Citizen Journal

It’s decidedly un-funny, of course, that any entertainment either (a) depicting terrorists as non-Caucasians; or (b) suggesting terrorism is a real threat, rather than a phantom one manufactured by the Bush Administration, is quickly dismissed by most media outlets as unserious and silly. This part makes me want to cry, not laugh, because it does not bode well for our country as we fight an insidious enemy in an uber-foggy war. Suffice it to say that if simple patriotism is loathsome to many people, we are truly in deep.

As the saying suggests, though, maybe it’s better to laugh instead. And Keith Olbermann seems willing to play the jester and the left’s most reliable buffoon. His outrage at 24, besides being directed at a television show, for Heaven’s sake, demonstrates the length to which this man has buried his head. But it’s laughable because it is founded on a patently, demonstrably absurd assumption – that the rest of television is – say it, Keith: “fair and balanced.”

Where to begin? The biggest problem with the idea of “media bias” is that it’s tough to prove – even if we’re limiting things to entertainment television. It’s one thing for this show or the next to portray a conservative or a Christian or a Caucasian in a negative light. That may be “unfair,” but it’s not proof of “bias” because it doesn’t rule out liberals or Muslims or favored minorities being portrayed equally unfairly the next week.

But then, reason rears its head, as does reality, and so figuring out “bias” is boils down an exercise similar to how Justice Potter Stewart famously determined what constitutes the “obscene”: we know it when we see it. And this is why we laugh and laugh at Keith Olbermann – because outside of his fantasyland, if he watched television or movies with anything other than that hell-bent disgust for Republicans, he’d know that 24 is a proverbial diamond in the rough in the war on Islamic fascism. But more importantly, if we assume Olbermann is correct that 24 is pro-American, pro-Republican, and anti-Jihadist, 24 is a liberals’ solitary dose of the hostility aimed at conservatives each and every day, on nearly every show on the tube.

On Tuesday, for example, Boston Legal spent roughly half an episode lambasting the Department of Homeland Security, and the federal “no-fly” list. The list is arbitrary and ineffective, William Shatner’s lawyer said, just before taking a few tidy shots at conservative “values” (those are a masquerade for hatred). And I don’t know if Keith Olbermann goes to the movies, but one wonders what he thinks of the reliable portrayal of Caucasian men as one or more of the following: drunk, undeservingly rich, dishonest, opportunistic, and slovenly (to name a few). Or the business world as being consumed with criminals and idiots rather than educated people simply trying to make a living.

On the flip side, keep the following adjectives in mind the next time you sit down to watch Hollywood’s newest and best: intelligent; honest; loyal; capable; and underappreciated. Then tick off a list of characters to whom those adjectives apply, and in front of you will be a list of favored minorities, illegals, Muslims, acknowledged Jihadists, and gays. (And they say liberalism isn't insulting to minorities.)

Maybe someday, someone will invest the considerable time needed to come up, once and for all, with a big list for one full season and see where the tick marks land. For now, we’ll just have to rely on our visceral response whenever a buffoon like Keith Olbermann tirades about a solitary show failing to keep up the charade – that is to say, laugh it off. After all, that’s all the jester wants or deserves.