Do we all watch too much Jack Bauer and his ilk?

[whyverne]

The idea that terrorists can be ingenious evil masterminds doesn't really stand up to scrutiny, does it? Shoe bombers, underwear bombers, compost bombers, WTF?

A couple of weeks ago Frontline had a film of insurgent bombers in action. It was one of the funniest things I've ever seen. These guys were total doofuses. I don't know how they didn't blow themselves up. I think it's going to be re-aired on May 11. You got to see it. They run around like loons.

Yeah, they do get lucky sometimes and that's sad, but I don't know. Maybe the problem with the “War on terror” is that we're trying to use our brains to fight people who don't have a lick of sense or they wouldn't be terrorists in the first place.

[stray cat]

1. Why should terrorists be any different than the rest of us - a diversity of competence

My guess is smart ones don't get caught and are not carrying out the risks - much like the rest of life as well

[Kokonoe]

11. Also, Drones can only kill the #2 guy because the smart # 1 guy just died.

That keeps the money cycle from stopping.

[ixion]

2. Uh, 'we all'?

Speak for yourself. I don't watch '24'.

And I don't share the belief that all 'terrorists' are masterminds, nor that the US is the knight in shining armor trying to catch them.

These are fairy tales, by and large.

There are people out there who hold great logistical capabilities, and who use those capabilities to plan 'terror' operations. Some of them work for al Qaida, some of them work for the US government, some work elsewhere. That is, I believe, far closer to the truth.

[TheCowsCameHome]

4. Who is Jack Bauer?

Seriously. I presume he must be a TV personality.

[ixion]

7. The main character in the TV Series '24'

It's hyper-edited trash, in my opinion.

[TheCowsCameHome]

9. I've never seen it, and am happy to admit it.

That stuff is so phony.

[elocs]

12. Neither do I, but that crap is very popular with the freeper types.

I know Cheney loves it and that is a good enough reason for me to avoid it. Thankfully this is its last season.

[MadHound]

3. Don't know about watching too much Jack Bauer,

I've never seen the show.

But I do know this, if you've got gas, fireworks, and propane in a car, along with alarm clocks, electronic components and all you can manage is some smoke, you're pretty fucking pathetic. I'm not an explosives expert, but with general mechanical capability I'm pretty sure I could get an explosion with that material pretty easily.

[alcibiades_mystery]

5. The vast majority of people are mediocre at what they do

Maybe they have a bright flourish here and there, but it's generally ordinary.

Assuming that your enemy is a criminal mastermind is a conceit of children, and it's sad that we have such a childish society. Note that this pretense is as much in evidence among the conspiracy theorists as it is among the uber-right wing.

[Javaman]

14. I love the title of your response.

no truer words were spoken.

everyone loves to think they are a regular genius, but the reality, as you said, we are mediocre with flashes of unique insight now and then.

[lumberjack_jeff]

19. I think if terrorists had the capability of being even ordinary at a normal human activity

they wouldn't have become terrorists.

Better to be a mediocre insurance salesman.

[WeDidIt]

6. Lone wolf terrorists seem to be the numskulls

But this could mark the third time a numskull was used by a group. Not so interested as much in causing damage as in intelligence gathering.

Note, international terrorists are fully aware of how easy it is to drive a car bomb into Times Square.

Of course, this could be a self-radicalized jihadist who wanted to impress the international terrorists.

We won't know for some time, though.

[WilliamPitt]

8. Never seen a single episode.

[KharmaTrain]

10. Same Here...

This applies to most of "prime time" teevee. For those who need the escape, television delivers like a heavy narcotic. Television also relishes in its own self-importance (Faux has mastered it) that creates a percieved value or importance that really doesn't exist.

Cheers...

[Javaman]

13. I watch 24 and am a complete pacifist.

I know it's a tv show. I know it's violent. I know I enjoy action based fantasy tv. I also don't care for jack bauer acting as judge jury and executioner as he did last night. I found that really disgusting and have written to the writers because of it.

That said, I also enjoy intense video games, I love me some zombie killing.

Yet at the same time, I enjoy my garden. I enjoy the peace, the communing with nature and enjoy watching things grow.

I'm a complex person that can understand more than one thing at a time. I also understand the brutality of humanity and choose to try an understand it instead of sheltering myself from it.

In order to defeat something, you first must know it.

Critical thought.

[KittyWampus]

15. who is Jack Bauer?

[sixstrings75]

16. Regarding that Frontline episode...

That was jaw-dropping.

They were so inept, so incompetent, so stupid, I literally came to work the next day and started asking everyone if they saw it...

THESE are the guys that are whooping the big, bad coalition forces???

Says so much.

If the US army and coaltion forces couldn't end this 'war' in a month, then something is seriously wrong. Or maybe the 'war' isn't meant to be 'won'.
Maybe it's just to be fought, endlessly, with the endless waste of resources, i.e gas, oil, food, equipment.

War is a racket. This show demonstrated it to me like no other.

[whyverne]

21. Well I'm glad someone actually watched the Frontline show.

I didn't bother mentioning it at work because I know nobody where I work watched it! I didn't mean for this thread to be about Jack Bauer.

[pipi_k]

17. Well, what's scary about it all is...

You can have 99 doofuses (or doofi?), but it only takes ONE lucky doofus, or a really smart guy, to cause lots of damage.

One.

It's tempting to laugh at the incompetents and idiots, but one of these days we'll be faced with a tragedy that happened because someone got lucky, or got smarter.

[ellie]

18. I watch 24 and I like it

Jack Bauer is so over the top as to be a caricature.

[Jennicut]

20. Bumbling would be terrorists.Seems to be a lot of them but if the crude bomb went off it could

have caused damage and could have killed a few people.

[ShortnFiery]

23. "Fear of Terrorism" is becoming a USA National Mental Disorder.

We are EONS more likely to be harmed in an automobile accident.

HUNDREDS more times likely to be struck by lightening.

We need to "get a grip" and stop obsessing about a terrorist under every bed.

We first need to REPEAL the Patriot Act and begin to function like normal adults, not scared little five year olds.

When the FBI and other law enforcement agencies function their best, we don't hear about it from the whores in the M$M.

[AlinPA]

22. Jack Bauer? Is he a fundamentalist preacher or a Fox "news" guy?