JACK IS BACK FOR SURE

Our hero, Jack Bauer, of 24 has returned. And, Jack is in his best form. He is slightly aging but just as philosophical in getting the job done. It is fast pace and then more. My blood pressure goes up substantially during an episode. In fact, once I had to switch to something else to catch my breath. And, I constantly have to tell myself this is TV.

It is TV but 24 makes the mind go flying as well as the bodies on the show. It is terrorism at its worst. And, with the exception of the final victory, the "bad guys" are usually always winning. And, guess what they are: dark skinned and most likely have names like, "Ahmed." Well, we weren't attacked in 2001 by boys from Alabama, and to say that 24 does not add to ethnic harmony is somewhat a given. We did have Timothy McVey but we can say that in the final analysis, he spared all of us and chose to be out of here.

Here's what 24 does for me. It is a passing thought that maybe there is some element of truth what the zealots are saying about Iraq and Afghanistan: fight them over there or fight them here. No, I'm not backing up about Iraq but always want to be objective which us "drugstore cowboys" can afford to be: the thought is a "what if?" We have to admit that we have not been attacked since 9-11. For the entire TV program, 24 spells out the fact that an attack is eminent. It is chillingly realistic.

Should all Americans watch it? I think so or as much as they can take. There's something strangely compelling about thinking about the "what ifs" of terrorism. We have the evidence of its existence and possibilities: Spanish train blow-up, British subway, foiled airliner plots to name a few. And, those were not a TV show.

None of this glazes over the debacle of Iraq and had we fought that war with foresight and clarity, we might be in a different spot now. And, it is not going away. My suggestion is that the "powers that be" need to give an adjunct job to the writers of 24. Mostly what I think they could do is show us how to combat those who want to destroy our way of life and help us to go on with it. At the very least, we need to keep Jack Bauer handy. God bless us.