McCain's Favorite TV Show, '24,' Brings Torture Back Sunday

John McCain's favorite TV show, 24 -- the one that glorifies torture - is returning to Fox TV this Sunday night with a two-hour special.

McCain named 24 as his favorite show on his Facebook page. The show has done more to advance the Bush White House defense of torture than anything else in the American media. According to its "ticking time bomb" scenario, the only way to stop terrorists from exploding a nuclear weapon in the heart of an American city is to torture them into revealing their fiendish plot.

During the campaign McCain was asked by a reporter which celebrity he most identified with. "It's Jack Bauer," he replied -- the Kiefer Sutherland character who does most of the torturing. "We have a lot in common." And in 2007 he talked about 24 on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart: "I watch it all the time," he said. "I'm sort of a Jack Bauer kind of guy."

You might think McCain's own experience as the victim of torture would make it hard for him to name the head of torture on TV as the celebrity he most identifies with. Perhaps we have here a delayed case of the famous "Stockholm Syndrome," where victims come to identify with their captors.

Jack Bauer deals with terrorists every week on the show: they are chained to walls or chairs, and he suffocates them, electrocutes them, shoots them, and sometimes tortures their children in front of them. Of course it always works; America is always saved by torture.

McCain appeared in a cameo on the show in 2006. "I shoot one guy's kneecap off, only one," McCain told reporters afterward. "A red-hot poker is planted in someone's chest, but other than that, there is no torture." (In fact McCain appeared only for a few seconds, handing a folder to someone else.)

McCain's enthusiasm for torture on TV is all the more puzzling because of his leadership in the Senate's legislation outlawing torture. In 2005 he introduced a bill prohibiting torture of prisoners including those held at Guantanamo, and the Senate passed it, 90-9. In the first TV debate in September McCain proudly declared, "I have opposed the president . . . on torture of prisoners, on Guantanamo Bay."

But according to 24, it is suicidal folly to follow the rules McCain sponsored about the treatment of prisoners. The same argument has been made by Bush spokesmen including Dick Cheney, who immediately after 9-11 said it would be necessary for the US to go to what he called "the dark side" to defeat Islamic extremism.

Cheney didn't explain much about what he meant, but "On '24,' the dark side is on full view," says New Yorker writer Jane Mayer, author of the award-winning book The Dark Side.

Historians say the "ticking time bomb" scenario advanced by the show, and the Bush administration, is purely fictional -- it's never happened that terrorists with knowledge of an imminent attack were in custody.

During the year-long political campaign, only one reporter confronted McCain with the seeming contradiction between his opposition to torture in real life and his love of torture on TV: Tara McKelvey of Marie Claire, a women's monthly published by Hearst. When McCain told McKelvey that he identified with Jack Bauer, she had exactly the right follow-up: "Um, he's also a torturer."

According to the published transcript, McCain responded, "Yeah, that's right. That's where Jack and I disagree. He believes in torture, but I don't. He says, 'Tell me where the weapons are.' The person says, 'I won't.' Bam! 'OK, I'll tell.'"

Then they moved on to Borat.

Sunday's two-hour 24 show is set on the day a woman president takes office -- a slight miscalculation by the show's writers. Previews show Jack Bauer with a group of children in Africab -- but he's not torturing them, he's rescuing them. The regular one-hour episodes begin next January.

One final note: Obama also listed a favorite TV show on his own Facebook page: his was ESPN Sportscenter.

Comments (37)

1. The real power that terrorist have is the power we have given them with shows like "24."

   Posted by Truthman at 11/19/2008 @ 07:28am

2. McCain lives in a fantasy world with Sarah "pitbull" Palin. 1% solutions to 1% problems, witches and funny imaginary friends.

   Posted by crabwalk at 11/19/2008 @ 07:38am

3. If my village gets bombed with napalm and I get this burning stick stuff all over me and I lose an eye and the use of an arm, does that count as torture? If I had been a Vietnamese villager and I caught an American pilot, I'm pretty sure I'd be angry too. Maybe John McCain should've thought twice before he went off to war to torture poor people for being poor and powerless.

   Posted by johnfournier77 at 11/19/2008 @ 08:14am

4. I don't think anyone really knows what happened during McCain's stay in Vietnam. There are articles(Rolling Stone) that say he "talked." Who Knows? I think torture for Johnny boy would be not getting his way. When a person comes from a "connected" family like his, torture could have a different meaning than it does for the normal person.

   Posted by Truthman at 11/19/2008 @ 08:32am

5. It's these around the edges glimpses that really do reveal a lot. Similar to the seemingly peripheral, but oh so much more, role of "comedy" - Fey, Stuart. Nice write up. I appreciate it.

   In addition to *glorifying torture* --- hmmm, how many campaigns/commercials...

   Random year/campaign event: The guards destroyed the flag and beat the man for hours, according to McCain's account. The prisoner was then returned to the cell. With his eyes swollen partially shut from the beating, Mike sat down and began to make another American flag...

   ------------------ In 24, there's also the singular white blond stud hero who only wants to do good, not be the center of attention. Country first.

   Fierceness, service! "I will make them famous and you will know their names!"

   Starting with one Obama. Guilty of <insert gobblygook> damning America & palling around with terrorists.

   Let the media do the torturing. And they did, in an extraordinary rendition of the republican boogeyman. Almost worked, it almost saved their world again, almost another 4 more years. Aaaaaaaaaahhhhh - not this time.

   Posted by winyahn at 11/19/2008 @ 08:32am

6. TONIGHT, ON 24!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

   JACK BAUER POURS MOLTEN LEAD INTO A TOWEL HEAD'S EYES!!!!!!

   GODBLESSEDAMERICA BOMBS MUSLAMASTAN!!!!!!!!!!

   PRESIDENT TESTYRONE TALKS TO NATION ABOUT ISLAMOCOMMIE THREAT!!!!!!!!!

   LOTS OF CLOSE UPS OF FRIGHTENED CHILDREN AND TICKING CLOCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

   Posted by frosty zoom at 11/19/2008 @ 08:44am

7. Oh, really Mr Wiener...who cares?

   McCain is now waiting for the clock to run out on his last Senate term....and "24" jumped the shark a season ago.

   Posted by Mask at 11/19/2008 @ 09:01am

8. "You might think McCain's own experience as the victim of torture would make it hard for him to name the head of torture on TV as the celebrity he most identifies with".

   You seem to forget that McCain knows first hand that torture works. It got him to talk and to even go as far as denounce America on state-run media when he was a POW. The sad part is that he was barely tortured given the standards of those who captured him. Don't forget the special treatment he received when they quickly found out who he was.

   Posted by danconstan at 11/19/2008 @ 09:19am

9. Was McCain really tortured when he was a POW in Vietnam? McCain now claims that he was, but two of his fellow POWs don't think so. See the article by Doug Valentine on the CounterPunch website. http://www.counterpunch.org/valentine06132008.html

   Posted by NevadaNed at 11/19/2008 @ 09:48am

10. I was into "24" the first season but after that I stopped watching the show. Unlike most of my friends, I'm not in love with the show. I'd rather watch sports, the medical drama shows, or the CSI's. Of course my friends don't approve of torture either.

    Posted by k330k at 11/19/2008 @ 12:05pm

11. Thank goodness 24 is returning next year. It's about time we got some decent television back.Posted by lvliberty1 at 11/19/2008 @ 10:55am

    Why doesn't that surprise me? The only question is what will get most of your attention. 24 or your Mel Gibson poster.

    Posted by Sorelish at 11/19/2008 @ 12:16pm

12. "And those who try and demean Senator McCain's service and time as a POW are mostly just nutjobs who never served.

    Perhaps they might listen to Obama or Sen Kerry and many others who consider McCain to be a genuine hero".

    I love the irrational reflex response from some whenever McCain's POW history is questioned. Too funny. Actually it's really sad. In fact it's always sad when personal pejudice and/or ignorance precludes rational discourse on an issue.

    Posted by danconstan at 11/19/2008 @ 12:31pm

13. When 24 first came on, I watched it for about 5 minutes. I happened to catch it when, after a series of other nasty unsuccessful torture techniques were used, Jack Bauer was pretending to kill a terrorist's child in order to get the man to produce information of some kind. A "ticking time bomb" scenario, of course.

    I was so horrified, I never turned it on again. How can this kind of promotion of torture be popular with so many Americans? America is supposed to be founded upon an "innocent until proven guilty" premise. Christianity as reported to have been taught by Jesus, although not my religion, is definitely based upon compassion. Didn't he say something about how we treat the "least among us"? I imagine that many of the proponents of torture, as well as fans of 24 are hardcore Christians, or they believe themselves to be, anyhow.

    I bet that includes lvliberty1 (who's on my ignore list, but I do see the snips of his comments on other posts). Incredible.

    Posted by LeeAnnG at 11/19/2008 @ 12:47pm

14. Doesn't saying that people who enjoy 24 enjoy torture make as much sense as saying that people who enjoy Macbeth enjoy regicide?

    Posted by Mistral at 11/19/2008 @ 1:49pm

15. Posted by lvliberty1 at 11/19/2008 @ 10:55am

    Posted by Mistral at 11/19/2008 @ 1:49pm

    So if somebody said, "I like watching porn...but only believe in sex within marriage"....

    you'd buy that?

    Posted by Mask at 11/19/2008 @ 2:01pm

16. Or that people who enjoyed Spamalot enjoy being turned into newts!

    Posted by HonestLiberal at 11/19/2008 @ 2:02pm

17. Knee-deep, knee-deep!

    Posted by Mistral at 11/19/2008 @ 2:05pm

18. So if somebody said "I like watching Deliverance, but only believe in consensual sex..."?

    Or if they said "I like watching The Bicycle Thief, but still lock up my bike..."?

    Or if they said "I like watching 8 1/2 but still believe Fellini makes documentaries about Italy..."?

    Or if they said "I enjoyed voting in the last election, but dont believe that Barack Obama belongs in the top ten list of most qualified Democratic Party politicians..."?

    Posted by Mistral at 11/19/2008 @ 2:14pm

19. Oh HELL no he didn't!!

    Al-Zawahiri refered to Obama using a racial slur.

    The twin towers was one thing, but this, this, this is too much.

    This is HATE speech.

    Al Qaeda has gone to far this time.

    Posted by bleedingheart at 11/19/2008 @ 2:45pm

20. Posted by Mistral at 11/19/2008 @ 2:14pm

    So you ONLY watch "24" for the entertainment value of the fine acting and superior writing....

    while totally disagreeing with its premise of using torture on a regular basis?

    I see.

    Posted by Mask at 11/19/2008 @ 3:15pm

21. Posted by bleedingheart at 11/19/2008 @ 2:45pm

    Question....how many "Naderites" get their talking points off of breitbart.com and/or The Drudge Report?????

    Posted by Mask at 11/19/2008 @ 3:17pm

22. So you only watch "Silence of the Lambs" for the entertainment value of the fine acting and superior writing...

    while totally disagreeing with the premise of eating human livers with fava beans and a nice chianti on a regular basis?

    I see.

    Quick, can you name a movie or TV series, not directed at children, in which every character behaves in a way that you would personally approve?

    heheh

    Posted by Mistral at 11/19/2008 @ 3:26pm

23. i am 100% anti-torture & 100% a 24 hour fanatic. i also volunteered for Obama's campaign and was thrilled that he won. humans are more complex than this article would suggest.

    Posted by vivabenfica at 11/19/2008 @ 4:58pm

24. It's a television show, not reality. And you can enjoy a fictional work without endorsing any elements within it. If that were not true, movies and television would have either gone bankrupt long before now, or have been transformed into endless game shows, cooking programs, craft shows, and travel programs.

    Posted by lvliberty1 at 11/19/2008 @ 1:35pm

    What are your thoughts about "Spongebob"? How about "The Da Vinci Code"?

    Posted by seenile at 11/19/2008 @ 5:08pm

25. I think it's funny that the author said it was a "miscalculation" by the show's writers that a woman is president this season.

    The first two seasons of 24, in 2001-2002, centered around the first African-American president of the U.S. Season 6 involved the second African-American president of the U.S.

    Do your homework?

    Posted by neptuneblt at 11/19/2008 @ 5:16pm

26. <i>Posted by NevadaNed at 11/19/2008 @ 09:48am </i>

    A fascinating hypothesis that. I suppose he just doesn't enjoy raising his arms?

    Posted by Thrawn at 11/19/2008 @ 7:16pm

27. Geeez, will someone please step up and prove 'intelligent' and 'conservative' never, ever cohabitate?

    Straw man 1 & 2:

    Straw man 1: A person's passionate tv/movie preferences NEVER reveal ANYTHING about their character.

    Straw man 2: A person's passionate tv/movie preferences ALWAYS reveal EVERYTHING about their character.

    I suppose for wingnuts, anything else is commie gay exotic Muslim distributionist domestic terrorist unAmerican propaganda.

    Posted by winyahn at 11/19/2008 @ 9:07pm

28. Errr, a large animal stepped on my head- 'prove that 'intelligent' and 'conservative' occasionally cohabitate? '

    Posted by winyahn at 11/19/2008 @ 9:15pm

29. <i>Posted by winyahn at 11/19/2008 @ 9:07pm </i>

    I think this is a LITTLE unfair. What you're describing is a debate where people attacked each other from the extremes...and BOTH SIDES did this. Therefore, insofar as it indicates anyone's intelligence level, it would not just attack conservatives.

    Though I agree with you that the discussion is a BIT more nuanced than people seem to think, that goes both ways. What everyone seems to be getting at is this: which aspects of shows and movies and things do we enjoy for what reasons? Shows vary in multiple ways, from subject-matter to aesthetics to plot line, etc. Within those differences, you have a bunch of variables; shows of the same subject-matter can differ a lot. 24 and Hamlet both have a violent subject-matter, but are very different in how they employ it and how much they concentrate on it. I think that's where the discussion should focus more.

    Additionally, even independent of all the variables, one could still ask what about a show a person likes. Though a lot of people would say they enjoy a good rendition of Hamlet, some might enjoy it for its artistic quality and others might just enjoy watching people get stabbed and poisoned. I think it's clear that we would generally regard one as less disturbing than the other. Even for shows that are intensely violent, we still have to ask what about them the viewer enjoys. For that reason, I think a judgment about McCain's enjoyment of 24 (a show I also confess looking forward to) would be hasty at best without much more information than we have here.

    Posted by Thrawn at 11/19/2008 @ 10:30pm

30. I've never watched this show. I can't comment on it. It is only a tv show. Who knows if McCain even watches it. He has been all "I'm the anti-terrorism guy" for so long, he probably just wants to strike a chord with the kool-aid crowd.

    I will say this, though, if Palin said "she used to watch Fear Factor all the time before they canceled it." I would totally believe it.

    Posted by koroviev at 11/20/2008 @ 05:59am

31. Oh, come ONNNNN. This is UNbelievable. I mean, the word "reaching" doesn't even BEGIN to describe the puerile, gratuitous maliciousness of this article. It's just a stupid, stupid piece. (By the way, Wiener, if you hadn't noticed, the election is over. Obama won. So, like, get off it already, ya know?) I've never watched "24", but I know it's been something like the top television show for the past several years. So, Wiener, if you don't understand how these things work, I'll explain: TV shows become the top shows when millions and millions of people watch them. See? Millions. Not just John McCain. That concept might be a stretch for you, but see if you can extend yourself an extra inch or two to grasp it, Wiener. By Wiener Logic, watching "24" means the millions and millions of its viewers are all bloodthirsty torturers. Including, (and only Wiener Logic could arrive at this) the senator from Arizona who has been one of Congress's strongest voices AGAINST torture. There's Wiener Logic for you. Listen, the election is OVER, maybe you're suffering from slow-news-dayitis, maybe you're suffering from Victory Post Partum, but, really, get a grip, maybe take a vacation till after January 20th, huh? At the very least, try breathing into a paper bag. What a jerk....

    Posted by kensears at 11/21/2008 @ 06:39am

32. PS I don't know anything about you, Wiener, other than this article, but I truly hope for your sake that you're under 30 years old and, hence, (given the current state of American "culture") still a virtual adolescent, in which case this oatmeal you've written can be passed off as typical snotty teenager crap. If, however, you're anywhere over 30 or 35, then... you are, sadly, an irredeemable idiot.

    Posted by kensears at 11/21/2008 @ 07:02am

33. '...Wiener sued the FBI under the Freedom of Information Act in 1983 for its files on John Lennon....Jon Wiener was born in St. Paul, Minnesota and attended Central High School there. He has a B.A. from Princeton and a Ph.D. from Harvard, where he began working as a writer in the late sixties for the underground paper The Old Mole....' -- http:// www.thenation.com/ directory/bios/Jon_Wiener

    Posted by HonestLiberal at 11/21/2008 @ 09:44am

34. Ah, thanks for the info, HonestLiberal.

    Unfortunately, inasmuch as Wiener is NOT, evidently, an excusable twenty-something, it leaves only one possible conclusion.

    I refer you to my PS.

    Posted by kensears at 11/21/2008 @ 10:14am

35. LARRY,

    please, ¿24?

    would jesus watch that tripe?

    really......

    "JUDAS, TELL US WHO GAVE YOU THE SILVER OR WE'RE GONNA SHOVE THIS CROWN OF THORNS UP YOUR ASS!"

    really......

    Posted by frosty zoom at 11/21/2008 @ 10:28am

36. HL,

    any more lunch dates with MISTRAL lately?

    i sure hope mrs. "HONEST" doesn't read this blog.

    sheesh.

    Posted by frosty zoom at 11/21/2008 @ 10:29am

37. There's a "Mrs."? No wonder you zere talking about Californian Proposition 8!

    Posted by Mistral at 11/21/2008 @ 2:32pm