How Far Will They Get? Torture Porn And The Jack Bauer Republicans

The article in today's  Crooks and Liars is one of the most disturbing things I have read in a long time.

It's sad how conservatives have been influenced by FOX's "24" and adopted Jack Bauer's persona all for themselves. The torture scenes seem to have seeped into their consciousnesses and made them believe that this is how all good Americans should handle impossibly dangerous situations. ... Check out the [below] video ... It's torture porn.

The extent of the torture and violence of 24 led the dean of West Point, U.S. Army Brigadier General Patrick Finnegan, to visit the set of 24 last fall to:

...voice their concern that the show's central political premise--that the letter of American law must be sacrificed for the country's security--was having a toxic effect.

And now that "toxic effect" is taking hold in bold and almost unimaginable of ways.

Two former veterans of the Iraq war are running for congress. They both were fired from the military under charges of murder and torture of detainees.  And they've both made the charges the centers of their campaigns. 

The Daily Beast has labeled them Jack Bauer Republicans.


The Daily Beast:

Last week, Ilario Pantano won the Republican nomination in North Carolina’s 7th District...

... In April 2004, Pantano killed two unarmed Iraqi detainees, twice unloading his gun into their bodies and firing between 50 and 60 shots in total. Afterward, he placed a sign over the corpses featuring the Marines' slogan “No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy” as a message to the local population.   

His excuse was "self defense." Two unarmed men. 60 bullets. Self defense. Sidetrack: In the musical Chicago, one of the women on Murderers' Row explains her case: "I was carving up the chicken for dinner minding my own business when in comes my husband Wilber in a jealous rage. 'You been screwin' the milkman?' He was crazy. 'You been screwin' the milkman?!' And then that's when he ran into my knife. He ran into my knife ten times!" (The Cell Block Tango). 

Sorry, but the analogy was too good to pass up. 60 bullets can't be any part of a defense. It's just as ridiculous as someone running into a knife ten times. Both are the definition of overkill. And the sign only demonstrated his intense hatred for the people.

While Pantano says that he doesn't want his campaign to dwell in the past, the same cannot be said for retired Lt. Col. Allen West, running in Florida’s 22nd District to replace Democratic Rep. Ron Klein.

West was forced to retire from the Army and fined $5,000 after he admitted to apprehending an Iraqi policeman he suspected of planning an ambush, watching as his troops beat him, and then firing a gunshot by the Iraqi’s head in order to scare him into divulging information. West said the decision saved lives by preventing an ambush. But no plot was ever discovered and the policeman in question later told The New York Times that he had no knowledge of any attacks.

"... I made the decision where I sacrificed my military career for the lives of my men, ...I will sacrifice every ounce of me to be your next congressman."

Of course, Sarah Palin has endorsed West on her Facebook page claiming he served "with distinction." But she also pointed out (unwittingly) the scary part of his campaign: his popularity has garnered twice as much in campaign donations than the cash raised by Democratic Florida Congressman Klein.

The Rabid Right is becoming bold enough to promote military sadists to congressional seats. How far will they go next? Will these two actually win their respective elections?  Watch this video posted by Crooks and Liars and ask yourself whether or not you want a "Jack Bauer  Republican" to represent you in Congress.

Warning: it's not for the squeamish.

Then watch this newscast about 24 and its influence.

American Putz: Is FOX Going To Hell Riding A Very Happy Horse?

"It's Like Getting Hate Mail From Hitler"

I was scared. All forty of us were. We went from the showers through the foot disinfectant and into the cold, subterranean vault of tile walls and floor. There were no windows, which was just as well because we were all naked. I was fourteen and, with the exception of my father, I had never seen naked men. Or naked boys called “men.”

No, this was not Auschwitz. Instead, it was the first day of swimming class in my Catholic college prep school. It was then that I sadly realized: all men are not created equal. And that keeping this knowledge from young "men" (like me, at least) was criminal.

Likewise for getting a hissy-fit over a male mammal function.

Last Sunday, FOX aired its episode of American Dad, titled Never Look a Smith Horse In The Mouth. The animated program is definitely adult in content in that it has scenes and references that children would not comprehend: its send off of "The Rapture", Jesus meeting Sam in a bar to tell him that the Anti-Christ has taken Francine and an episode titled "Fake Jesus." One of the most notable was when Roger the alien talks about Christianity:

Roger: Oh, I love your religion ... for the crazy! Virgin birth. Water into wine. It's like Harry Potter, but it causes genocide and bad folk music.

But this time, the program really pushed the envelope with a scene implying the masturbation of a horse! The Parent's Television Council is `now starting to get American Dad punished by the FCC since it thinks the episode "depicted scenes of a man masturbating a horse. " Explicit bestiality!! So how does the creator of American Dad and Family Guy, Seth MacFarlane, take all the criticism?

"That’s like getting hate mail from Hitler. They’re literally terrible human beings. I've read their newsletter, I've visited their website, and they're just rotten to the core. For an organization that prides itself on Christian values—I mean, I'm an atheist, so what do I know ?—they spend their entire day hating people."

BTW, a poll was taken and 40% of those polled thought the scene was harmless and very funny.

Now here's the primary attack: From PTC:

A broadcast television network aired an animated program on a Sunday evening when children were in the audience, and the program featured a man masturbating a horse," said Tim Winter, president of the PTC. "Up until now, I never imagined that those exact words could ever be spoken in that particular order. But sadly, here we are.

Fox declined to comment on the backlash.

I wish I had a copy of the aforementioned scene, but the only one you can view is on the PTC's site HERE. Do you see Stan actually touch the horse's penis and stroke it? No. Is masturbation implied? Yes. Implied. And to the people of the PTC, implying masturbation is just as bad as the act itself. Imagining sex is just as bad as the act itself. And with all that imagining and implying going on, the PTC exploits people's assumptions that something wrong happened.

The PTC is trying to penalize Fox and MacFarlane due to implications and not actual fact. They are also arguing that since American Dad airs at 9:30PM, it violates the law that says more adult content must be shown after 10:00PM.

A question: just where does bestiality come in on all of this? The horse may have ended the episode very happy, but did Stan get pleasure out of it? Obviously not. And if Stan didn't derive any pleasure, is there, in fact, any bestiality going on at all?

There wasn't. The PTC wants you to think that. They also do not want you to see a mammalian appendage ever again, unless you have to.

Like when you're in swimming class.