It appears that many people have missed the point of this episode. I have seen it described as ridiculously pro-American and and at times nonsensical. To say this is to completely misunderstand what this episode is about; it is a commentary on the political situation in America at the time of this episode's broadcasting. In the years following 9/11, there was, understandably, a climate of fear in the United States. This episode tackles two manifestations of this climate of fear: an increasingly hysterical media encouraging ridiculous levels of patriotism bordering on the insane (look up "freedom fries," and you'll see what I'm talking about), and the riding roughshod over civil liberties that the Bush administration did in this time period (see patriot act). You can also see a sense of longing in this episode for a return of the America that once was; an America without the paranoia and engendering of fear by the authorities, without the uncompromising polarisation of politics, which still plagues the United States today. It is also a beautiful irony that this was broadcast on the very same network whose news channel was responsible for much of the hysteria that this episode lampoons.
It is a excellent piece of political satire, that the Simpsons so often does so well. Anyone remotely politically minded will love this episode.
It is a excellent piece of political satire, that the Simpsons so often does so well. Anyone remotely politically minded will love this episode.