Nathaniel Ward
My
Heritage.org
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
The results are in: last Friday’s panel discussion featuring
radio host Rush Limbaugh, Secretary of Homeland Security Michael
Chertoff, the cast and producers of Fox’s 24, and security
experts from Heritage and the Center for Strategic and International
Studies was a tremendous success.
Watch a recording of the event online (RealMedia
| Windows)
While the popular television program does a good job reflecting
the sorts of complex decisions and the dedication involved in
homeland security, most of the show is exaggerated and entirely
fictional, the panel concluded. “It isn’t realistic,”
admitted Joel Surnow, 24’s creator and a professed Hollywood
conservative. The show’s appeal lies not in its realism
but in its broad message, he continued: “terrorists are
the bad guys, we’re the good guys.”
The event drew quite a bit of attention. The Washington Post,
The Austin American-Statesman, the Associated Press, ABC News,
CNS News, UPI and National Review all covered the 24 event, which
was shown live on C-SPAN. The New York Times’ liberal columnist
Maureen Dowd wrote a column about it, while the liberal Huffington
Post and Wonkette blogs poked fun.
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