Primetime Torture: 24 Turning a Corner? Maybe...

24 - Season 7 - 9:00 PM - 10:00 PM


A funny thing happened in the latest episode of "24" - which Human Rights First calls an example of Primetime Torture - someone may have finally Talked Jack Bauer Down...maybe.

As I discussed in my last diary some would argue why bother with torture on a mere TV Show - however people like Army Interrogator Tony Lagouranis that in the absense of clear direction from their leadership - our troops began making up their interrogation techniques on the fly, and many of their ideas came directly from shows like "24".

Silly though it may seem, the show "24" is indeed part of our national debate on torture particular as people such as Glenn Beck, Laura Ingraham and Cal Thomas constantly refer to Bauer as justifications for actions taken by the Bush Administration.

In the past Bauer's character - the right-wing poster boy for extreme measures - has argued that "Either you do what is neccesary or (innocent people suffer)." He's said that those who don't agree with him are "WEAK - Unwilling and Unable to Look Evil in the Eye and DEAL WITH IT!" - and as a result practically anything he does is therefore Justified.

This of course sounds exactly like Dick Cheney.

KING: I’d like to simply ask you, yes or no, by taking these steps do you believe the President of the United States has made Americans less safe?

CHENEY: I do. I think those programs were absolutely essential to the success we enjoyed of being able to collect the intelligence that let us defeat all further attempts to launch attacks against the United States since 9/11. I think that’s a great success story. ... President Obama campaigned against it all across the country. And now he is making some choices that, in my mind, will, in fact, raise the risk to the American people of another attack.

You see, it was "Neccesary" - it was "Justified" - we HAD to do it. Obama HAS to Keep doing it. Just like St. Jack always says. Even if the Red Cross says it was clearly, absolutely Torture,

The classified report, Danner wrote, "tells a certain kind of story, a narrative of what happened at the 'the black sites' and a detailed description, by those on whom they were practiced, of what the President of the United States described to Americans as an 'alternative set of procedures.'" The accounts -- which the report concludes are so strikingly similar as to make fabrication extremely unlikely, if not impossible -- offer "a harrowing view of conditions at the secret prisons, where prisoners were told they were being taken 'to the verge of death and back.'" As the Washington Post described, "during interrogations, the captives were routinely beaten, doused with cold water and slammed head-first into walls. Between sessions, they were stripped of clothing, bombarded with loud music, exposed to cold temperatures, and deprived of sleep and solid food for days on end. Some detainees described being forced to stand for days, with their arms shackled above them, wearing only diapers."

The real irony here is that the foes that have framed Bauer for murder, are exactly like him! 8 minutes into the first section Jon Voight, playing the head of a Blackwater-like U.S. mercenary group makes the following speach as he commits himself to unleashing a deadly WMD attack on U.S. Soil.

Voight: Mr Seton, I get no pleasure from the knowledge that people will die at our hands. One single soul - The loss of one soul is tragic to me, let alone the numbers we're talking about - but do not forget that every war must have collateral damage, and that what we're doing is fundamentally and absolutely neccesary.

Sounds kinda familiar.

But this week Bauer's techniques and arguements have come back to bite him - big time. His attempted interrogation of a Congressional Staffer led to the target's death (not at Jack's hand). Jack is on the run for murder. He's managed to get Chloe Sullivan arrested for Obstruction of Justice by asking her to tamper with evidence, he's led FBI Agent Renee Walker astray with his arguments and now she's been suspended from duty.

It's not until he comes face to face with the U.S. Senator (Kurtwood Smith) whose been trying to restore the rule of law, revise the War Crimes Act and send Bauer to PRISON that he finally begins to see - just a glimmer - of how far wrong he may have gone off track. (Scene begins after the third break, 29 minutes into the episode)

Mayer: At the hearing this morning you said you had "no regrets" about what you've done, but what I saw was a man full of regret.

Bauer: Of course I have regrets Senator. I regret losing my famlly. My wife was murdered because I was responsible for protecting David Palmer during an assasination attempt. (Actually she was murdered as blowback from a busted black-ops attack led by Bauer in Bosnia) My daughter can't even look at me (Which might have a bit to do with Jack cutting off her boyfriends right ARM!) Everyday I look in the eyes of men, women and children knowing that at any moment their lives might be deemed "expendable" in an effort to protect the greater good. I regret every decision and mistake I might have made that resulted in the loss (of innocent life). You know what I regret the most? It's that this world even needs someone like me (IT DOESN'T!)

Mayer: So you think I'm naive to believe we need to hold ourselves to a higher standard of conduct?

Bauer: It doesn't even matter what I think, you just need to understand that things get a lot messier where I work than where you work on the hill.

Mayer: What you've lost Mr. Bauer is tragic, what you've been compelled to do in the name of saving innocent life is tragic. Sometimes we need to incur the most horrible losses in order to uphold the ideals that this country is founded on - how can we presume to lead the world unless we set an example?

Bauer: You make it sound so simple.

Mayer: Maybe it's simpler than you think, maybe all the things you've seen and all the things you've done have clouded your vision.

THAT RIGHT THERE is exactly the point. It's just what Bauer has failed to understand all this time. Let me again point out that it was a failed (illegal) black-bag opperation to assasinate Slobadon Milosevic's right-hand man (Victor Drazen) that instigated personal retaliation against David Palmer (who authorized the mission) as well as Bauer (who led it) and his family. Even on "24", from the beginning our extreme measures have been a catalyst for the extreme measures of others, and Bauer has been blind to it this entire time.

Just as Real Life Interrogators such as Matthew Alexander have explained our using criminal methods in Iraq have Caused Greater U.S. Casualties. Causing people unneccesarily suffer and die, even in order to save other people - is NEVER justified. Committing a crime to stop crime still means - there was a CRIME! Yes, it is simple - but that doens't mean it's EASY! The right thing is often the HARD thing do.

After finding the evidence he's looking for and discussing the specifics of what Jon Voight's company is probably up to - Mayer and Bauer again begin to discuss the future possibilities. (Section 3 - 34 Minutes into episode)

Mayer: You're obviously on to something, maybe I can help you find the evidence you need to prove your case.

Bauer: Starkwood infiltrated the White house. They'll come after you.

Mayer: We'll keep the circle small, it's time you started trusting the institutions that you've sacrifice so much to protect.

Bauer: Trust isn't my greatest asset.

Mayer: Son, you have to start somewhere.

::SPOILER ALERT::

Unfortunately immediately after this scene Mayer takes three bullets to the chest, and Bauer is on the run again - but before he's gone Mayer clearly makes the point that what Bauer is doing, and he's been doing - ISN'T NECCESARY. And frankly if it's acceptable to let people suffer and die, then maybe it's better to allow that to happen on the basis of some kind of PRINCIPLE.

Let's just suppose for second that Cheney is right, maybe we will be hit again if Obama stops the various extreme interrogation and illegal wiretap programs - I SERIOUSLY DOUBT IT - but let's take that point. As the President's daughter (who'se played by an actress who had a regular role in the Post-Apocalypic CBS Show "Jericho" where yet again a Blackwater-like private army and corrupt corporation use WMD to take over the U.S.) argues in another part of the episode, those people who we may lose - while standing firmly behind our ideals - would be THE REAL HEROES - not someone like Bauer who is little different than the people he's fighting against.

It's well past time we started demanding that America truly live up to it's values - fulfill the promise of American potential - and stop under any and all circumstances accepting the kinds of sadistic rationizations coming from either Cheney or Bauer.

They're time is done.

Now, I actually doubt the show will begin to change direction, even though the producers promised Human Rights First that it would. This is probably just a momentary aberration from their ongoing campaign of sadism - but it does offer, for once, a credible opposing arguement directly to those - like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh - who've been swallowing Jack's drivel for so many years. There IS another way besides deliberate brutality, really and truly there is.

Vyan

Primetime Torture to Gitmo: The Deadly Connection

Human Rights First has produced a 14-minute movie featuring interrogation experts and trainers who all support the argument that Hollywood via shows such as "24", "Alias" and "Lost" have been bombarding the American public with a vicious, poisonous lie.

The idea the Torture is EVER "Heroic" or effective.



Psst It's NOT!

There's a debate and an argument going on in this country concerning the issue of Torture and War Crimes. On the one had you have those who believe the U.S. has an absolute obligation to honor it's own laws and treaties and abide by the Geneva Conventions and the U.N. Convention against Torture.

Geneva states "There Will be NO AFFRONTS TO PERSONAL DIGNITY" against detainees.

The UN Torture Conventions says:

No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political in stability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture. An order from a superior officer or a public authority may not be invoked as a justification of torture.

Neither of these documents leave any wiggle room - there are no "Special Circumstances" - No Exceptions. No MEANS NO! Period.

On the other hand you have people who posted these comments to another HRF video on "24" which call it nothing more than an "Ad for Torture"

-torture and interrogation is ok for terrorists and bad people, to do whatever it takes to make them talk, we dont see you human rights assholes when innocent people die, you only come forward to protect the rights of the worst kinda murderers

-What a bunch of fucking pussies. You're safe because of torture. Never forget that.

-right so.. terrorists are allowed to kill innocent people but we're not allowed to try and stop these attacks from even taking place?

These people sound a lot like George W. Bush.

Bush: I just can't imagine being President without having these techniques when we capture a known killer who has information about the next attack on America

Don't worry - you won't be. Thank God.

Or maybe they sound more like Jack Bauer.

Season 7 Episode 1

BAUER: When I am activated, when I am brought into a situation, there is a reason and that reason is to complete the objectives of my mission at all costs. [...]

For a combat soldier the difference between success and failure is your ability to adapt to your enemy. The people that I deal with, they don’t care about your rules. ... In answer to your question, am I above the law? No, sir. I am more than willing to be judged by the people you claim to represent. I will let them decide what price I should pay. Now please do not sit there with that smug look on your face and expect me to regret the decisions that I have made because, sir, the truth is I don’t.

Yeah, that's a great argument for Jury Nullification there O.J.


Episode 6 (When Jack argues for the kidnapping and threatening of an innocent woman and child to get her suspected traitor Secret Secret Agent husband to cooperate)

Bauer: When are you people going stop thinking everyone else is following your rules- They're NOT!

Because committing acts of terrorism against innocent people is a wonderful way protect innocent people from terrorists - dont'cha know?

Episode 9

Mayer: Madame President I don't care if his source is the blessed virgin Mary nothing justifies what went on in this room.

Taylor: But what if he's right? What if it means we could save lives?

Mayer: Look at that (points to the bloody and battered Burnett) and tell me it's not barbarism? Is that something you can live with?

Bauer: Earlier today two airplanes were brought down - is THAT something you can live with?

Mayer: You're reprehensible Bauer.

Bauer: AND YOU SIR ARE WEAK - Unwilling and Unable to Look Evil in the Eye and DEAL WITH IT!

Right, all the people stand for Human Rights and against torture - are the "Weak People". The Pussies! It takes a REAL MAN to be a sadistic Dickhead who repeatedly inspires vicious terrorists to hunt and attack him and his country. Thanks for the Tip Jack.

And then there are those who feel "It's Just TV", so don't worry about it.

why are people making a big deal outta this? So 24 shows torture. Deal with the guys who abuse kids and kill innocent people first, then we can talk about a TV show.

-Oh, and another thing assholes, what happened to freedom of speech? Just turn if off if you don't like it, yes? I'm quite sure that's what you'd say if a program happened to be in alignment with something you advocated, but others were criticizing. Fucking hypocrites.

Well, the big deal is that it's not just one show. It's many many shows over a great many years including "Alias" and "Lost" that have perpetuated this MYTH that all you have to do is inflict enough pain and the bad guys will "Crack". All of us have seen that movie, from Dirty Harry to Death Wish to SAW VII, that moment when the bad guys finally says - "ENOUGH, I'll Tell you...I'll TALK!"

We've all seen it, and hardly any of us have stood up and walked out thinking "That's Bullshit". We consider it credible, we think it's plausible - we BUY INTO IT - but it's just a myth, no more valid or real than the idea that a young girl in a short skirt is asking to be raped and murdered by a pedophile - or that the dirty Juden Deserved the Ovens!

Yeah, I went went there, because Nazi Germany is a large part of why Geneva exists. If Bauer was real, by now he'd be a sadistic neo-fascist sociopath - and that's exactly the point. He's a War Criminal.

If we saw a suggestion like those two in a film almost no one (except maybe Bill O'Rielly or Pat Buchanan) would buy it as believable. Yet hardly anyone objects to the idea that "everybody breaks" - and that right there is the challenge that stands before anyone who supports Human Rights and the rule of law. Even people on our side of the argument, are often willing to make excuses and compromises for "Special Circumstance", but just as the UN Torture Convention state - there are no excuses. None. Zero. Even seriously entertaining the suggestion should be completely abhorrent to all of us - yet it's not.

The argument that real people don't take this seriously and don't believe what their seeing on the TV or movie screen is belied by the Real Experience of Interrogators in Iraq.

U.S. Army Interrogator Tony Lagouranis: We were told that the old rules (Geneva) didn't apply anymore and were encouraged by the Pentagon to "Be creative" - so we watched Movies and TV for ideas.

Thanks to Bush, Cheney and the Yoo Memo's all their training and all the rules We're Out the Window!" Here is an Iraq Veteran Interrogator TELLING YOU they took tips directly from shows like "24" (and still I'm sure people will argue that these shows had nothing to do with it even though Lagouranis is clearly saying that IT DID!).

Add this to the words of the interrogator who helped take out the head of Al Qaeda in Iraq - Abu Zarqawi - that Torture Is NEVER Neccessary



No one is suggesting Censorship, nor is simply ignoring a show you don't like or agree with a solution. Sticking our head in the sand does nothing to address the fact that Millions of Americans are being LIED TO and almost no one - NO ONE - in Hollywood is making a rational and responsible effort to get the truth out, even while they repeatedly perpetuate a lie that is costing American lives.

When all anyone hears is one side of the argument - that side wins by default. Ignoring it is tacitly endorsing it.

Contrast how many times you've seen in your own life someone screaming "No - Enough" on TV or a film with how many times you've seen what Alexander is talking about? How many times have you seen Hollywood show someone give a False Confession or bogus information just to make the pain stop the way we received false intelligence information from Ibn Sheilk al Libi and Abu Zubaydah, information which helped send us into pointless war with Iraq?

I've only seen it once that I can recall - on Showtime's Sleeper Cell which IMO was the most honest and accurate program on terrorism ever, but that's hardly enough to counter the cultural juggernaut that Bauer has become. He's practically a national Icon. No one is saying "24" shouldn't be made, or that the creators don't have a First Amendment Right to present their story the way they'd like to - but if that story is based on a LIE - it should be questioned and vigorously challenged. We should always recall that the best of our art is literature isn't simply done in a flashy or stylistic way - it also represent and illuminates some basic human truths, not lies.

Ironically in part 2 of the Human Rights First film some of our real life interrogators do happen to use a piece of Hollywood film making to help them make their point on young soldiers who've already seen years of successful torture - and that piece of film comes from way back in the pre 9-11 days of 1998's The Seige.



What we don't really see is someone like Agent Hubbard on "24" who doesn't wind up looking like and treated like a Coward and a Pussy. Last year the producers of "24" promised to "Tone done the Torture" after a visit from the Commandant of West Point Gen Finnegan, but they haven't, they've simply come up with louder excuses for it. Waiting for Bauer to lose the argument to Agent Moss or Senator Mayer is like expecting Colmes to have ever gotten the better of Hannity. The Shit is RIGGED - "Jack the Superhero" is always right and always wins the fight. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

But then again even on TV sometimes the Hero does lose, like on Season 2 of Sleeper Cell: American Terror when torture fails and the bad guy uses it to play them for a suckers. It's not that you can't do accurate TV addressing terrorism - you can - but only if people refuse to accept and idly stand for BAD MISLEADING TV about terrorism. People need to demand better, but they'll only do that when they realize like Mathew Alexander - THERE IS A BETTER WAY!

Yet Again, (because people really don't seem to get this point) no one is suggesting censorship or a boycott, but even a show like Mythbusters includes a clear disclaimer :"Don't try this at home - Ever."

Maybe at the very least "24" should have a similar disclaimer
; Don't Try this on the Battlefield - EVER!

Vyan

Canada might not be safe for Bush anymore...because of the Torture

A series of Canadian attorney's are seeking to have George W. Bush either Prosecuted or Banned from entering Canada because of the credible information that he was involved in Torture.

Bush is scheduled to speak in Calgary March 17, but Vancouver lawyer Gail Davidson says that because Bush has been “credibly accused” of supporting torture in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Canada has a legal obligation to deny him entry under Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. The law says foreign nationals who have committed war crimes or crimes against humanity, including torture, are “inadmissible” to Canada. ”The test isn’t whether the person’s been convicted, but whether there’s reasonable grounds to think that they have been involved,” says Davidson, who’s with Lawyers Against the War (LAW). “

This is Bush said in 2006 about Torture:



"We do not torture"...he says.

Yet when Bush finally left office he said this:



Bush claims that what he did was "Legal" based on opinions he received from the OLC, yet those very opinions have since been under review and the prelimarily indication is that the attorney involved - John Yoo, Jay Bybee - may just be DISBARRED for offering them.



Late last year a Gitmo Prosecutor openly ruled that WE DID TORTURE detainees.



From the Washington Post

The top Bush administration official in charge of deciding whether to bring Guantanamo Bay detainees to trial has concluded that the U.S. military tortured a Saudi national who allegedly planned to participate in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, interrogating him with techniques that included sustained isolation, sleep deprivation, nudity and prolonged exposure to cold, leaving him in a "life-threatening condition."

"We tortured [Mohammed al-]Qahtani," said Susan J. Crawford, in her first interview since being named convening authority of military commissions by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates in February 2007. "His treatment met the legal definition of torture. And that's why I did not refer the case" for prosecution.

As Congress dithers on weather or not a Truth Commission will take place, and questions continue on whether AG Holder will truly investigate the crimes of the Bush Administration and address torture via a Special Counsel it may fall to the nations of the world to finally bring Bush and his nest of torturers, Yoo, Bybee, Addington and Cheney - to justice.

But whether it will be St. Patricks Day in Canada - remains a mystery.

The (Canadian) federal government is keeping silent on the upcoming visit. “We have no comments to offer on the visit of Mr. George W. Bush to Calgary,” said Foreign Affairs spokesperson Alain Cacchione in an e-mail. When told about Davidson’s letter, a spokesperson with the Canadian Border Services Agency said “we wouldn’t comment on something like that.” Davidson is one of many voices around the world calling for Bush’s prosecution. Earlier this year, Manfred Nowak, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Torture, said the U.S. has a “clear obligation” to prosecute Bush and former secretary of defence Donald Rumsfeld for authorizing torture — a violation of the UN Convention on Torture.

Regardless of what Canada does or doesn't do - the ball is truly in our court, if only we choose to run with it.

Vyan

Beck, Norris and Bauer - the Triumvariate of Wingnuttery

After reading rec'd diaries by Meteor Blades and Winter Rabbit on the Seccesionist Rants of Glenn Beck and Chuck (The President of Texas) Norris - I had a feeling we may have just crossed a Rubicon of Serious Nuttbaggery.

Then I went and found the actually interview and it's really much worse than previously advertised.

Much.

BECK: Chuck's the author of Black Belt Patriotism: How to Reawaken America. Chuck, you know what? I was talking about General Petraeus the other day. I mean this sincerely: I would love to have General Petraeus go up to Washington and clean that hornet's nest out. I'd like him to set up a military tribunal and call them in one by one, okay, going to have a little interview with you. Find out if they're guilty or innocent of being involved in, you know, all kinds of the scandals that are going on and kick them out.

NORRIS: I want to go with General Petraeus myself and be next to him and when he finds out who's guilty and, you know, dishonest, then I will take care of it for him. Took him out. I'll choke them out, the ones that he finds dishonest, I will choke them out and stick them into a pile.

Ok, let me get this straight - Chuck and Beck are talking here about essentially Overthrowing the Government, setting up their hero Petraeus as Military Dictator and putting Congress on trial one by one, after of course violently assaulting them without provocation. (Why not just use Gitmo and skip the trial?!)

This is more than a step beyond Michelle (Crazy like a Loon) Bachmann who felt there should be an investigation of Congress for "Anti-Americanism".

They then get into a discussion of one of my favorite subjects - that's right - the Enduring Heroism Neo-Conism of Jack Bauer.

GLENN: Do you ever watch 24?

NORRIS: I'm sorry?

GLENN: Do you ever watch the TV show 24?

NORRIS: No, I don't.

GLENN: Jack Bauer last night, he choked somebody out. Is that hard to do without killing them?

NORRIS: Yeah, you stop after 8 seconds. It takes 8 seconds for them to go unconscious.

GLENN: And then they --

NORRIS: They are always saying -- you know, since Jack Bauer, since I'm off the Walker series, everyone says, would Walker have a chance against Jack Bauer? I said Jack Bauer would last 5 seconds against Walker.

GLENN: Wow. But could you know which wire to cut if it was a nuke? Come on, Walker, come on, buddy.

NORRIS: I have good instincts, Glenn. My gut reaction will tell me which one to cut. That happens to Bauer, he doesn't know, either.

Hey guys - Bauer's a FICTIONAL CHARACTER! But then apparently so is Chuck Norris. I have talked time and time and time again about how the Wingers have been using Bauer and his actions as their Ultimate Example of Justice and LIberty. This is yet just another example of how divorced they are from facts and realty. Even if they realize HE'S NOT REAL - they not so secretly wish that he was real.

To further this point they go on to discuss a never released TV movie about an Osama Bin Laden "Dirty Bomb" attack on Chicago that was apparently filmed and scheduled to be shown just after September 11th and called - get this - "Ground Zero" - but was pulled by CBS. What a suprise, eh? (I'm willing to bet they could get ABC to put it on, they'll put on anything particularly if it makes Bill Clinton or Democrats in general look bad - just get Joel Surnow to write it.)

Beck: Holy Cow, that's amazing

Yeah, well the first episode of Fox's the X-Files Spinoff "The Lone Gunmen" which was shown just a couple months before 9-11 featured an attempt to crash an airplane into the World Trade Center - so you're not really all that special with the near clarvoiant TV Chuck.

On the Gunmen, the attempt to destroy the Tower is just a False Flag ploy to get the military industrial complex fired back up into high gear and start a war with a completely innocent nation - but then who would believe anyone in America would fall for something like that?

Yeah, right. Thank God it's just Tee Vee.

In the latest episode of "24" which as usual, got pretty stuck in my craw - Jack's latest failed interrogation gets a re-boot when Agent Walker (Hmm.. Walker!!?) proclaims "IF we'd just done things Jack's Way none of (all the usual "24" terrorist attacks) would have happened".

Ok, I've been watching all season and my question to the "24" writers is this: WHEN THE FUCK DID THEY NOT DO THINGS JACK's WAY!??

Simply because the "24" fans will always argue with me and try to justify anything Jack does - Let me just take a short walk through the ridiculousness of that statement (and hence try again to debunk the right-Wings endless syncophantic Worship of all things Bauer.)

Episode 1: Jack and Agent Renee Walker interrogate a gun-runner suspected of having ties to an impending terrorist attack. Renee let's Jack do whatever he wants - and the guy ends up shot by a sniper before he can reveal too much.

Episdoe 2: Jack figures the sniper had help from someone in the FBI and tells Renee he's disguised himself as one of them, they follow a suspicious agent and lo-and-behold he leads them directly to their target: Tony Almeida.

Episode 3: Jack asks to interrogate Tony himself - THEY LET HIM - and he discovers that Tony is working undercover to infiltrate the terrorists, so Jack helps Break him out of FBI headquarters.

Episode 5: Jack and Tony help kidnap a foreign Prime Minister Mutobo to prove their "Loyalty" and maintain Tony's cover in order to get closer to the chief terrorist - Dubaku, who meanwhile causes a mid-air collision killing over 200 people. Renee arrives chasing Tony and Jack, they take her hostage.

Episode 6: Jack pretends to "execute" Renee and buries her alive, later she is dug free by Bill Buchanan and Chloe Sullivan. Jack then reveals to Minister Mutobo that he is working with the "good guys" (Tony, Bill & Chloe), and talks them into to voluntarily being surrendered to the "bad guys" so they can locate them. The plan works and the attacks are stopped but Dubaku escapes, meanwhile the First Gentleman has been taken hostage.

Episode 7-8: Jack, Bill and Renee go to the President for help - she eventual agrees with their actions and charges them with finding the First Gentleman and Dubaku - "Whatever It Takes!" Phone records lead them to a currupt Secret Service Agent - Jack tells them to split up and go after both him and his Family. Only by threatening his wife and child are they likely to find the First Gentlemen sayeth Jack. SO THEY DO IT - and naturally, because this is television show, it works. The Agent is killed by Jack (in self-defense of course), the First Gentleman is found but wounded.

Episode 9-10: Jack and Renee locate Dubuku's girlfriend Marika and Jack talks her into leading them to him using GPS tracking of her cellphone. Dubuku is tipped off and destroys the phone, rather than continue following quietly Jack initiates a high-speed chase that ends in a crash that KILLS Marika and severely injures Dubaku. Jack threatens to deny medical attention to Dubauku and to hunt down his family to get the names of his accomplices - Dubaku passes out before he can give any information, but Jack finds it anyway in a chip hidden just under his skin and has it extracted after pulling his gun on the paramedics!

Episode 11-12: Tony comes to Jack and says he has a tip of yet another attack, but he doesn't know where only that a Congressional Staffer named Burnett is involved. Jack calls Chloe and has her commit obstruction of justice by deleting Burnett's name from Dubaku's file so that he won't be arrested and call for a lawyer before Jack can get to him. He tracks down Burnett in the White House and uses a taser to torture him, but he doesn't quite crack. Meanwhile Dubaku is killed in the Hospital by men working for his commanding officer Gen. Juma. Renee figures out that his death wasn't acidental, uses surveillance and detective work to find Juma and his commando team who are about to attack - The White House. Jack is arrested, Burnett calls for his lawyer and Juma attacks.

Episode 13: In the melee of the attack Jack is released by Bill and somehow winds up being the one person who gets the President to the Safe Room. They are eventually lured out by a threat against the first daughter, but manage to set a booby trap. Washington Bureau Chief Larry Moss defies the Vice President and orders a counter attack after Bill Buchanan sets off the trap and is killed in the explosion. The President is saved, Jack is arrested again. Renee goes over Larry Moss's head to the President's Chief of Staff to support Jack's plan to continue the interrogation of Burnett. Moss is overruled and since he believes so deeply in the chain of command - excluding of course the Veep - he immediately suspends Renee, then follows through with Jack's plan. Juma's *OTHER* set of accomplices are tipped-off and manage to get an operative in place to immobilize Jack with a nerve agent and kill Burnett before he can talk - the Third interrupted interrogation of the day - and of course frame Jack for Burnett's death (The same thing that happened with Jack's own brother during an interrogation last season - Jack NEVER Learns!). Jack being Jack, rather than let his blood be screened for toxins and prove his innocence - RUNS FOR IT! WhattaHero!

In short, Renee finds out the same information that Jack's is torturing people to discover by simply doing her job properly - and the truth is if Jack had been Following Her LEAD and backing her up the Attack on the White House would have been prevented - not the other way around. To claim that they haven't done Everything the way Jack's wanted to do it - is just PLAIN NUTS. And because they did it Jack's Way - Agent Vossler is Dead, Dubaku is Dead, Marika is Dead, Burnett is Dead and Bill Buchanan is Dead. It's particularly nutty coming from Renee since her own actions prove Jack Wrong, but then again that's the way guys like Beck and Norris Roll, with thier blather about "red wires", "green wires", "Walker could kick Bauer's ASS in 5 seconds" - yeah, except that Jack would just SHOOT YOU Dumbass. They really do think this crap is real.

But I digress.

Getting back to actual reality, there is a serious point in all this. Beck is apparently sponsoring a big Call to Arms event on March 13th, called "We Surround Them".

It was described on Beck's program this way.

Thousands of cell groups will be united around the country in solidarity over the concerns for our nation. You can host or attend a viewing party by going to Glenn's website. My wife Gena and I will be hosting one from our Texas ranch, in which we've invited many family members, friends and law enforcement to join us. It's our way of saying "We're united, we're tired of the corruption, and we're not going to take it anymore!"

They're tired of the corruption Now? NOW!?

Clearly this is a call out to the Palinites among us. We have members of Congress saying they need to function as an Insurgency - Like the Taliban. Former Presidential Candidates like Alan Keyes have openly sounded the insurrectionist alarm arguing that OBAMA MUST BE STOPPED OR AMERICA IS LOST. We have already had a hard core Right-Wingnut Take Up Arms and commit Acts of Terrorism including Mass Murder in Knoxville, an Attempted Dirty Bomber has been found - this is NO Joke, it's not TV - it's bad enough that the Real FBI is on High Alert.

The FBI monitors and investigates all the white supremacist groups and websites and the guy I know in NY told me that Obama's election has turned into the best recruiting tool they have ever used. Membership is up for the first time in I don't know how long, and new hate websites are emerging every week. Some of the websites actually call for Obama's assassination in their title!

The only solace I can offer is that, typically, these assholes are usually just that: a bunch of bored blowhards, terrified by the pace of a world that is passing them by, who have nothing better to do than complain, blame others for their shitty lives and spew their hatred and pitifully ignorant views online.

So far the danger to the populace from these people and their uber-Patriot "Do Whatever is Neccessary!" ideas are likley to have limited effect only because they are each operating alone and independently. They're just "Lone Gunmen" so to speak, but what is likely to happen when you pile a big ton of pissed-off wingnuts all together all at once and let them simmer on some spicy Liberal Hatred?

What do all these dimbulbs think Jack Bauer would do?

Nothing good will come of this, mark my words.

Vyan

The Truth about Neo-Fascist Conservatism

Appearing on DL Hughley, former Right-Wing Evangelist and Huffington Post contributor Frank Schaeffer comes out swinging and leaves few bodies standing in the G.O.P.

Schaeffer: The Republican Party has become a hard-edged neo-fascist thing that has given us 8 years of a bad Presidency, a collapsed economy and two wars one of which we shouldn't have been in...

I'm sorry to say my father had a lot to do with it, along with (Falwell, Robertson and Dobsen) we put all this crap in place. If you approach God in a certain way - it will drive you crazy.

Schaeffer: We've moved from a period where Republicanism represented something you could either agree or disagree with (Goldwater) to period where you are either a fundamentalist Christian on one side, or a view of the world you are someone who sees anyone who is different, be that black, white, Arab, muslim, gay or foreign as the enemy. And there's nothing in between. When you look at a guy like Rush Limbaugh - it's like taking the lid off - the is the Raw, Naked Face of where Republicanism is (today).

That of course goes a long way toward explaining Michele The Demi Glas of Wingnuttia Bachman. Schaeffer doesn't pretend to know how much of The Crazy most Republican leaders are fully swallowing, but he does admit that they now have little choice in openly pandering to their wing-nut base. That's pretty much all they have left.

It's little surprise then when Limbaugh says something as completely off-the-rails as Every Republican is hoping the President's Policies Fail when were in the midst of a global economic crisis, most Republican leaders (particularly those who aren't holding office and can speak freely) essentially agree with him.

Including Jonah Goldberg. - Mike Pence - David Vitter - Rick Santorum - Tom Delay - and naturally Michelle Malkin.

Oh, sure there are some nay-sayers such as Newt Gingrich who tries to split the baby by claiming "No one rational wants the President to fail - we just want him to learn new policies."

Well, then Newty I guess your hoping to once again lead the party of the irrational. But then again after months of "Socialist", "Communist", "Terrorist" and "Baby-Killer" accusations isn't a little late for anyone to expect the hardcore Repubs to pull the head from their ANUS now?

We have to realize it's become perma-bonded in place.

When you lead you life based on blind-belief in either the unfallable "Free Markets" or the impending "Rapture" - you don't have much interest in facts, science or the resulting real-time suffering of your Americans, and fellow Humans, as the super-structure of their lives collapses around their feet.

Poe sang this years ago "You can't talk to a Psycho, like a Normal Human Being."

Schaeffer sums this up at the end of the interview beautifully.

Schaeffer: They Do Hate Him (Obama). Rush Limbaugh is telling the truth when he says he wants the President to Fail. These people are ideological enough that they rather see the whole country go down *the tubes), and be proved "Right" - rather than do the patriotic thing and support the President.

Hughley: Why are Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh so tremendously popular? It makes me feel as an American like this is how a large portion of the country feels.

Schaeffer: No, I don't think so. The Religous Right started with good intentions, and then was manipulated by very crass people for personal gain. Today you have about 20 Million people who buy all of Ann Coulter's books, watch Rush Limbaugh, send in the money to the Televangelists - it's all the same people. The fact of the matter is there's 300 Million of us - there's not 20 Million of us.

It's not a big percentage, it's just a LOUD percentage. This is the drunk on the end of the subway making all the trouble for the people on the car minding their own business - there's a hundred decent citizens and one ASS at the head of the train molesting women - That's the Republican Party Now!.

Amen!

Vyan

Jack Bauer vs Pat Leahy - To the Pain!

Tomorrow, the Senate is scheduled to begin it's investigation into the illegal activities and War Crimes of the Bush Administration. Last Night, the right wings biggest bestest hero - Jack Bauer - made his case against a Civil Rights defending, War Crimes prosecuting Senator (Not Actually Leahy, but close enough).

24 - 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM


As per usual a terrorist attack is imminent, only One Person knows the key to stopping that attack and only Jack Bauer has the GUTS to get the information and save Americans.

Yeah, right.

Before any of you "24" defenders get on my case and say "Oh, it's just a television show"... let me just remind you of what one of Fox's own excutives say about it and the influence of the shows Right-Wing Co-Creater Joel Surnow. *Via the New Yorker)

Yet David Nevins, the former Fox Television network official who, in 2000, bought the pilot on the spot after hearing a pitch from Surnow and Cochran, and who maintains an executive role in "24," is candid about the show’s core message. "There’s definitely a political attitude of the show, which is that extreme measures are sometimes necessary for the greater good," he says. "The show doesn’t have much patience for the niceties of civil liberties or due process. It’s clearly coming from somewhere. Joel’s politics suffuse the whole show."

The entire point of this show - from DAY ONE - has been to push forward a Right-Wing Agenda under the guise of just "Entertainment".

Yeah, like Rush Limbaugh is just an "Entertainer" too - eh, Michael?

Secondly I'm not an advocate of censorship in any form. I'm an advocate of awareness - "24" is making an argument for the continued existence of a set of policies and practices that America simply CAN'T AFFORD.

I'm making the opposite argument. We need to find Another Way.

If you've followed this season - or any of my posts on this
subject - this episode and the next (which was also broadcast last night) takes Jack right into the White House to confront and torture a suspect, who happens to be the Chief of Staff of a crusading anti-torture Senator. (Note the Irony: The Same guy whose been running the campaign to stop Bauer's tactics - is himself a terrorist. Lesson: Only the bad guys want to stop Jack Bauer - or the Weak.).

In order to keep Burnett from being arrested and asking for a Lawyer - OH HEAVEN FORFEND THE LAWYERS - Jack conspires to have Chloe tamper with evidence and delete his name from a list of suspects. (That's Obstruction of Justice, Tampering With Evidence and Conspiracy - for starters and Jack's just getting warmed up!)

Once he finds his target, Jack uses a simple taser to implement his torture. (Note: Amnesty International has a specific focus on Taser Abuse and an estimated 150 deaths they have caused in the U.S.)

Starting in section 3 - (at 21:48) Senator Mayer debates the President on the subject of Bauer.

Mayer: Let me just remind you that you Madame President, that you supported the effort to ban the use of torture. You campaigned on the promise to reform the intellegence agencies.

President Taylor: These past ten hours Senator, things haven't appeared as "Black and White" as they might appear.

The message here is clear - just as it was stated by Dick Cheney to Rush Limbaugh, once you see for youself your tone will change.

“My guess is once they get here, and they’re faced with some of the same things we are faced with every day, that they will appreciate some of the things we put in place,” the vice president told radio host Rush Limbaugh on his program Monday.

“We did not exceed our Constitutional authority, as some have suggested. But the president believes, and I believe, very deeply in a strong executive [branch].”

Cheney added, “I think the Obama administration is not likely to cede that authority back to the Congress. I think they’ll find that due to the challenges they face, they’ll need all the authority they can muster.”

The "24" Torture Debate Leahy Stand-in Mayer vs Obama/Clinton Stand-in Taylor continued.

Mayer: Well, there's nothing "Grey" about Jack Bauer. The man has committed atrocities. Prisoners have died in is custody.

Taylor: Mr. Bauer has served under Three Presidents, not just me.

Mayer: Is it any less repugnant if it's authorized at the highest level? The State of War is not a Blank Check for the President or for anyone.

Taylor: OH, Don't Lecture me Senator. I am well aware of the limits of my power.

Mayer: Due respect, Madam President. Your power is great, just be careful that you use it to send the right message.

Taylor: All I'm asking you do is excuse Mr. Bauer as a witness. It's not a message, it's an expression of gratitude for what's he's done today.

Mayer: You're asking me to excuse him as a target of the investigation. And the message is clear: under certain cirmcumstances you believe his methods are acceptable.

Taylor: Some would argue that they are.

Mayer: And they would be WRONG! Under any circumstances, military or moral standard. America has been down this road before Madame President. You yourself called it a "national tragedy".

Taylor: It was a tragedy, I still believe that.

Mayer: Pardon Jack Bauer and you're telling every interogattor in the field that it's "Open Season" again.

In the following scene Bauer's interrogation of Burnett takes place. He almost talks, but just as he's about the give up the crucial piece of information - the target - he's interrupted by the President and Senator Mayer. He even defies a Direct Order by the President to Stand Down.

Eventually Bauer and Mayer go head-to-head.

Mayer: You're done Bauer, your finished.

Bauer: He was talking, whatever is going to happen is happening now it's on your conscience.

Mayer: My conscience has a lot less to answer for than yours.

...

Mayer: Madame President I don't care if his source is the blessed virgin Mary nothing justifies what went on in this room.

Taylor: But what if he's right? What if it means we could save lives?

Mayer: Look at that (points to the bloody and battered Burnett) and tell me it's not barbarism? Is that something you can live with?

Bauer: Earlier today two airplanes were brought down - is THAT something you can live with?

Mayer: You're reprehensible Bauer.

Bauer: AND YOU SIR ARE WEAK - Unwilling and Unable to Look Evil in the Eye and DEAL WITH IT!

So this round goes to Bauer, not to Mayer - who is actually correct both legally and morally. But more importantly the arguement that Bauer presents - the one that has been embraced by so many in the Right-Wing - is flat-out-wrong. If you face evil with evil - you've simply created MORE EVIL.

More importantly Jack's arguement - which is long been reflected in the comments of Cheney and even Senator Cornyn (R-Texas) really ARE likely to impact or real life fighting forces and military students at West Point. They already have.

Gary Solis, a retired law professor who designed and taught the Law of War for Commanders curriculum at West Point, told me that he had similar arguments with his students. He said that, under both U.S. and international law, "Jack Bauer is a criminal. In real life, he would be prosecuted." Yet the motto of many of his students was identical to Jack Bauer’s: "Whatever it takes." His students were particularly impressed by a scene in which Bauer barges into a room where a stubborn suspect is being held, shoots him in one leg, and threatens to shoot the other if he doesn’t talk. In less than ten seconds, the suspect reveals that his associates plan to assassinate the Secretary of Defense. Solis told me, "I tried to impress on them that this technique would open the wrong doors, but it was like trying to stomp out an anthill."

This isn't hypothetical - this is REAL. Our new soldiers are Arguing with their instructors on what is and isn't legal - and their source is JACK BAUER.

But the trust is not just that torture is immoral and wrong as Mayer states - it's DOESN'T WORK. The CIA's own Kubark Interrogation Manuals (Which the "24" staff claims to have been using for the last 7 years) actually says this when it comes to using coercive interrogation.

Interrogates who are withholding but feel qualms of guilt and a secret desire to yeild are likely to become intractable if made to endure pain. The reason is that they can interpret the pain as punishment and hence expiation.

Intense pain is likely to produce false confessions, concocted as a means of escaping distress. A time-consuming delay results, while an investigation is conducted and the admissions are proven untrue.

The CIA's own documentation has stated for nearly 30 years that TORTURE DOESN'T WORK AND PRODUCES FALSE INFORMATION - it generates false confessions and wastes valuable time while you verify that information. These techniques employed by the Bush Administariton gave us the false information that Saddam Hussein was aligned with and supply Al Qeada with chemical weapons training (He wasn't), and that he created an amazing set of mobile chemical weapons labs (He Hadn't) and that he still had an active Nuclear Weapons program (He Didn't!)

And the people on "24" know this - they've been told by various experienced interrgators who stated the following to them two years ago.

At the meeting, Cochran demanded to know what the interrogators would do if they faced the imminent threat of a nuclear blast in New York City, and had custody of a suspect who knew how to stop it. One interrogator said that he would apply physical coercion only if he received a personal directive from the President. But Navarro, who estimates that he has conducted some twelve thousand interrogations, replied that torture was not an effective response. "These are very determined people, and they won’t turn just because you pull a fingernail out," he told me. And Finnegan argued that torturing fanatical Islamist terrorists is particularly pointless. "They almost welcome torture," he said. "They expect it. They want to be martyred." A ticking time bomb, he pointed out, would make a suspect only more unwilling to talk. "They know if they can simply hold out several hours, all the more glory—the ticking time bomb will go off!"

In the ticking-time-bomb scenario - time is on the side of the bad guys, all they have to do is stall - or LIE - and they win.

It also should be noted that while Jack is violating multiple federal and international laws doing things "his way" - his estwhile partner FBI Agent Renee Walker is cracking the plot to attack the White House all by herself using nothing more that GOOD DETECTIVE WORK. Maybe there's hope yet - but I still doubt it since Renee still fails. Jack never fails - so Jack must be right and anyone who suggests all the things he's done so far REALLY WERE'NT neccesary are obviously wrong.

In this Panel from "24" at ComicCon excutive producer David Fury specifically talks about the subject of torture on the show. (At 2:58 in this video)

24 - 24 Inside - Episode 3, Part 3


Fury: We bring attention to the subject of torture in a way we've never done before. Where Jack is going to have to deal with efforts emotionally and psychologically in a way that he hasn't before. The fact is we deal with torture and the consequence of it makes it worthwile drama. We're not endorsing torture - but we're exploring it

Exploring?

Anytime you create justifications for a War Crime - You ARE Endorsing it, particularly when you fail to do what Fury claims - address the consequences of your actions. They won't.

Facing the consequences of his actions would send Jack Bauer to the Gas Chamber under the War Crimes Act (18 USC 2441) That's not gonna happen, period.

In the episode following this one the White House is attacked, it's staff, including Senator Mayer, the President and her daughter are taken hostage. NOW THEY GET A FRONT ROW SEAT OF JACK BAUER's Methods.

And naturally Jack will save the day - and get his pardon - and all the rest of the interrogators (and many of our soldiers who are HUGE fans of "24") will certainly get the wrong message (one that I promise you will resonate far more strongly than upcoming Leahy Senate Hearings) - yet again.

Torture Works, you just have to be Strong Enough to do "what's neccesary".

Lord Help us.

Vyan

Why "24" is a Blight on this Nation's Soul

Yesterday Senator Sheldon Whitehouse made the following statement concerning investigating the Bush Administration's execution of the "War on Terror".

WHITEHOUSE: We also have to brace ourselves for the realistic possibility that as some of this conduct is exposed, we and the wold will find it shameful; revolting. We may have to face the prospect of looking on with horror at our own counties deeds.

But how much horror can America muster, when This is our idea of "entertainment"?

24 - 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM


Now, one can certainly argue that one little tv show doesn't really matter all that much. And maybe it doesn't for most people. No one really knows How many people are using the same excuses ably provided by "24" to turn a blind eye to illegal NSA wiretaps, Torture, revoking Habeaus Corpus Gitmo. There are also many who are willing to excuse the moral ambiguity of he show simply because they LIKE it, but don't confuse it with real actions taken by real people. Ok, but then again, we just had a situation where "Milk" won the Academy Award for best Actor and Screenplay and both winners took the oppurtunity to clearly highlight the political and real life ramifications of the film. (Yes, I know Harvey was real - but Sean Penn isn't Harvey - sometimes that doesn't matter if people choose to believe the story is plausible)

The last time I went to Jury duty, I ran face first into the "CSI Effect" as the prosecutor's first statement to us was "This isn't CSI - we won't have some great piece of physical evidence that makes this case a 'slam-dunk'". The fact that he had to make such a statement separating fact from fiction in a criminal case should be shocking, but it's not.

It's clear that fictionalized versions of realistic events when presented with enough skill can sometimes shift the center of gravity of public debate on controversial subjects either toward or against a progressive position. We've seen it with South Africa and the story of Steven Biko in "Cry Freedom", the brutal methods of British government against suspect members of the IRA in "In the Name of the Father", and the issue of HIB/AIDs in "Philadelphia". Each of these popular and Award Winning Films made a difference.

It doesn't always happen ("Siriana", "Over There", "Stop Loss"), but it can, which has been true since "Birth of a Nation" helped rationalize the brutal and violent reign of the KKK, inspiring tens of thousands to join their ranks. Art is the expression of emotion and ideas - sometimes those ideas resonate, sometimes they don't. It often doesn't matter if those ideas are any good or not - but whether those ideas are ones that people find relatively easy to accept.

When he accepted his Academy Award this week Sean Penn nearly pre-shadowed Sheldon Whitehouse on Torture.

..For those who saw the signs of hatred as our cars drove in tonight, I think that it is a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect, and anticipate their great shame, and the shame in their grandchildren's eyes if they continue that way of support. We've got to have equal rights for everyone.

Screenwriter Dustin Lance Black on Harvey Milk...

BLACK: When I was 13 years old, my beautiful mother and my father moved me from a conservative Mormon home in San Antonio, Texas, to California, and I heard the story of Harvey Milk. And it gave me hope. It gave me the hope to live my life; it gave me the hope that one day I could live my life openly as who I am and that maybe even I could fall in love and one day get married. [...]

We can only imagine what new RNC Chair Michael Steele thought of that, considering his response to the idea of the GOP supporting civil unions.

No, no no. What would we do that for? What are you, crazy?”

Or the Colorado State Senator who recently said this:

“I’m not saying this (homosexuality) is the only sin that’s out there,” said Renfroe. “We have murder. We have all sorts of sin. We have adultery. And we don’t make laws making those legal, and we would never think to make murder legal.”

To some Harvey Milk is a hero - to others it's Jack Bauer and the methods he employs to save American Lives - by any and all means necessary.

One of Bauer's greatest fans is long-time conservative columnist Cal Thomas.

I can see terrorists getting hold of this and telling their killers they have nothing to fear if captured by the "weak" Americans. What's next, having troops say "please" and "thank you"?

[...]

If the Army nabs a person it suspects of knowing the location of a nuclear bomb about to wipe out an American city, would the interrogators and their military and civilian superiors refuse to use torture to squeeze the information out of the captive?

That was precisely the scenario on "24." Agent Jack Bauer rightly chose the greater good -- saving millions of lives -- over the niceties imposed by those whose manual seems inspired by "The Amy Vanderbilt Complete Book of Etiquette."

Another possible big fan could be Former Bush speech writer Marc Thiessen on the interrogators who waterboarded Abu Zubaydah.

THIESSEN: They’re not torturers. They’re heroes. ... And the thought that we’re sitting here discussing whether these people should be prosecuted or investigated is just outrageous. These people are American heroes who saved lives and stopped the next Sept. 11.

Or Dick Cheney

“Those policies we put in place, in my opinion, were absolutely crucial to getting us through the last seven-plus years without a major-casualty attack on the U.S.,” he told Politico.

But I think that maybe we ought to listen to someone who actually does what it is tha Jack Bauer is supposedly doing - an expert - an actual interrogator - a genuine American Hero. Someone like Brig. General David Irvine who taught interrogation and SERE for 18 years and wrote the following about Bauer on VetVoice.

We are supposed to feel bad for Jack Bauer, the lead character on FOX's hit show "24." Only he and a handful of his colleagues, it seems, have the moral strength necessary to do what has to be done. While Senators whine and his superiors wring their hands about what is "right," Bauer acts and saves the nation. What this means -- and has meant for more than six seasons of "24" -- is that Bauer is a not-so reluctant torturer. He beats up the bad guys because, as he has said so many times, "there is no other way."

I taught interrogation and the law of war for 18 years to U.S. Army, Air Force, and Marine interrogators. The truth is that torture is just as likely to lead to false information or no information, not solid intelligence. History is replete with victims who have refused to talk or lied or died under torture. American torture has killed or addled suspects who might have provided vital intelligence if interrogated humanely. One problem with TV fiction is that viewers assume that if Jack Bauer can break some fingers and crack the case in an hour, anyone could.

In Afghanistan, Guantanamo, and Iraq, life has too often imitated art. It is particularly regrettable that Jack Bauer, in his new season, is shown persuading a "naïve" FBI agent that torture is the ultimate weapon in democracy's arsenal. After all, it was the FBI whose truly expert interrogators were aghast at what they saw at Guantanamo and who were finally quarantined by the Director lest they be implicated in war crimes. As the 7th season begins, I am joining Human Rights First in asking the producers to stop showing torture so irresponsibly.

In this post I've provided the entirety of the latest episode - so that everyone can view and analyze it in the context both of Cheney, Thiessen, Thomas, Whitehouse and General Irvine's contrasting views. Clearly Bauer represents the Cheny-esque view while FBI Agent Renee Walker - after being initially seduced by Bauer's methods - is now is far closer to Whitehouse.

In trying to track and capture the terrorist Colonel Dubaku Bauer and Walker encounter his girlfriend and decide to use her and her cell phone to track him. (Something they could have and should have done to track Dubaku himself without exploiting and risking the life of an innocent woman, since she had just received a call from him in the previous episode). They loose Dubaku after a traitor inside the FBI issues a fake warrant for their arrest and terminates the Satellite cell phone trace.

So naturally Jack decides to do something Desperate and Crazy instead of quietly following them to their destination or waiting to cut them off and force them to stop. That would have worked fine, and Jack did something quite similar just a couple hours ago to capture a currupt Secret Service Agent - but Nooooo... Once they pull to within a block of Dubaku's car he cuts across a park filled with people, beside risking running someone down - this Alerts Dubaku to who and where they are and begins a high speed chase.

I'm from L.A. and people in L.A. know damn well - these chases never end well.

Jack gets cut-off so Dubaku's girlfriend Does Something Desperate and Crazy causing the car to crash, flipping end over end. Note how different the reactions of Jack and Renee are. Jack, being Jack, focuses on Dubaku at the expense of everything else - Renee tries to save the girlfriend.

She has to pull her gun on him to get him to HELP SAVE SOMEONE - but it's too late, she's gone. Jack then forces the paramedics to wake Dubaku up and chillingly proceeds to threaten to hunt down, torture and kill his entire family if he doesn't talk. (Which - besides being a exact reversal of what happened to Jack's family in Season one - isn't necessary since Dubaku was going to give up the info anyway if he didn't escape) Jack then pulls his gun on the medics and makes them perform impromptu surgery on the unconscious Dubaku to get a disc hidden under his skin. It's flat out barbaric and criminally negligent from top to bottom.

Every bit of that was unnecessary - they could have found and caught Dubaku without involving Marika, they would have got the information they wanted by simply asking Dubuku or questioning the driver that was sent to pick her up - plus there was no reason for the urgency of performing surgery in the street since there was NO IMPENDING ATTACK that they knew of at that time.

Renee, being a stereotypically overly emotional woman, eventually breaks under the stress and confronts Jack in the hospital with what he's done. His reaction is dismissive, cold and condescending. They got what they needed, the "Good Guys" won - no regrets are necessary for any of the collateral damage that may have occurred, no need to consider better methods just "You have to find a way to live with it."

She should have just shot him, it's what Jack would do.

Jack's behavior is that of a sociopath, he's completely unhinged - he may seem calm but his moral compass is spinning like a top. The entire show depends on you believing Jack's "THERE IS NO OTHER WAY" bullshit, but he's dead wrong- even within th parameters given within the script there's always another way - A LEGAL WAY - he just refuses to consider it just like Cheney, Thiessen and Thomas. At this point I think Renee sees it, maybe, but Jack never will. I fully suspect that next episode will put the Senator who was grilling jack on torture (Curtwood Smith) in harms way - and Jack himself will ride in to Save the Day clearly demonstrating that his methods "Save American Lives" including the President's, paving the way for a renewed and reconstituted CTU next year. All collateral crimes pardoned for the greater good, nevermind the pile of bodies in Jack's wake - innocent and guilty alike. You Betcha! Maybe he'll even keep Renee as his new partner - she's a good little woman if you can take the constant whining.

Bah, humbug.

This is the guy that the right wing looks up to, this is their idea of a "Hero" it's no wonder that they failed so miserably at everything they've attempted from not responding in time to 9-11 despite dozens of warnings, to Iraq, to Afghanistan, Katrina and our entire economy - death, destruction and chaos is what they aspire to, it's all they capable of understanding.

Torture is a dangerous stain on America's Soul, if we don't fight it and every attempted argument to excuse, justify and rationalize it at every turn including the romanticizing of it on shows like "24"- we risk allowing it to spread, and the crimes perpetrated at Gitmo, Bagram AFB, Abu Ghraib won't be isolated incidents from a dark misguided time, they'll be our future as well.'

I wish Sens Leahy and Whitehouse all the luck in the world, and hope their efforts help lead to a Special Counsel to truly investigate and prosecute Bush's many crimes against America and the World, but I think that after years of indoctrination courtesy of shows like this - deprogramming the desensitized American public from excusing and justifying any and all means, despite the ends just might prove far more difficult than they expect.

In fact, I have my doubts it's even possible - we don't have that much conscience left to shock.

Vyan

Leahy Announces Senate Investigation of Bush Crimes Next Week

From Thinkprogress

Leahy: We also know the past can be prologue unless we set things right. Next Wednesday the Senate Judiciary Committee will explore this...

At Last... and long long last! Justice may finally begin to be served.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse laid it out eloquently:

WHITEHOUSE: We also have to brace ourselves for the realistic possibility that as some of this conduct is exposed, we and the wold will find it shameful; revolting. We may have to face the prospect of looking on with horror at our own counties deeds.

We are optimists, we Americans. We are proud of our country. Contrition comes hard to us. But the path back from the dark side may lead us down some unfamiliar valleys of remorse and repugnance before we can return to the light. We may have to face our fellow Americans saying to us, “No. Please. Tell us that we did not do that. Tell us that American did not do that.” And we will have to explain, somehow. This is no small thing. And not easy. This will not be comfortable, or proud. But somehow, it must be done.

For those who continue to claim that "America did what was neccesary" - people like the Bush speech writer Rick Theissen (clearly an expert on counter-terrorism) who claims that our "Torturers" should be called "Heroes".

THIESSEN: The CIA developed these alternative interrogation techniques, and all of a sudden he started talking. Zubaydah’s information led us to Ramsey bin al Shibh, who was was one of the 9/11 hijackers. Together, they gave us the information that led the capture of KSM. Then, KSM gave us information about another al Qaeda operative, Majid Khan, who was in CIA custody. He told us that Majid Khan had been tasked to give $50,000 to an operative named Zubair, who was developing plots with a Southeast Asian group called JI.

But the question remains, was resorting to these methods the only POSSIBLE WAY that these goals could have been met? If there was another way, a better way - possibly even a faster way - wouldn't that make Thiessen "Heroes" claim on it's head?

Then former Special Forces Interrogator Matthew Alexander might just make Mr. Tiessen do some handstand.

I learned in Iraq that the No. 1 reason foreign fighters flocked there to fight were the abuses carried out at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. Our policy of torture was directly and swiftly recruiting fighters for al-Qaeda in Iraq. ... It’s no exaggeration to say that at least half of our losses and casualties in that country have come at the hands of foreigners who joined the fray because of our program of detainee abuse. The number of U.S. soldiers who have died because of our torture policy will never be definitively known, but it is fair to say that it is close to the number of lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001. How anyone can say that torture keeps Americans safe is beyond me — unless you don’t count American soldiers as Americans.

More from Alexanders appearance on Countdown.




So not only may we have disgraced ourselves as a nation by employing these techniques, we also COST AMERICAN LIVES doing it.

It's well past time that the non-politically wonky American Public finally began to realize the real price we've paid for George Bush's Ridiculous Cowboy/Tough-guy mentality.

Vyan