TV's '24:' Reality Show?

I'm a fan of Bill Simmons, who writes the "Sports Guy's World" column for ESPN.com. I'm also a fan of the TV show 24. Recently, Simmons has been giving actor Sean Astin a hard time for his portrayal of a feckless bureaucrat on the show. Well, this week, "Brett" from Williamsburg, Va., wrote to Simmons (scroll about three fourths of the way down the page to find the letter) to say his critique is off base. I can't resist quoting an excerpt:

Having spent my entire career working in the military and various other government bureaucracies, I can assure you that Astin's portrayal of an anal-retentive, micro-managing, hotshot career bureaucrat with a Napoleon complex who takes out the shortcomings in his personal life on his subordinates is spot-on. I've worked at every level for bosses so eerily like his character that I start having flashbacks whenever Astin is onscreen. I wouldn't be surprised if Astin interviewed some of my old superiors in preparing for his role.

Astin, by the way, is no stranger to the government. He's been a member of the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation since it inception in January 2003.