Nathaniel Ward
My Heritage.org
Wednesday, January 17, 2007 

The results are in: last Friday’s panel discussion featuring radio host Rush Limbaugh, Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, the cast and producers of Fox’s 24, and security experts from Heritage and the Center for Strategic and International Studies was a tremendous success.

Watch a recording of the event online (RealMedia | Windows)

While the popular television program does a good job reflecting the sorts of complex decisions and the dedication involved in homeland security, most of the show is exaggerated and entirely fictional, the panel concluded. “It isn’t realistic,” admitted Joel Surnow, 24’s creator and a professed Hollywood conservative. The show’s appeal lies not in its realism but in its broad message, he continued: “terrorists are the bad guys, we’re the good guys.”

The event drew quite a bit of attention. The Washington Post, The Austin American-Statesman, the Associated Press, ABC News, CNS News, UPI and National Review all covered the 24 event, which was shown live on C-SPAN. The New York Times’ liberal columnist Maureen Dowd wrote a column about it, while the liberal Huffington Post and Wonkette blogs poked fun.