Miscellaneous

Run For Your Lives! You're Already Dead!

I sort of thought the GOP had backed off a little from their fear-mongering tactics, what with Barack Obama's hope kryptonite eating away at their effectiveness. I guess I was wrong; they've got a new ad running kvetching about expiration of The Protect America Act that basically steals whole cloth scenes and adverts from "24". As Glen Glenwald at Salon.com amusingly writes:

The ad uses the typing-in-progress computer font and a Heritage-like stopwatch counting the seconds before we're all dead, as popularized by "24" and scary Terrorist movies ... The whole thing is set to blood-pumping, They're-coming!! music. It's very uplifting, very exciting, and not at all manipulative or exploitive. We just need to be safe. That's all that matters. Please, anything for that. Spy on us with no warrants. Give everything to the telecom industry that they demand. Just please protect us in your strong and loving arms."

Glenwald has also dug up clips from Season 7 of "24" to show the style and substance similarities, but if you just want to watch the video and judge for yourself, here it is -- try to refrain from running to the nearest bunker when it's over:

Full post as published by Quiz Law on February 22, 2008 (boomark / email).