Reel life is where Jack Bauer lives, real life is where we are, and where effective counter-terrorism agents  work. Of course I like to watch Jack Bauer do this thing on TV, as the series nears its finale, Jack is off the hook -- doing what he does at his most Bauerist. A democracy doesn't need Jack Bauers to be safe. It needs the work of members of the security services whom don't go "off the hook," but who go about their work developing investigations that net and nab suspected terrorists.

Yesterday, May 13,  the FBI  seems to be doing just that. The FBI  seems to be on the move to shut down at least one terrorist plot, by putting the squeeze on suspected plotters. Arrests have been made. Suspects are being held on immigration charges. They are linked to Faisal Shahzad and the failed May 1st, New York Times Square bombing,  but maybe their role was unwittingly, said the feds. The feds have conducted several raids, and material, computers and records, have been seized for examination. A man, with ties to the Taliban, was arrested in Pakistan. Sources said. "He provided evidence that the Pakistani Taliban was behind the attack and admitted helping Shahzad get bomb-making training in Pakistan."

The fed sources say that Faisal Shahzad is continuing to cooperate with investigators. And this is without the use of the Jack Bauer type of interrogation. And U.S. counter-terrorism agents are developing leads as a result of that cooperation.  The whining and the cheap shots from some of, those among us, whose heads are stuck in TV land, and who want Jack Bauer running our security services, should stop, and hopefully those folks will chill.