Below The Beltway

Apparently, some Muslim groups are unhappy over the plotline of the current season of 24:

CLIFTON, N.J. — Two years ago, Muslim groups protested when the plot of the hit Fox drama ‘24′ cast Islamic terrorists as the villains who launched a stolen nuclear missile in an attack on America.

Now, after a one-year respite during which Russian separatists played the bad guys on the critically acclaimed series, Muslims are back in the evil spotlight. Unlike last time, when agent Jack Bauer saved the day, the terrorists this time have already succeeded in detonating a nuclear bomb in a Los Angeles suburb.

Being portrayed again as the heartless wrongdoers has drawn renewed protests from Muslim groups, including one that had a meeting with Fox executives two years ago over the issue.

“The overwhelming impression you get is fear and hatred for Muslims,” said Rabiah Ahmed, a spokeswoman for the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations. She said Thursday she was distressed by this season’s premiere. “After watching that show, I was afraid to go to the grocery store because I wasn’t sure the person next to me would be able to differentiate between fiction and reality.”

You’ve got to be kidding me. Don’t you think that the average American is intelligent enough to recognize fiction when they see it ? More importantly, if you knew anything about 24, you’d know that what happens at the beginning of a season has only a tangential relationship to what the actual plot of the season is about. Yes, there is an evil Arab terrorist to deal with, but we all know that the real threat is yet to come.

But, of course, in the minds of those dedicated to perpetual activism, the worry has already begin. Consider, for example, this:

Watching the show’s characters talk about detonating a nuclear weapon a few blocks from where she works unnerved Sireen Sawaf, an official with the Los Angeles-based Muslim Public Affairs Council, and a self-described “huge `24′ fan.”

“It’s a great show, and I do realize it’s a multidimensional show that portrays extreme situations,” she said. “They have gone out of their way to have non-Muslim terror cells.

“But I’m concerned about the image it ingrains in the minds of the American public and the American government, particularly when you have anti-Muslim statements spewing from the mouths of government officials.”

Excuse me, but did you not see the end of the last episode when the show’s hero killed a fellow agent intent on shooting a Muslim terrorist turned apparent peacemaker out of revenge ? Apparently, you did not

Sohail Mohammed, a New Jersey immigration lawyer who represented scores of detainees caught up in the post Sept. 11, 2001 dragnet, watched the episode depicting the nuclear attack with an Associated Press reporter.

“I was shocked,” he said. “Somewhere, some lunatic out there watching this will do something to an innocent American Muslim because he believes what he saw on TV.”

I’m sorry sir, but the true lunatics are those who think that anyone actually basis their political opinions on what they see on a television show.

Engy Abdelkader, a member of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee from Howell, N.J., launched a campaign Wednesday to encourage Muslims offended by the program to complain to Fox.

“I found the portrayal of American Muslims to be pretty horrendous,” she said. “It was denigrating from beginning to end. This is one of the most popular programs on television today. It’s pretty distressing.”

Okay, let’s see here, you have a few bad Muslims, and one apparently good Muslim (Assad a/k/a Dr. Julian Bashir) who has already helped our erstwhile hero more than once. What’s horrendous about that ?

This statement from the producers, I think, sums it up pretty well:

24 is a heightened drama about anti-terrorism,” the statement read. “After five seasons, the audience clearly understands this, and realizes that any individual, family, or group (ethnic or otherwise) that engages in violence is not meant to be typical.

“Over the past several seasons, the villains have included shadowy Anglo businessmen, Baltic Europeans, Germans, Russians, Islamic fundamentalists, and even the (Anglo-American) president of the United States,” the network said. “The show has made a concerted effort to show ethnic, religious and political groups as multidimensional, and political issues are debated from multiple viewpoints.”

In other words, it’s a television show people. Deal with it.

Update: Further thoughts along a similar line from Brendan Loy

Update # 2: And there’s more from Rick Moran, including this classic I wish I’d said it response to the woman afraid to go to the grocery store:

Who is it that can?t tell the difference between fiction and reality?

This isn?t even hypersensitivity to slight. It is out and out paranoia. Anyone who is afraid to go to a grocery store in the Washington, D.C. area because they are scared of being attacked is a loon, pure and simple.

In fact, why not just cut to the chase and call the spokesperson a liar?

Update # 3: Meanwhile, a humorous look at alternate, politically correct, enemies for Jack Bauer to pursue