reeling... and a little bit nauseated

This morning on NPR I heard a story about that war-porn show "24." The story explained that a group of top military guys, the dean of Westpoint for example, and people who are or have been top interrogators, went to Hollywood to have a little sit-down with the "24" people to ask them to tone down the turture. Seriously. Because, in their opinion and experience, it doesn't work to ellicit good information and the illegal and immoral tactics of the show's hero, Jack Bauer, are being adored by students and emulated in the field.

WTF.

So I went to the trusty internet and I found the New Yorker article this story was based on. Wow. Leaving aside the complicated issues of art versus politics, and censorship, which I would love to tackle later, this article made me woozy with disgust. I guess I'm just a faint-hearted liberal, but gawd. The show's creator, Joel Surnow, is a self-described "right wing nut job," and counts as fans and friends: Dick Cheney, Carl Rove, Rush Limbaugh and... blech... Ann Coulter!

I was disgusted when I learned that "24"'s production building in LA is equipped with a fancy, plush smoking room with burled-wood humidors and a full bar and that Surnow, who often entertains his scary, conservative friends there, gave Rush Limbaugh a special "24" smoking-jacket recently. Bad enough. But I was literally gagging when I read that he's pals with Ann Coulter. Ann Coulter would be the devil if she weren't so patently stupid. Instead, she's just a very, very wicked, nasty, shrill, mean-spirited ogre in high-heels with lots of make-up.

Anyway, you should definitely read this article. It will make your blood boil. Or at least, it will make your blood warm with righteous indignation. And for the love of god, stop watching 24. If they started showing snuff films on prime-time teevee would you watch those too? Only if the victims were "islamofacists"...? You're fucked up.