http://www.infowars.com/articles/terror/fo...rists_exist.htm

Television guest Cites Fox's Fictional "24" as Evidence that Terrorists are "Out There"

News Hounds | January 18, 2007


Former New York City police detective Bo Dietl was Neil Cavuto's guest today (January 17, 2007) on the Your World television show, and referenced a fictional television show as evidence
that terrorists are everywhere. (Dietl appeared along with Imam Hassan Al-Qazwini, of the Islamic Center of America, to discuss a January 7 incident in which Northwest Airlines prohibited a group of 40 Muslims from boarding a plane in Germany, after a pilgrimage to the Hajj, on their return trip to Detroit. The group said that Northwest's action was discriminatory and threatened to launch a boycott, whereupon Northwest apologized and agreed to pay for any expenses incurred as a result of the "snafu.")

At one point Cavuto turned to Dietl and said, "Bo, you have a problem with Northwest apologizing, right?" to which Dietl responded:

No, I have a problem because things have changed, Hassan. We have to look at muslims -- a bunch of Irish guys are not going to get on the plane now and blow themselves up or put themselves into buildings. The fact of the matter is, I mean, you don't watch '24?' On Fox TV? They're out there. They're out there. There are cells out there. We have to protect ourselves against them as Americans.

Comment: Either Dietl is a hack, shamelessly promoting a Fox television show; he's as ignorant as he appears, or both. Whatever happened, Cavuto, being a "journalist" and all, had an obligation to tell his audience that what appears on "24" is fictional, which he didn't do. Also, what a "coincidence" this is. Last night Keith Olbermann aired a segment with Robert Greenwald, the producer of Outfoxed, titled: " Fox Scaring You Into Watching '24? '". Maybe this is Rupert Murdoch's bullyboy way of telling both Olbermann and Greenwald to **EDIT**.

**Thunkerdrone, you have already been warned about the forum rules concerning language. Don't do it again.**

I am a little confused. Are you saying that Dietl doesn't know that 24 is a fictional show, or are suggesting that people would not recognize 24 as being a fictional show, and would need to be warned?

It seems pretty clear that he was using the events in the show as example of how terrorist cells operate in the U.S., not as evidence that the cells exist in the first place.

What really annoys me about the US stance on terrorism is that when "Irish guys" were setting off bombs over here, they were getting a lot of support, both financial and political, from the US.

24 is fictional, just like "West Wing" and "Commander in Chief"

yes, 'he was using the events in the show as an example of how terrorist cells operate in the U.S.', which is completely idiotic.
The show is fiction. It is not real. He is saying the airlines should treat their passengers in accordance with reaction
to FICTION. Wake up!

That was not mine. If you follow the link, that is exactly as it was written originally.

1984 was FICTION people

Yes, I know. You still posted them, making them your responsibility. You, like everyone else, are responsible for the contents of your posts.

So? What is making it idiotic? If I want to give someone a reference as to how emergency rooms function and I point to one of the many shows, would that be idiotic as well?



Fiction does not equal to not being real, which is what you seem to be saying. When a story is refered to as being fictional, one is referring to the storyline. A fictional story about a cop is about what happens to that particular cop. It doesn't mean that law enforcement in general is fictional. Are you saying that, because these cells appeared in a fictional TV show, they do not exist?



Get over yourself.

yes, it would be idiotic to use a fictional medical television show like Doogie Howser M.D. or Scrubs when you can easily reference a real emergency room. Refer people to a
documentary about a REAL emergency room with real doctors, like Trauma. Unfortunately, the Taliban or Al Qaida do not invite TLC in the door to make reality shows based on the real thing.
IF you are saying that '24' is as real a show on terrorists as Trauma is a real emergency room, give your head a shake. It's idiotic.
This guy saying the airlines should watch '24' to find out what is happening with terrorism is like someone telling the state health authorities to consider the conditions depicted on Doogie Howser
or the soap opera General Hospital in their budget planning.
I repeat: Wake up!

For every joke told there is a grain of truth...

ONE guy makes a reference to a TV show in an interview and it's getting blown way out of proportion. He had an obligation to tell the audiance that 24 is fiction?

Ya we all idiots dat dont no no beter.

Get real!

I agree with the author of the article that he should have called him on the idiocy of it right then and there. He should have said "Hey, wait a minute, '24' is fiction. Are you
saying the airlines should set security based on a fantasy show?!"

I guess a lot of people think Mind Freak is real too.

long as there's no more references to big brother. Fiction can never be used to point out real issues.

Yes, but you do not need to. Do you seriously think that if I referenced Doogie Howser to someone, they would think that hospitals contain pint-sized doctors? That's as silly as saying that if I referenced Trauma people would think that emergency rooms had theme music.

Well, that is a problem, isn't it. After all, the purpose of using a TV reference is to get as many people as possible on the same page. One shot documentaries like the ones on SEALS and such don't really enjoy a very broad audience, and wouldn't really work for that purpose.



Well, I'm not, in fact, I was asking if you were afraid that people would think it was.

If that is what he was saying, sure, but that isn't what he was saying. All he was doing was using a well-known reference to depict what was concerning him at the time. You seriously think he was claiming that 24 should be used as a reference for planning purposes? The guy made a reference of the top of his head, for crying out loud. You are trying to make it sound like the guy was using the show as proof that terrorist cells exist.



I repeat: Get over yourself.

everybody knows that 24is just a fox propaganda peice used to further neo-con ideology.

News to me. I just thought it was where terrible shows lived their short lives before fading into obscurity.

And the "OC" was a huge government conspiracy to convince the world that any of the shows actors had any talent?

I agree. How many of us would think, "Oh, that's just not possible" if 9/11 never happened. I'm not saying that tv shows of today are accurate...just that maybe they are looking at things going on in a different light. One that maybe overlooked by our beaucratic government. I think our society, especially here in America, we have lived too long thinking we are above terrorist attacks & such. Our bad.


Yeah, I got really bored with 24 after the first season or two. I'm not the only one either. None of my friends watch it any more. Course then I have a whole list of tv shows that could be cancelled & I wouldn't shed a single freakin' tear!

I agree that FOX network is just a neo-con fantasyfest to brainwash the masses.

I wish everyone knew, but obviously some people really think '24' is based on reality.
This idiot was chastising the airlines for not behaving according to how it would be
handled on some idiotic fantasy show, and he even has people here defending him.

All you zombies out there , wake up!

Damn...MASH is on right now and I'm not paying attention to how I should respond to the Koreans. I think TV Land for children has been trying to train us at an early age since I was a kid.

*slaps self awake*I must have missed all the government propaganda while they were trying to brainwash me growing up.



I take that smile back.....it's not funny...it's sad that people think that way.

Really now? I've been watching 24 for some time now and I could have sworn it was a show about action, will power and terrorist themes in one way or another.

Actually, you seem to be the only here who thinks it is an issue.

I agree with the original article, and it contains an important insight about how often people, (imo especially young
people), passively assume that the fiction that they are watching is somehow informing them on the real world.
The lines are blurring between fiction and reality for too many people, to the point that people are very easily
manipulated by such media as FOX network.

watch this documentary about FOX network and its obvious bias :

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=56...foxed&hl=en

So you do think that the problem is that there are people who would not be able to understand the difference between a fictional storyline and a fictional theme?

yes, and in so doing he revealed that he was a FOX-network-watching television zombie freaked out about completely
fictional hysteria, and furthermore dismayed that the rest of the world was not in same brain-addled state of fantasy
that he himself was in. He is an idiot.

The problem is that many people blindly trust the media, and trust shows like '24' on the assumption that the show is based on real-world conditions.
The idiot made that obvious by referencing fiction in critiquing the airlines.

Why is this never an issue with things like "The West Wing", "Commander In Chief", "Farenheit 911", "An Inconvienient Truth", "The Colbert Report", etc...?

You mean in the same way that some people blindly assume everything is a conspiracy and back up their beliefs by taking every little comment and event and blowing them out of all proportion?

yeah we the irish used to laugh about that also. and not just the US, Gadaffai was very generous with us also.
Back on topic a little though, the terriosts are everywhere, i mean the US govt told the american people a few years ago its only a matter of time before the terriosts get a dirty nuke through from canada and let it off in a major city.

yeah, it's much better to be an ABC, CBS, NBC etc. network-watching television zombie...

Now that's quite a leap of logic you made there. You went from possibly having a logical path to a conclusion to out and out conspiracy theorist. Back it down a bit, and walk us through it step by step.

That he watches Fox does not make him any sort of zombie, or make him freaked out about fictional hysteria, or a believer that everyone in the world believes that television and reality are one and the same. These are all your opinions. If you want o argue any of them, them please support it. Don't just expect us to believe you just because you say it is so.



As I said, the only person I have met on these boards (and in real life, for that matter), who claims this is you. Do you have anything that would back up the notion that the average joe cannot distinguish between a fictional storyline and an a fictional theme?

This is a waste of time. We are going around in circles here. Read the original article if you think I am completely alone in this.
I did not write it, but I do agree with it. In this very thread there have been people who have agreed with me. The man referenced fiction
because he had no real-life frame of reference for his extreme views. In other words, his world view is shaped largely by fiction, and he seems
to think that he is quite normal in interpreting the real world based on what he 'learns' from authorities on subject like '24' .
Worse, you and others seem to think it quite normal.


I repeat: wake up!

Do you think so? Have other people here agreed that the average joe would not be able to tell the difference between a storyline and a subject?

I read the original article, and I read a few others on that site. I am seeing the exact same over-reaction that I am seeing from you. The man referenced fiction, on that we agree. The diference is that you believe that he referenced fiction because he honestly believes that a television drama is representing a true life situation, and I believe he referenced it for the exact same reason that thousands of people on a daily basis reference television show, put simply, out of sheer convenience.

You are misleading. You give an opinion ("In other words, his world view is shaped largely by fiction, and he seems to think that he is quite normal in interpreting the real world based on what he 'learns' from authorities on subject like '24' ") and pass it of as fact. And then you make it sound like your opinion is what people who disagree with you are supporting ("Worse, you and others seem to think it quite normal"). No one here other than yourself has supported that idea as being normal. The argument is that idea is incorrect.



I repeat: get over yourself. You aren't the only perwson who can logically and intelligently analyze a sitation and come to a correct conclusion.

When all is said and done, the guy did not, as the title of this thread claims, use a fictional show as proof of anything. He used it as a reference, nothing more. According to you, he believes that his reference is true to life, and that everyone should be warned because, apparently, everyone else is in danger of thinking that the reference is true to life as well. But there is no way around the simple fact (and yes, it is a fact), that thousands of people every day do the exact same thing that he did in his conversation; reference a television to highlight the subject they are talking about. Nothing more sinister than that.

In all case, I've spent enough time on this topic. The entire thread is about one guy that, if you are right, is an idiot. That's all. Big whoop.

Yes, how convenient to have a whole fantasy world to base misguided policy on.

He obviously knows that the television show is fictional. The point is that he thinks the context of this fictional show is informative on reality, to the point that he cites it
as reference to real life, as a source of information on the topic . It is idiotic to use a ficitional drama as a reference source of information on real-world conditions.
Here is what he said:




He chose '24' as his reference, imo. because , though fictional, it is the show that has influenced his and millions of other's views on muslim terrorism, and he tacitly accepts that the show's
depiction of muslim terrorists is largely informative on the subject. Moreover, he expects everyone else to accept the premise as well, even the airlines.
He thinks Muslims should be discriminated against in the real world in part because of the evil deeds that they are committing on '24'! This is ludicrous!
I suggest he choose a better reference to back up his views on the existence or prevalence of muslim extremists and terror cells.



He IS an idiot. Wake up!

Get over yourself.

wake up!

quite a confusing mixture of fiction and documentaries. What is your question?
The difference between fiction and documentary is that documentaries are documented. They represent reality, and are based on provable, documented, and referenced facts, otherwise their creators are in many instances open to lawsuits for libel or defamation of character.