PAGING YOSSARIAN; PLEASE PICK UP THE WHITE COURTESY PHONE

The Washington Post is moving a story today about the dean of West Point, Brig. Gen. Patrick Finnegan, putting in an appearance, last November, on the set of Fox's '24' series to ask that the show dial back its depiction of inflicting torture on terrorists. The issue the good general had, it seems was not based upon any broad moralistic prohibitions but on the fact that his students point to the show as an example of the wonderful intelligence that can be gleaned from an exuberant application of physical and psychological torture. .... Okay, let's stop here for a moment to think about this. And never mind the fact that there are serious questions about the ability of these so-called "best and brightest" students' ability to differentiate between fantasy and reality, although it does raise the question of whether these dumb bastards should be allowed to even carry weapons. Instead, let's ponder the fact that Uncle Sam may be picking up the tab to educate sociopaths in the ways of warfare and weapons... Do the nation's military academies not conduct a metal health evaluation on their student prior to admitting them to school? And, if they do, is the bar set so low as to attract those who are likely to commit wholesale slaughter with little or no remorse?