A Canadian online journal, The Tyee, has likened the controversy over the impact of 24's fictional portrayal of torture on real-life military interrogators to Dan Quayle's condemnation of the impact of Murphy Brown's single motherhood on real-life women.

While making sport of the invitation extended to Kiefer Sutherland, who plays 24's torturer-in-chief, to speak to West Point cadets to tell them that torture is ineffective and wrong, The Tyee article added that when it comes to politics and 24, viewers see what they want to see.

"Jack is one of those outsiders who [is] above society's rules because he has a superior moral compass and always does the right thing -- and every American likes to believe this is his or her own story," writer Shannon Rupp said.