When The House passed health care reform legislation last week, conservatives across the country immediately took to bellyaching loudly about socialism, President Obama, Obamacare, and Obama’s socialistic agenda. Surprising, no? All of these themes were woven into an elegiac fugue about the beautiful and dead dream once known as the United States of America.
But America is not dead. It is alive and well, having been protected from certain doom several times by a lone hero named Jack Bauer. Sadly, this too must pass, as the hero must ride into the sunset for the last time.

Forget for a moment that Jack Bauer is a fictional character. For years, he has embodied the jingoistic, kick-ass-and-take-names attitude of some of America’s more conservative citizenry.
As the battle abroad (the real one) began to fade from the forefront of the attention of Americans, the focus, of course, moved to domestic issues. As we all know, the economy tanked, a Democrat took office, and the Republican party took a sound beating in two of the three branches of government.
As a non-conservative, it’s difficult for me to accurately explain their frame of mind. All I really have is a lot of annecdotal evidence. I’m sort of operating under the assumption that as their stranglehold over the government, their finances, and their beliefs on waging global war came crashing down, 24 provided a sort of ideological haven where conservative kick-assery was still the best means to protecting America’s interests.
In any case, last week brought the one-two punch of a large victory for Democrats and the announcement that the mental oasis would be closed for good in a mere month. But which was worse?
Let’s start with health care reform. While there are certainly good arguments against it, it is safe to say that a great number of people both in favor of it and against it don’t know what the hell they’re talking about, and a fair bit of conservatives complaining loudly about it are against this less for hard logistical aspects of the plan (the actual cost, who is covered, the new responsibilities it confers on all citizens) than for general ideological reasons (more socialization, socialism, President Obama, Obamacare, and Obama’s socialistic agenda).
The cancellation of 24 is less about ire. Within minutes of its announcement, I saw a number of conservatives tweet or make Facebook posts mourning the loss, as if a friend was moving away forever. While I did see some angry posts suggesting CSI or other shows be cancelled instead (FYI, it doesn’t work that way, 24 loyalists), by and large the tone was mournful.
I suppose the question boils down to whether they think getting screwed over is worse than having nothing to distract you from it. Whichever is the case, though, I’m sure they’ll find a way to blame it on Obama.