"Remember Valencia"

What Would Jack Bauer Do?

yes, more torture and less rule of law please!

In a gentler time, conservatives would have deplored this gory primetime fare. But now, finding a worldview consonant with their hawkish tendencies, they have embraced Jack Bauer as their pop-culture icon, his name uttered as an invocation of the grit and guts needed in the Age of Terror.

I'm not so sure if "in a gentler time" conservatives would have deplored this at all. Please, this appeals to the authoritarian conservatives and they would have eaten it all up. Us vs. them and fear are the easiest ways to their heart and mind.

Feeling the weight of public opinion turning against the war in Iraq and the waning of enthusiasm for the war on terror, some conservatives saw in this fictional nuclear attack a reason to believe again. On NewsBusters.org, a project of the conservative Media Research Center, contributing editor Noel Sheppard was overcome as he stared at the computer-generated mush-room cloud: “Personally, I was left speechless for several minutes after the stunning conclusion, and had to watch the second hour again to convince myself that I had actually seen what I had seen…” He went on, “this … should be required viewing for all media members who question what’s at risk, and whether there really is a war on terror.” Sad news when a real war needs fictional proof. Kathryn Lopez was also moved by this sight of carnage, blogging on The Corner: “To everyone who goes to work today protecting you, me, our families, freedom: Remember Valencia.”

It even pervades into "serious" think tanks

The conservative obsession with 24 has gone beyond popular audiences into think tanks. Last summer the Heritage Foundation assembled a panel on the show, including not only producers, writers, and actors, but Heritage scholars and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who praised the series for “reflect[ing] real life.” Emcee Rush Limbaugh asked the stars whether they “had problems with their friends” in Hollywood because the show is pro-American. “Just jealousy,” replied Carlos Bernard to the audience’s laughter.

Fortunately, the author ends on a note of reason

In 24, the war on terror is an omni-present ticking clock, pitting our legitimate security needs against the most cherished tenets of our civilization. The stress one hour of this imposes on Jack Bauer alone makes good drama, but its extension to all America, for an indefinite time, is a farce. The devotion to 24 and its protagonist demonstrates what few may care to admit: in the war on terror, the conservative movement has become willing to sacrifice principle to passion and difficult moral reasoning to utility. As escapism, 24 is riveting; as a parable for our time, it is revolting.