Make-Believe Meets Make-Believe

Evidently, the tax-hating, rich folk-loving wonks of The Heritage Foundation are learning how to sex up their symposiums. How else do you explain the right-wing think tank leading a conference on terrorism-fighting techniques of Fox's hit series, "24"?

In a take-Hollywood-back-from-the-liberals sort of scene, Rush Limbaugh moderated the forum, which featured Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff and "24" stars Gregory Itziu, Mary Lynn Rajskub and Carlos Bernard.









Radio personality Rush Limbaugh exhales into the mouth of actress Mary Lynn Rajskub to demonstrate how he can administer oxycodone

The Washington Post reports:

"The title of the session was '"24" and America's Image in Fighting Terrorism: Fact, Fiction or Does it Matter?' Everyone seemed to agree that it mattered, somehow, which is probably the answer Fox's promotions department was hoping to hear. No less than Chertoff himself praised the character and tenacity of '24's' fictitious uber-agent, Jack Bauer ... and his CTU colleagues, saying such perseverance will help America defeat terrorism.

"Chertoff, of course, failed to mention a few other key departures from reality, such as that '24's' president, Charles Logan, last season was A) a devious madman who authorized a plan to supply a Russian terrorist group with nerve gas, and B) had several people killed, including his predecessor, and C) was the tool of a shadowy organization whose leader wears one of those funny telephone earpieces.

"Well, said Bernard afterward, it's silly to demand too much reality from a network TV series. 'It's a show,' said the soul-patched actor ..."

And a show, as we all know, has little to do with reality ...