Right Wing Nut House

It’s offiicial. The terrorists are being aided by good old fashioned red blooded American thugs. Here’s what we know:

1. The terrorists knew that the override device was on the train they deliberately wrecked.

2. Powell, who we saw was working directly with the terrorists and who worked for McGlennon- Forster, creator of the override device, was also working with the thugs.

3. The “mystery man” that Heller’s son Richard was covering for with regards to the kidnapping could very well be his brother-in-law Paul, whose company is part owner of the building where the terrorists planned everything.

SUMMARY

When last we left the Araz family they were having problems that would tax the abilities of the best family therapists around. Bad Dad Navi was about ready to murder his own son (after shooting wife Dina in her attempt to escape with poor, angst -ridden Behruzz). Dina agreed to help CTU if Jack and Tony could rescue her son from the clutches of her murderous husband. And Behruzz? Well, let’s just say that Behruzz is…confused:

Navi: “You’re not my son.”

Navi: “Because you are weak and stand for nothing!”

Jeez…talk about failing to meet your dad’s expectations…

Jack uses Dina as a ruse to keep Navi occupied on the phone while he shimmies down the laundry chute. As luck would have it, the harness of his rappelling outfit bangs the chute on its way up alerting Navi to his presence. No problem. Jack overcomes Navi and, while getting ready to take him into custody, watches helplessly as his best chance to find the override device disappears in a spasm of Oedipal violence. Behruzz extracts his revenge on the fanatical father.

As expected, Jack asks Tony to rejoin CTU and Tony accepts (to the delight of female fans at every “24″ forum around). Tony escorts the remaining members of the Araz family back to CTU for questioning, which will set up a very interesting confrontation next week if, as expected, Tony’s ex-wife Michelle makes an appearance as the representative from Division who is sent to investigate the Maryann fiasco.

Can you say bitchslap ‘dat ho’?

The traitorous Maryann reveals to Curtis that there’s a computer file at Powell’s office that contains the names of people involved in the plot. She convinces Curtis that she’s the only one that can retrieve the data. Whether Maryann would have actually downloaded the file is open to question. When in Powell’s office, she acted as if she expected someone to show up. Someone did. Baldy and his merry band of American thugs broke in on Curtis and Maryann with guns drawn and before Maryann could weasel her way out of it, she gets her just desserts.

Meanwhile, after discovering that Audrey’s soon-to-be-ex Paul has ties to the terrorists, Jack blanches as Audrey volunteers to see Paul and stall him until Jack can get there. Jack arrives at a very opportune moment as Audrey is about to be acccosted by Paul. Stay tuned for next week’s episode where Jack will put the screws to Paul right in front of his soon-to-be-ex wife Audrey.

Speaking of torture, Sarah has Erin over a barrel because Secretary Heller is horning in on Erin’s bureaucratic turf. In exchange for her support, Sarah wants the record of her false arrest expunged. Oh yeah…she also wants a promotion and a double raise in pay grade.

Sarah’s mama didn’t raise no dummies.

Finally, after watching Maryann get whacked, Curtis confronts Baldy:

Curtis: You’re an American. And you’re working with the terrorists?

Baldy: I’m going to ask you one more time. What does CTU know about the override?

Clearly, the override device is the link between middle eastern Islamofascists and American thugs. But who are they? CIA? Corporate spy’s seeking to steal the device?

And have we been told everything about this override device? Perhaps…just perhaps it has the capability to not only melt down power plants but also set off nuclear bombs! If the writers are going to be fanciful about a device that can remotely melt down the nuclear pile of a power plant, why not give the device the ability to remotely detonate nuclear bombs? Hell, maybe they could give it the capability of reproducing the exact recipe for Ben and Jerry’s Chunky Monkey.

Now that would be worth stealing.

BODY COUNT

If this keeps up, poor Jack is going to go through withdrawl symptons again. This time for a lack of kills. I think the medical condition is known as Mortus Corpus absentia .

Jack: 18 dead
Show: 93 dead

Maryann and bad dad Navi bite the dust. We don’t know the condition of the security team that accompanied Curtis and Maryann to Powell’s office.

LOOSE ENDS

We still haven’t heard what happened to Erin’s daughter after being given a drug she was allergic to in the CTU infirmary. Not only that, Erin goes to the infirmary to apologize to Sarah for torturing her even though she was innocent and doesn’t even look in on her daughter? It’s been 4 hours guys,…give!

Maybe the writers forgot about her.

WELCOME ANKLEBITING PUNDIT READERS! I POST ON “24″ EVERY TUESDAY MORNING. THANKS FOR STOPPING BY…AND BOOKMARK THIS SITE!

As you may or may not already be aware, members of the Watcher’s Council hold a vote every week on what they consider to be the most link-worthy pieces of writing around… per the Watcher’s instructions, I am submitting one of my own posts for consideration in the upcoming nominations process.
Here is the most recent winning council post, here is the most recent winning non-council post, here is the list of results for the latest vote, and here is the initial posting of all the nominees that were voted on.

We take you now to the Palace of Versailles where French President Monsieur Nose Hair is dining with American President George W. Bush.

George: What’s this stuff?

Nose Hair: It ees zee escargot.

George: Right. But what is it?

Nose Hair: It ees gewd for you, yes?

George: Yeah, right. But what the hell is it?

Nose Hair: The sauce, it ees gewd, yes?

George: Oh for God’s sake, answer the question!

Nose Hair: Teepical Amereecan cowboy. Always shot from zee hip, yes? Jean Wayne bang bang!

George: All I’m asking is what are you giving me to eat. It’s not like I’m asking you to send troops to Iraq.

Nose Hair: Zee French troops cannot go to Eeeraq.

George: Yes Mr. President, you’ve told me that a hundred times. I still want to know what it is that’s on my plate.

Nose Hair: We will refer zee question to the United Nations, tres bon, non?

George: Look…I’m not trying to build an international consensus here, all I want is a little information. Could you please tell me what this escargot is made of?

Nose Hair: Zee finest snails in all of Francais.

George: Did you say snails?

Nose Hair: Mais oui, mon ami.

George: And you expect me to eat this?

Nose Hair: Naturellement, mon frere. We expect all zee Amereecans to eat shit, no?

A dog had followed his owner to school. His owner was a fourth grader at a public elementary school.

However, when the bell rang, the dog sidled inside the building and made it all the way to the child’s classroom before a teacher noticed and shoo’ed him outside, closing the door behind him.

The dog sat down, whimpered and stared at the closed doors. Then God appeared beside the dog, patted his head and said, “Don’t feel bad fella’….they won’t let ME in either.”

HT: Joe Evans

The revelation today by the New York Times that an old family friend taped dozens of conversations with the future President between 1998 and the Republican Convention in 2000 reveal the private George Bush to be pretty much the same as the man Americans have come to know over the last 4 years.

So this is news?

Doug Wead, a friend and former aide to the President’s father taped the conversations for several reasons:

Mr. Wead said he recorded the conversations because he viewed Mr. Bush as a historic figure, but he said he knew that the president might regard his actions as a betrayal. As the author of a new book about presidential childhoods, Mr. Wead could benefit from any publicity, but he said that was not a motive in disclosing the tapes.

The White House did not dispute the authenticity of the tapes or respond to their contents. Trent Duffy, a White House spokesman, said, “The governor was having casual conversations with someone he believed was his friend.” Asked about drug use, Mr. Duffy said, “That has been asked and answered so many times there is nothing more to add.

The drug use refers to candidate Bush’s obsession with public reaction to his admitted wild ways prior to his becoming clean and sober in 1986. The only “revelation” on the tapes is the President’s apparent confession that he tried marijuana in the past. Talking to Wead about questions of drug use:

He refused to answer reporters’ questions about his past behavior, he said, even though it might cost him the election. Defending his approach, Mr. Bush said: “I wouldn’t answer the marijuana questions. You know why? Because I don’t want some little kid doing what I tried.”

And that’s it. Out of a dozen or so tapes Wead made available to the New York Times reporter, that statement is the only “newsworthy” bit to emerge. Even the Times admits that the conversations show that with Bush, what you see is what you get:

The private Mr. Bush sounds remarkably similar in many ways to the public President Bush. Many of the taped comments foreshadow aspects of his presidency, including his opposition to both anti-gay language and recognizing same-sex marriage, his skepticism about the United Nations, his sense of moral purpose and his focus on cultivating conservative Christian voters.

An amazing admission from an avowed enemy of the President and his policies.

So why publish transcripts in the first place? Clearly, these tapes are invaluable historical artifacts as they reveal the man behind the public facade of the Presidency. In that sense, the existence of the tapes is news. But considering that just about all of the information contained in the tapes has been reported on elsewhere, including Bush’s well known desire to foster a relationship with evangelical christians and his antipathy towards the press, one has to conclude that any impact the recorded conversations have on the President’s popularity will be favorable.

The most interesting thing I found in the conversations was Bush’s refusal to engage in gay-bashing not only because he believed it would hurt him politically but also because he thought it to be wrong:

But Mr. Bush said he did not intend to change his position. He said he told Mr. Robison: “Look, James, I got to tell you two things right off the bat. One, I’m not going to kick gays, because I’m a sinner. How can I differentiate sin?”

Later, he read aloud an aide’s report from a convention of the Christian Coalition, a conservative political group: “This crowd uses gays as the enemy. It’s hard to distinguish between fear of the homosexual political agenda and fear of homosexuality, however.”

This is something the libnuts will never acknowledge and don’t understand; that homosexuals as an interest group are a threat to values and traditions, not homosexuals as people. While there may not be a “gay agenda” set in stone or written down on paper, there is clearly a move afoot within the more radical elements of the gay community to stifle dissent from the religious right to their lifestyle. Not only that, but to actively promote that lifestyle and try to sell it like soda pop to impressionable, lonely, confused teenagers is outrageous.

What the conversations show is a rarity in politics; a man whose public persona matches up rather well with who he is in private. This is just about what we’ve come to expect from George Bush. So in that sense, the tapes aren’t news at all but a confirmation of something most people know: That with George Bush, what you see is what you get.

One of the advantages of having an extensive blogroll is that whenever I get writers block, all I have to do is take a stroll down my blogroll and either get a hundred different ideas on what to blog on or, like today, invite you, oh gentle reader to taste the fruits of the labors of others in whom I’ve developed a healthy respect for talent and insight. If you haven’t already, you might want to blogroll these excellent sites.

Who’s the best writer on the web you’ve never heard of? Well, besides me. Got to be Van Helsing of Moonbattery. Today, Van has a post on why the Democrats love the poor so much. Could it be because their policies make so many more of them?

Basil at Basil’s Blog takes us on a trip down memory lane, back to the 1970’s when it was a novelty to find TV stations on all night. Basil traces his love of old movies to this time. I too, learned to love old movies watching the Late Late Show on WGN here in Chicago where all of the Hollywood classics were shown after 1:00 am. We also agree on what the best TV networks are today. Great minds think alike…

Raven at And Rightly So has an inspiring post on some Marine purple heart recipients. If you read the story, you’ll begin to get a feeling for what it must have been like in what will go down as one of the most spectacular victories in Marine Corps history, the Battle for Fallujah.

Another great site you should be reading daily is Cao’s Blog. Aside from some of the best researched and written articles about Islamic fundamentalism you’ll find anywhere, Cao on occasion turns a rapier like wit towards the moonbats…with hilarious consequences! Read the linked post about some of her favorite comment trolls and you’ll see what I mean.

Cat House Chat is blogging…what else! Note to cat haters: I challenge you to click on this link and then come back and tell me you still hate cats. And for all you cat lovers out there…enjoy!

The Cranky Liberal is still cranky and has moved to his own domain. Crank has been a frequent commenter on this and other conservative blogs. What sets him apart from others of his ilk is, first off his writing which is top notch, but more importantly, his civility. And why Cranky does get a little hysterical at times about the religious right, he makes some valid points about the separation of Church and state that can’t be ignored.

Beth at My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy has an interview with Terri Schiavo’s brother Bobby Schindler.

You’re probably familiar with the Blogswarm surrounding the fight to keep Terri Schiavo alive. In addition to Beth, Cao, Romeocat, and a host of others are blogging this vitally important story. I would urge you to take the time to examine the issues involved and join the fight for Terri.

In this vein, Crystal at Crystal Clear has some outstanding thoughts on the Terri Schiavo matter from her perspective as a licensed Marriage Faimily Therapist. She has an interesting perspective on Terri’s family that’s a must-read if you want to understand some of the underlying reasons of the controversey.

Our Wide Awakes buddy Ogre has a reasoned post on “Morals and the Law”. His thoughts on how the concept of right and wrong evolved in society are both interesting and thought provoking.

Pat over at Brainsters Blog has a nostalgic post on pinball machines. His favorite, Jack-in-the-Box always gave me fits. My favorite from that era (sorry Pat, I’m dating both you and me) was “Carnival.” Carnival featured a bonus that released three additonal balls after you knocked down five targets. The problem was that after you knocked down the last target, the bumber on that target would bounce the ball directly down the middle of the board making it nearly impossible to catch with the flippers. Great fun nonetheless!

Tom of The Donegal Express draws a very necessary distinction between liberals and leftists. My own experience with my familiy is illustrative of this difference. The blog Tom references is one of the most hateful sites I’ve ever come across. In fact, it’s so hateful, I can’t decide whether the guy who runs it is a certifiable loon or just pulling our legs. Either way, there’s no excuse for the premise of his site, which I will not link to or mention by name.

Finally, there are a couple sites that you should visit everyday for their indispensible utility. NIF (News-Interesting-Funny) has links to news stories, editorials, and funny posts by bloggers. A nice way to get a handle on what people are talking about that day.

And the guys at Slowplay have a daily roundup of excellent blog posts as well as commentary on everything from sports to Britney Spears.

And Greg at The Nashif Report always has interesting posts on the news, on blogs, and world affairs. Also, he has one of the best looking sites on the web!

This comes to us via Powerline today:

When Osama bin Laden died, he was met at the Pearly Gates by George Washington, who slapped him across the face and yelled, “How dare you try to destroy the nation I helped conceive!”

The Angel replied, “I told you there would be 72 Virginians waiting for you in Heaven. What did you think I said?”

It’s Friday at the House and that can mean only one thing. Time for Marvin Moonbat to give his take on things from the left side of everything.

TOP FIVE CRIMES COMMITTED BY JEFF GANNON NOT BEING REPORTED BY THE MEDIA (By Marvin Moonbat)

First of all, do you like the picture of Chloe and me? It was taken at the Bush Inaugural last month by my friend “Mr. X.” X-Man was great! He taught us how to make stink bombs and how to set them off so you didn’t get slammed by them. He also tried to teach us how to get arrested the right way. Chloe never learned how because she’s so ticklish that whenever the cops touched her she got to laughing so hard she almost lost it. The cops got scared because they thought she was nuts and never took her in. Boy was she pissed! She wanted to get a arrested in the worst way.

Anyway, I’m sure you’ve heard of Jeff Gannon, the wingnut Republican newsguy who operated gay porn sites and worked as a gay escort. Can you imagine? Right in the middle of the Bush White House! Anyway, I’ve uncovered several additional crimes committed by Jeff Gannon that you need to be aware of because big media won’t publish them, being in Bush’s pocket and all.

1. Gannon killed Kennedy

This one was easy. You’ve all seen Oliver Stone’s movie JFK. Stone proved conclusively that Kennedy was killed by a cabal of homosexuals.

Clay Shaw was gay. David Ferrie was gay. Gannon is gay. Gannon asked softball questions at White House press briefings. Oswald was gay and an ex-Marine. Gannon is gay and an ex-Marine.

How much more evidence do you need?

2. Gannon killed Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe liked men. Gannon likes men. Monroe liked Kennedy. Gannon killed Kennedy. Gannon asked softball questions at White House press briefings. Gannon killed Monroe because they both liked men and because Gannon is gay.

The logic is inescapable.

3. Gannon is behind Abu Gahraib Prison Torture

Gannon is gay. He owns gay porn sites. The Abu Gahraib prison photos are of naked men. Gannon needed pictures of naked men for his gay porn sites. Gannon asked softball questions at White House press briefings. Gannon is gay.

Sometimes, I surprise even myself.

4. GANNON PAID BY BUSHITLER TO PROMOTE ANTI-GAY MARRAIGE AMENDMENT

Republicans hate gays. Gannon is gay. Gannon is a Republican. Gannon is confused. Gannon asked softball questions at White House press briefings. Gannon got money for prostituting himself. The White House thought they were paying a newsman to promote the anti-gay marriage amendment. They were really paying for gay orgies in the White House press room where Wolf Blitzer danced on a table naked with a lamp shade on his head.

Why is the press suppressing this story?

5. GANNON RAN GAY ESCORT SERVICE OUT OF OVAL OFFICE

Gannon is a Republican. Shrub is a republican. Gannon is gay. Men are seen coming and going all day out of the Oval Office. Gay escort services have men coming and going all day out of their offices. Gannon is gay. Gannon has experience running gay escort servies. Shrub likes to hire people with experience. Gannon asked softball questions at White House press briefings. Shrub is stew-pid. All Republicans are liars. Gannon is gay.

Are the American people going to sit still for this?

Chloe thinks I’m obsessing over this issue but I don’t think so. She’s reading some book by that woman Andrea Dworkin who says that all sex is rape. Come to think of it, she’s been looking at me kind of strangely lately. And what was that all about the other night when she asked me to get dressed up like a Nazi and spank her?

I swear, I’ll never understand women.

If you’re keeping track of when modern humans arose on planet earth, it’s time to reset your clocks…by about 35,000 years:

A new study concludes that the earliest known humans appeared in southern Ethiopia about 195,000 years ago, about 35,000 years earlier than had previously been thought.

That conclusion is based on what researchers say are the oldest anatomically modern human fossils ever found.

Although leaving the full-fledged arrival of Homo sapiens far from resolved, this development suggests that roughly three-fourths of modern human evolution occurred on the African continent.

This new information dovetails nicely with some genetic studies showing that modern human DNA diverged approximately 200,000 years ago. Evolutionary biologists, using a form of DNA passed down through the ages by females only called “mitochondrial” DNA, determined that the bulk of Homo Sapien evolution occurred in Africa and that humans began to spread out from there about 125,000 years ago.

It’s this kind of confirming evidence that scientists love because the DNA theory of divergence has now been “proven” by the physical evidence of the bones.

This news also deals a crippling blow to an alternate theory of human evolution known as the “Multiregional” theory. In this theory, modern humans evolved in several different places at approximately the same time and replaced more archaic human genera approximately 100,00 years ago. While the mitochondrial DNA evidence disputed this hypothesis, its proponents had pointed to the fossil evidence as being compelling. With the discovery of these older fossils, even the multiregionalists have to conclude that the 200,000 year date for modern human divergence is a blow to their theory.

One of the things I love about blogging is the feeling of having your fingers on the pulse of events as they transpire half a world away. Simply by following a few links or googling up information from sources both familiar and obscure, you can get the feeling that you have an understanding of large events; that you see the outlines of the big picture forming right before your eyes.

It’s an illusion, of course. Sometimes events move too fast or information is disseminated through biased sources or filtered through a prism of self-interest or disinformation. Tyring to sort through it is kind of like putting together pieces of a puzzle. Sometimes you can get more information from what is not said, or what action is not taken. And that’s where judgement, experience, and context come into play.

As an example, take the events currently transpiring in the middle east as a result of the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Like ripples in a pond, the consequences of this action by still unknown perpetrators are spreading through the entire region, subtlely changing alliances, affecting governments both large and small, and revealing weaknesses in one major player-Syria-that heretofore were hidden from view.

For nearly 30 years Syria has had occupying troops in Lebanon. This fact has not only colored politics in that long-suffering country, but has been the proximate cause for literally hundreds of terrorists attacks on Israel over the last quarter century. Syria, a secular dictatorship of the same type of Baathist thugs that ran Saddam ’s torture chambers, have cozied up to terrorist organizations like Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The terrorists operate with impunity with Syria’s blessing (they help keep the Christian minority in line). Meanwhile, Syria manipulates Lebanese politics so that they can maintain their troops in the vitally strategic Bekkaa Valley. The valley borders the northern tip of Israel and has been a staging area for terrorist strikes in the past as well as a training ground for terrorists groups around the world.

Hariri’s assassination may turn out to be the catalyst that overturns Syrian control of Lebanon, brings democracy to that country, and fatally weaken Hamas, Hezbollah, and the rest of the terrorist groups that are currently using Lebanon as a safe haven.

If this scenario plays out, it would be the biggest victory in the war on terror yet.

Rafik Hariri was a much respected political figure in the jumble that is Lebanese politics. He favored giving women and young people the vote as well as reconciling with Lebanon’s Christian minority. Although a Shia Muslim by birth, he had a knack for drawing support from all segements of Lebanese society. Two recent events may have sealed the former Prime Minister’s fate. On January 31st, Hariri met with the Pope in Rome, an event obviously opposed by the islamofascists who saw the meeting as confirmation that Hariri was cozying up to the Christian minority. Then, the very next day Hariri gave an interview to the Lebanon Daily Star in which he said he was “not concerned with sectarian issues” and was friends with everyone.

This may have been the last straw for the radical Islamic terrorists who are very concerned with sectarian issues, wanting more than anything to have Shar’ia law govern the country.

The question of who carried out the assassination has been complicated by the fact that some experts believe that none of the local groups of terrorists would have been capable of carrying out such a sophisticated operation. This would seem to point the finger at Syria. The United States thinks so. We’ve just withdrawn our Ambassador Margaret Scobey with the State Department saying “Yesterday’s bombing calls into question the stated reason behind the presence” of Syrian security forces in Lebanon… ”

The ripples are starting to spread.

The assassination, coupled with Syria’s continued brazen interference in Iraq’s politics, have now forced our hand. The withdrawl of the Ambassador in and of itself would not be overly significant except that now the Administration is talking about additional sanctions up to and including the freezing of Syrian assets in the United States. And if we could get Western Europe to go along with such a move, Syria would find itself broke and isolated. This would force President Assad into making some rather unpleasant (for him) decisions. If he were forced to withdraw his troops from Lebanon, it would certainly weaken his position at home (getting the military angry at you by humiliating them is not a good thing in a dictatorship).
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