Rick and I watch very little television. What programs we do watch (perhaps a half dozen) we watch faithfully. And among the small handful of programs on our ‘must see’ list has been ‘24’ -- a well-directed, well-acted thriller that has us sitting on the edge of our seats during virtually every episode.
The series began, seven seasons ago, with a surprisingly conservative viewpoint – portraying both our government and other governments/terrorist organizations (‘fictionalized’ depictions that often bear a striking resemblance to actual groups) in a very accurate light. The main characters always confronted major national security crises with a boundless sense of duty, courage and integrity. And, despite the best efforts of those who would bring down our republic, the ‘good guys’ always won out, after overcoming a riveting and indescribably suspenseful series of dangerous obstacles.
At the beginning of this year’s episodes we began to notice a marked difference in the subliminal
messages that were being delivered – the most marked of which had to do with the viability and positive results of stem cell research, and the fact that this year’s most notorious character appears to be a staunch American conservative who has gone over the edge and become a renegade domestic terrorist.
In a commercial which frequently airs during the program this season, Cherry Jones, the actor who portrays President Allison Taylor, is also the spokesperson for ‘climate change’, passionately urging viewers to accept the [bogus] theory and adjust their lives accordingly.
One of the newer actors who entered the series in 2008 is Janeane Garofalo, playing Janis Gold, a high-level FBI analyst. I had heard bits and pieces about Garofalo’s leftist tendencies -- including the fact that she refused to meet, or have her picture taken with, Vice President Cheney when he visited the set of ‘24’ -- but I did not allow those bits and pieces to deter me from continuing to watch the program, since the suspense and intrigue that this year’s episodes create is superb.
I allowed myself to overlook Garofalo’s political views ... until today.
After having been urged by countless friends to do so, today I witnessed Janeane Garofalo’s bitter, vile, vitriolic characterization of all modern American patriots who have attended, and will attend, the tea parties that are springing up around the country.
I have not attended any of these tea parties, and probably will not attend any future ones, having sadly reconciled myself to the fact that I can no longer waste my time and energy attempting to win a battle whose outcome, barring Divine intervention, is now a foregone conclusion. But I do have many friends and family members who have participated in tea parties, and who will continue to do so. These people are the salt of the earth. Each one of them is well acquainted with the genuine definition and source of our liberties. Each one of them is well-versed in the history and noble foundations of our republic. And each one of them believes that we are running out of options to reclaim our republic from those in ‘leadership’ positions in Washington who place wealth, power and adherence to a political agenda above the sovereignty of our country and the safety, security and prosperity of its people.
If you haven’t already seen Janeane Garofalo’s portrayal of the modern American patriot, have a look. Warning: you may want to cover your keyboard with a waterproof covering, because you’re going to be spitting all over it momentarily:
Arrogant Leftwing Vitriol at its WorstHighlights of Ms. Garofalo’s commentary:
_______________________________There is nothing more interesting than seeing a bunch of racists become confused and angry about a speech where they’re not quite certain what he’s saying.
... Let’s be very honest about what this is about. It’s not about bashing democrats. It’s not about taxes. They have no idea what the Boston Tea Party was about. They don’t know their history at all. This is about hating a black man in the White House. This is racism straight up. That is nothing but a bunch of tea-bagging rednecks.
... You can tell these type of right-wingers anything and they’ll believe it – except the truth. You tell them the truth and it’s like showing Frankenstein’s monster fire. They become confused and angry and highly volatile._______________________________ Ms. Garofalo then goes on to describe the actual systemic ‘neurological problem’ (resulting in a kind of ‘pathology’) with which most conservatives are cursed, and the ‘anti-intellectualism’ that conservative news outlets foment (they seek to ‘disinform, coerce and dumb down’ the electorate). She also arrogantly describes the American conservative movement as based on ‘ignorance, apathy, hate and fear’.
I had a great deal of difficulty maneuvering through the 2000 presidential election, in large part because I deeply resented an agenda-driven schemer, with an IQ most likely lower than most men on the street in the town in which I live, talking down to me in a perpetually arrogant, condescending manner. I also truly believe that Al Gore’s knowledge (as opposed to rote-memorized leftwing propaganda, and conveniently manufactured ‘statistics’) of the science behind climate aberrations could fit in a thimble, with significant room to spare.
Yet, nine years later, observing Janeane Garofalo’s nearly identical patronizing, arrogant pontificating somehow cut even deeper. She is, after all, simply an actor – and a mediocre one at that. An actor with the audacity to condescendingly characterize with a broad black brush that last remnant of the American citizenry that still
gets it.
I suspect that anyone reading my words here knows light years more about the foundations of our republic than she. I suspect that the reader has also sacrificed significantly more than she in order to see to it that the magnificent vision of our Founders is not betrayed. I suspect that he is more capable of independent, critical thought; more concerned with his fellow man; more acutely aware of the threats to his nation’s safety and sovereignty; and more capable of at least entertaining opinions that are in conflict with his own.
There are surely hundreds of actors in Hollywood who could play the role that Janeane Garofalo plays on '24' -- and many of them could render it better than she. So I suspect that Ms. Garofalo was hired for a reason other than her acting ability. Just as I suspect that the viability of stem cell research did not have to be a critical aspect of this year's story line; nor was it necessary for one of the series' major actors to regularly insert into the programming a commercial glorifying the 'science' of climate change.
Because the above list represents one too many 'coincidences', tomorrow will represent the first (of many) Monday(s) since this season began that I will no longer be watching ‘24’. No one but me (and now you) will be aware of that fact. Yet, during this sad, watershed era in the history of mankind, we have to learn to find joy in the
little things. I will be finding new joy in discovering a more uplifting, productive way to spend 9-10 o'clock on Monday nights. I may just learn to knit. :)
When patience has begotten false estimates of its motives, and when wrongs are pressed because it is believed they will be borne, resistance becomes morality ... Thomas Jefferson, letter to Madame de Stael, 1807~ joanie