It's Not About Beer and Burgers

Photo: Air Force News Agency, Arlington Cemetery website

The End of the Day

It’s finally happened. The sun has set on television’s award-winning 24, the uniquely formatted series in which nail-biting events occurred in “real time.’

The show chronicled eight very long, extremely bad days for Jack “I-don’t-want-to-kill-you-but-I-will-if-I-have-to” Bauer, counter terrorist agent extraordinaire. More times than we can count, fans of 24 have seen Jack stabbed, shot, electrocuted, tortured, tied up, beaten down, thrown sideways, and left for dead. We have also watched him plagued by lethal nerve gas and throttled by heroin addiction. These were but momentary inconveniences for our steel-plated hero. That fateful clock was ticking, and Jack "We're-running-out-of-time" Bauer always had to move beyond the petty annoyances of brutal terrorists in very short order. After all, he had our country to save. And he succeeded in doing exactly that every time.

The premise of 24—that truly evil, organized forces are plotting the ruin of the U.S.A.—held timely appeal when the show premiered in the wake of September 11. For many of us, that premise stands firm. Over the ensuing seasons, 24 built loyal legions of fans that looked forward to Monday nights and the next episode. We wondered: what would Jack “Listen-to-me-very-carefully” Bauer do next to thwart the murderous villains? How many international laws would he flout in order to keep us safe, warm, and riveted in front of our TVs? (It always turned out to be as many as he had to--which made for some gripping, often gory, viewing.)

Last night the final milliseconds of the concluding 24 hours of Jack “Do-exactly-as-I-say” Bauer’s tour of duty expired, and our indestructible hero —wounded yet again—made his exit. After a touching farewell via satellite to his devoted friend, IT goddess Chloe O'Brian, Jack “I-understand-that-you’re-upset” Bauer sprinted off towards an unknown destination. Only Jack "I'm-fine-keep-moving" Bauer can run full speed with a bloody collection of knife, gunshot, and head wounds.

Let’s hope Jack stumbles upon the studio that’s planning to make the feature film of 24-- and quickly, too. After all, this is real time. The fans are waiting, and there’s not a second to lose.

Photo: FOX 24 website

The Sad Truth

A very important article appearing in NRO, written by Andrew C. McCarthy, is linked here. I'm sad to say that McCarthy's analysis of the disgusting display in Congress last week during the Mexican president's scolding of the U.S. is 100% correct.

But I'm happy that he's courageous enough to say it.

Shame and Lame

Mark Steyn has some customarily pithy observations on President Obama's shamefully lame statement about the 2002 butchering of Daniel Pearl. Read them here, and weep. Or, at the very least, shake your head in embarrassment that Obama is actually our "leader."

Can 2012 come soon enough for you? I'm counting the days already.

Uncommon Sense

"The best chance America has in retaining its greatness, let alone its exceptionalism, is to understand the Left. And the Left's explanations for what makes a Faisal Shahzad or a Maj. Hasan seek to slaughter Americans are key to understanding the Left."
~ Dennis Prager

Here's a link to some urgently needed plain talk from radio host Dennis Prager regarding our radical Islamic enemies and their sympathetic portrayal in MSM. Prager also notes the media's demonization of peaceful American citizens participating in the "Tea Parties," including the effort to implicate them in the Times Square bomb.

For readers who don't know Prager, he's a well-informed intellect whose oft-repeated mantra is, "clarity is more important than agreement."

This link will take you to Prager's homepage. If you take the time read and/or listen, I think you'll agree he's worth getting to know.

A Political Home Run

Gov Christie calls S-L columnist thin-skinned for inquiring about his 'confrontational tone'

One of a Kind

It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it.
~ Lena Horne, 1917 - 2010

A Perfect Mother's Day

Congratulations, Dallas Braden. I think your mother is smiling down at you.

Pete's Prayer

In honor of the National Day of Prayer, I'm posting one of Pete's favorite prayers in his memory.

The Road Ahead, by Thomas Merton, is a prayer that Pete held close to him. He kept a batch of copies in a white folder that usually traveled with him. The copy appearing to the right is from that folder. In his volunteer work, Pete counseled many troubled people, and he often gave copies of this prayer to them.

In the four years since Pete died, I've learned this prayer by heart as I've tried to live by its philosophy. My own "road ahead" seems more peaceful now, not so frightening as it once was. You were right, Pete. Prayer works.

Amen.

Evil Ignored Grows Stronger

At NRO's "The Corner" today, Mark Steyn, in a piece aptly entitled "Crying Lone Wolf," has some interesting musings regarding the Times Square bomber:

Whenever something goofy happens — bomb in Times Square, mass shootings at a US military base, etc. — there seem to be two kinds of reactions:

a) Some people go, "Hmm. I wonder if this involves some guy with a name like Mohammed who has e-mails from Yemen."

b) Other people go, "Don't worry, there's no connection to terrorism, and anyway, even if there is, it's all very amateurish, and besides he's most likely an isolated extremist or lone wolf."

Unfortunately, everyone in category (b) seems to work for the government.

How sad but true for Americans.

Since Barack Obama became president, there has been an alarming uptick in Islamo-radical terrorist attacks on the U.S.A. The failed Times Square bomb plot this past week is one more example of the U.S. dodging a terrorist bullet, so to speak. Add that Islamo-radical terrorist attempt to the September 2009 failed New York City subway bomb plot, the November 2009 Fort Hood massacre, the December 2009 failed Christmas bombing of Northwest Flight 253, and we have quite a disturbing trend developing under President Hope-and-Change.

Our law enforcement is doing an outstanding job of foiling Islamic terrorist plots to kill Americans, but I doubt we'll be so fortunate every time. As September 11, 2001 proved--our enemies--or, these "isolated extremists," in Obamaspeak--only need to be lucky once to bring disaster to our country. It would be somewhat reassuring if our president at least pretended to take these determined killers a bit more seriously.

About the Border

Mark Steyn gives the Arizona illegal immigration uproar his incomparably stylish and lucid attention in this piece from The Washington Times. Steyn's common sense makes this reader wish that logic was more prevalent than emotion in this debate.