Friday, September 18, 2015

Why I don't want to be Frank Reagan

     In my continued viewing of 'Blue Bloods' (I'm well into season 3 now) I have concluded: I do not want to be like Frank Reagan.  Yes, yes, I know the writers want him to be the one everyone wants to be.  Heck they even pulled in Tom Selleck to play him.  But for several reasons I do NOT want to be him

1) He doesn't take his Catholicism seriously enough.  I don't mean this to say he should be going around, sour faced saying, "I'm Catholic, damn it!"  But, it isn't the center of his life - which would make him even better of a P.C. than his is now.  In one episode, he's seen in the Confessional, which normally would be great, but, in a non feeling monotone, says, "I swore in front of the kids twice.  These are my sins."  and then proceeds to ask the priest if it is true he's leaving the parish.  In other words, his confession was a pretext to get info out of the priest.  This is what knowledgeable Catholics call, leaving the confessional with more sins than you went in...
    Second example of not taking his Catholicism seriously is the floozy he shacks up with when she's in town.  He's compromising his, otherwise, seemingly, untouchable sense of right and wrong for a few minutes of pleasure that could compromise his whole career, let alone his soul.  Then, they have the GAUL to joke about it:  "Better go to confession for this."  Next day his family jokes how he sang with such Vim and Vigor at Mass that morning.  Everyone of them knowing what happened, and not a single one of them caring that he just compromised his integrity nearly as bad, if not worse than, those other cops he confronted for selling stolen guns, or compromising investigations etc.  Frank's no better.  Just so happens that decades prior, enough guilt ridden politicians took his poison of choice off the legal ledgers.  (In my state it's not off the books, but I tried charging someone with it.... got that report kicked back and told to round file it - I sensed another guilty consciences.)
     2) Which is reason #2:  Frank compromises his integrity just as bad as many of the other cops he's fired, forced to retire or let retire.  The fact that he doesn't see this as a weakness in his character that could lead to more and more breaches in his integrity, is another flaw of his called Pride.  The only unforgivable sin is the one you don't think is.  Pride makes sure you won't think it is.
     Frank also compromised his integrity in telling Danny to get the information about a terrorist, from a captured terrorists using, "whatever it takes."  Clear indication that he is ok with torturing the suspect.  Now I applaud Danny and his partner for using a lot more brain than brawn to get that info, but the breach of integrity is done.
     3)  Finally, Frank sticks his neck out for a "good guy" in the department who is being blackmailed by, practically, a hooker in Atlantic City, whom he had an affair with after discovering  that his wife had an affair.  So , I guess, to Frank a "good guy" is one who swears an Oath to God to stick by this woman, "till death" but then decides to break that oath out of revenge.  What should that tell Frank about what this guy would do to his Oath to the State, should the right circumstances come along.
    I could pile on, but I'm too tired to care enough.
Bottom line:  As a Catholic Cop, I Don't want to be Frank Reagan.

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