Has Jack Bauer Been Brainwashed By Obama?
Apparently we conservatives are “up in arms” about Jack Bauer’s apparent disavowal of some of the more, uh, direct interrogation techniques he’s used against terrorists in previous seasons.
As the hero of the television action series, Bauer became a modern icon of rugged American values and a fictional flag waver for the Bush administration’s determination to defeat terrorists.
The intelligence agent, played by Keifer Sutherland, has never been afraid to torture or shoot to kill while tackling villainous foreigners intent on waging war on the American homeland.
But now US conservatives are up in arms that the election of President-Elect Barack Obama has led the show’s producers to pander to the liberal consensus in Hollywood, which they claim has led to the blacklisting of those who disagree with their anti-war views.
When the series returns for its seventh season on Sunday night, Bauer will mouth the views of Mr Obama, who has vowed to end “enhanced interrogation”, also known as torture, and close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.
And in an apparent bid to get in tune with the new president, the new season opens with Bauer facing a congressional investigation probing his use of torture and summary executions in previous series. “It’s better that everything comes out in the open,” Bauer says, echoing Democrat demands for greater transparency over US counter-terrorist tactics.
“We’ve done so many things in the name of protecting this country, we’ve created two worlds. Ours and the people’s we’ve promised to protect. They deserve to hear the truth and decide how far they want to let us go.”
First, let me say that 24 is a work of fiction. A very entertaining work of fiction that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed following, but still just a television show. Getting up in arms about what a fictional character on the show does as if it has any impact on real life is just plain ridiculous.
Second, let’s not pretend that the things Bauer has done to the bad guys in the show is in any way like what our own troops and agents have done to detainees in the war on terror. The beats Bauer administers, and his snap decisions to execute certain terrorists, are simply not things that have been engaged in or condoned in our war on terrorism. While Bauer has left terrorists maimed and dead, the worst our troops have ever done is sleep deprivation and water boarding.
Things that create discomfort and fear, but no lasting physical damage.
Personally, I think Obama’s push to hamstring our military and intelligence agents when it comes to collecting information from terrorists is misguided. As is his push to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. But Jack Bauer and the fictional accounts of what he’s done for our country in the name of national security really have no bearing on that policy. This new direction may make me enjoy the show less (I’ll reserve judgment until I see the episodes), but ultimately it has nothing to do with the real world.
