Posted by
John Caile on Tuesday, April 28, 2009 11:51:54 AM
This season of the hit TV show "24" is an interesting study in two fundamentally different philosophical views of the world regarding how best to fight terrorism.
In one corner you have the hard-nosed realists - Jack Bauer and his former colleagues at the dismantled Counter-Terrorism Unit. They are ready and willing to do whatever it takes to stop the cabal that is threatening bio-terror on a massive scale.
In the other, shall we say, less aggressive camp, we have those who seem to view any action not run through some bureaucratic maze of protocol checking as a violation of the Constitution.
The standard bearer for this kind of thinking is the liberal computer expert played by real life left-wing loon Janeane Garafalo. Given Ms. Garafalo's delusional accusations of "racism" against anyone who dares oppose Obama's excessive spending, such a role requires little acting on her part.
I give the show credit for avoiding simplistic plot-lines - the twists, turns, and betrayals are enough to keep even the most jaded fans wondering what will happen next. And some of the characters actually question their positions as facts and situations change.
The female President of the United States comes to realize that people like Jack Bauer are simply necessary in a complex world where the greatest threats no longer come from some well-defined super-power, but from loose coalitions of like-minded crazies. And the FBI agent, Rene Walker, also comes to realize that, like it or not, Jack's methods get results.
But Jack, too, engages in self-reflection, questioning some of the things he's done, and even admitting that he had often violated some laws.
The show is indeed a fantasy, but it does one thing sorely needed in our sound-byte world, where the temptation is to view every problem as having a simple (and often simple-minded) solution. It underlines the fact that the world is a very dangerous and unpredictable place, where yesterday's friend is today's foe, and today's foe may be tomorrow''s ally.
It also makes us wonder why some people are "horrified" by something as relatively innocuous as water-boarding, while they scarcely raise an eyebrow over suicide bombers or Islamic "honor killings" of teenage girls.