IT'S CLEAR THE PRESIDENT IS A DANGER

CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER (1994)
dir: Philip Noyce

IT'S CLEAR THE PRESIDENT IS A DANGER
MAD #333, January 1995
w: Dick DeBartolo
a: Angelo Torres

Third in the Jack Ryan series based on the Tom Clancy novels, which also included MAD targets The Hunt for Red October and Patriot Games.

There has been a murder of Peter Hardin, who was a personal friend of President Bennett (Donald Moffatt). He is found to have been connected to a Colombian drug cartel from which he had taken millions of dollars. Bennett tells National Security Advisor James Cutter (Harris Yulin) that the cartel is a danger (a clear and present one) to the country and asks him to send in troops.

Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford) is acting Director of Intelligence while his supervisor, Greer (James Earl Jones), is in the hospital, and asks for more funding not knowing there's more to it. Ryan's kept further in the dark by CIA agent Ritter (Harry Czerny). Meanwhile, Ryan is sent down to Colombia to investigate the drug cartel, led by Ernesto Escobedo (Miguel Sandoval), who was responsible for Hardin's death.

Cutter assembles a team to destroy the cartel while Ryan is purposely kept in the dark about what exactly is going on.

Colombian agent Felix Cortex (Joaquin de Almeda) makes a deal with the United States to assassinate Escobedo in exchange for making it look like the US is doing something about the drug war,

As the rest of the government carries on a covert drug war around Ryan, he puts the pieces together. He personally organizes a rescue operation with the aid of CIA employee Clark (Willem Dafoe). It ends with him turning in the information he has on everyone.

CLEARLY A PRESIDENT DERANGED
Cracked #296, January 1995
w: Tony Frank (Lou Silverstone)
a: Walter Brogan

Edward Platt was “The Chief” on Get Smart.

The new president is Forrest Gump.