s plan worked. Logan’s didn’t. (And the nerve gas plan inherently had more dangerous ramifications if it failed).
I agree with Excalibre’s assessment that Logan is essentially weak, indecisive, and manipulable. He’s also (like many politicians) largely concerned about his image and especially his “legacy”. I disagree that his taking part in the plot was out of “evil”, though – but he’s definitely less than moral. He’s pretty spineless – he allows himself to be manipulated into taking part in coverups and ruthless actions, thinking that maybe by allowing this one “evil” to take place, the whole situation will resolve itself and we’ll all be better off for it.
I think he was convinced by others that the “use the nerve gas to destroy the terrorist cell” plan was a good one, and a sound one that could succeed. He was probably easy to manipulate into going along with the plan, and even believing in it. (I’m sure he was not the “mastermind” of that plot). Unfortunately, there were other more evil and ruthless men in on the plot – especially Henderson, who is always willing to do anything and everything to futher his goals, even if it means killing anybody who crosses his path – and those influences caused the situation to go farther than Logan ever imagined it would. And after that point, Logan’s actions (after the “reveal”, especially) seem to be that of a man desperate to get himself out of the corner he has painted himself into. And too bad he doesn’t have the balls to draw the line and come forth with the truth when his fellow plotters cross the line and kill Palmer. Sure, he would take a hit politically, but he’d be a better person for it.
Yep – spineless, weak, manipulable.
As for Palmer – he was certainly shown to have a higher caliber character, but I think they let that slide a bit with season 3. When he gave in to his brother’s advice and kept his mouth shut about what he knew (about Sherry’s involvement in that guy’s death). He just allowed himself to be talked into participating in a cover-up. Had a little less respect for him that season…
What are you talking about? Logan didn’t intend for any nerve gas to be used on U.S. soil. It was obvious all along that he didn’t intend for anything bad to happen on U.S. soil (including Palmer’s death). And if you think it’s inconceivable that a president might be involved in a scheme like this, you must have slept through the end of the term in your American history class in high school.