I’ll be a mighty soldier and I’ll win this war for you
The New York Times’ Frank Rich gives thumbs-up to the new “24.” And in so doing, he points out that on television may be the only place where the war is being won–or even, seriously fought.
He compares it to a recent fiction piece Richard Clarke wrote for the Atlantic Monthly postulating an America 10 years into the future, and quotes Clarke thus:
“There was security for the trains going from Washington to New York for the Republican National Convention, but what about the rest of the year?” Private security, he adds, is just as porous as government security: “When I go to an office building, I routinely sign in as Benjamin Franklin and no one ever objects. I show them my driver’s license, which doesn’t say ‘Benjamin Franklin,’ and they don’t care.”
Rich’s conclusion? “By common consent, 2004 was the year that Jon Stewart’s fake news became more reliable for many viewers than real news. As 2005 begins, we must confront the prospect that a fictional TV action hero is more engaged with the war on terror than those in Washington who actually have his job.”
