May 22, 2005

CULTURE WAR: THE NYTIMES VS. 24

        If Shakespeare wrote Hamlet in 2005, would the New York Times argue that it "normalizes" murder? Probably so, unless their critic was too busy condemning the "abusive" treatment of Ophelia and the unfair oppression inflicted by the Western patriarchy through the incest taboo. One of the small, delightful pleasures offered by Fox TV this year, has been the series 24, featuring our man, Jack Bauer, fighting Middle Eastern jihadis seeking to destroy infidel America. The bad guys are our enemies and are dealt with as such. There has been little handwringing, no apologies for our imperialist crimes against "the other", and the working assumption is that America is worth defending by any and all means, including killing. Little handwringing that is, on the program, but the shock to the New York Times's sensibilities has apparently been too much. In today's 'Arts' section they offer up a steaming helping of Liberal utopian cant- chin-pulling, oh so seriously troubled ruminations on how the program 'normalizes' torture. Horror of horrors; in a fictional drama written during a contemporary war launched against us by Middle Eastern jihadis, torture applied to murderous enemies may occasionally be necessary. But to the New York Times, the way to deal with beheaders and Paradise seeking killers, is to make sure their legal rights are protected. One of the funnier satirical moments in this year's series was the appearance of an ACLU style lawyer who intervened to protect a bad guy possessing information that could save the lives of millions. Going after such a threat by all means necessary wasn't amusing to the NYTimes. How dare 24 mock such icons of Liberalism? The Times is so consumed with hatred for George Bush's America, the America that produces patriots willing to kill and die for the rest of us, that every event is filtered to yield the highest concentration of anti-Bush propaganda. I hate to tell the metrosexual utopians at the NYTimes but it is normal to use all means necessary, including torture, to extract vital information from someone on a mission to destroy you. Even in their coverage of a program like 24, their focus is not on the depradations of the bad guys, the Middle Eastern Jihadis; instead it's on what can be found to delegitimize the war effort. No Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo for these wordsmith sophisticates. As between Osama bin Laden and George Bush, they're playing it even handedly.