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The new season of Fox’s show “24” portrays Jack Bauer’s (played by Kiefer Sutherland) enemies as nuclear arms-wielding Muslim terrorists. This has some Muslim-rights groups up in arms (pun intended) over the idea. However, this is a feasible, maybe even probable scenario, and not in the least bit abusive or prejudiced as the Muslim-rights groups are claiming.
The fact is there is a disproportionate number of Muslim-based terrorist cells in the world, especially ones that are self-proclaimed enemies of Christendom, the West and the United States specifically. One look at the U.S. State Department’s list of designated foreign terrorist organizations shows that preponderance of groups such as Hezbollah (Party of God) populate the list.
It is not racist or judgmental to portray Muslim terrorists as a viable threat to the United States, when in fact, some Muslims are publicly declaring their hatred for Americans and “infidels, not to mention the fact that “24” has had several seasons, all with different villains of different ethnicities and religions, including Anglo villains.
“The overwhelming impression you get is fear and hatred of Muslims,” Rabiah Ahmed, a spokeswoman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations told CNN. “I was afraid to go to the grocery store because I wasn’t sure the person next to me would be able to differentiate between fiction and reality,” said Ahmed.
It is really not that hard to differentiate between TV and real life, especially when it comes to sensitive issues such as this that are highly publicized. The population that watches “24” will be intuitive enough to discern between the flickering images on their television screens and a real human being standing in the store. I find it difficult to believe that one cannot distinguish between a maniac on TV and the person in line at Ralph’s.
Secondly, if “24” breeds fear and hatred by showing evil people who are Muslim, then, by the same logic, CNN and FoxNews are racist because they show radical Muslims popping off AK-47 rounds into the air, chanting “Death to the infidels.” However, again, most people are smart enough to realize that the warriors on the TV did not stop in Wal-Mart to pick up a few things after a long day of jihading at the exact same time as them. The Muslims on TV and the Muslims that are in the grocery store are very different people of very different faiths. It is quite obvious the difference between a viable terrorist threat, and someone of the same faith who is shopping in the grocery store. Have some faith in the intelligence of Americans and their ability to separate fact from fiction.
I am in no way advocating the persecution of, or discrimination against Muslims.
I am only advocating rational thought on a subject that requires very little to draw a logical conclusion. It is simple: A show that objectively portrays the geo-political climate of the world is not mean or racist; it is just honest.
sent and no additional dollars can be spent on such an escalation unless and until Congress approves the president’s plan.”
This is a great piece of legislation that should be supported by all of Congress; moreover, it should be supported by the general public. Congress is the only of the three branches of the federal government that has officials directly-elected by the public, thus giving more democratic power to the American people. Since the US is so gung-ho about the power of democracy as to wage a costly war in its name, it should also practice democracy at home.
The White House’s response?
While facing bi-partisan opposition on the surge, Bush said on “60 Minutes” on Sunday, “Frankly, it’s [the oversight of troops and funds] not their responsibility.”
Basically, the vice president and the president want the only directed-elected portion of the federal government to merely bend to their whim and allocate funds and more human lives to their reckless, shoot-from-the-hip style of foreign policy, with no form of oversight. The administration must be put in check.
The practice of checks and balances has been crucial to our government’s survival since its inception 230 years ago. It intuitively disperses power between the branches of the government so as to avoid any sort of dictatorship.
However, since Sept. 11, the Bush administration has slowly eroded away some of those blocks through legislation like the USA Patriot Act, which gives the president extended powers in order to protect the country from terrorism. The Patriot Act has been bastardized to the point of legitimizing the practices at Guantanamo Bay prison camp, and electronic eavesdropping on U.S. citizens that are “suspected” terrorists.
It is time that the American people had their voice represented, and Congress struck back at the leviathan that is the Bush administration with this bill from Sen. Kennedy. It is time that truly elected officials had the power to check and balance a reckless administration in the midst of an ever-worsening military debacle that they created and sustained to this point.
Submitted 01-25-2007
MALIBU, CA
