My initial reaction is "boo friggin hoo."

Muslims Upset Over ‘24′ Portrayal 

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.

24 points out they have other classes of villains.

"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."

The current season began with Muslim terrorists waging an 11-week campaign of suicide bombings across America, culminating in the detonation of a suitcase-sized nuclear bomb in Valencia, Calif., about 26 miles north of Los Angeles. Estimated death toll: 12,000.

12,000 is bloody generous of a body count for even a small suitcase nuke considering the populatoin density in LA.

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."

Look I will not be the one to say he is completely wrong.  There are ignorant people out there.

But those people are already inclined to their bigotry, and 24, a TV show, is unlikely to make a whole new class of bigots out of whole cloth.

And correct me if I am wrong, but is it not true there are Islamo-facist terrorists who want to bomb America?

Sorry, while 24 is obviously anticipating a bit, they are not straying too far from reality, in that the scenario they represented is just too painfully close to reality.

I empathize with innocent Muslims.  But I would suggest they spend more time condemning terrorism and less time playing games like the Flying Imams, or complaining about discrimination that isn’t there. 

Methinks sometimes they protest too much.

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