Just wait until the government starts applying a looser definition of "terrorism." (i.e. the recently discovered DOD entrance exam where protesting was defined as "low-level terrorism" )Then we could theoretically all be the subject to the Guantanamo-style justice system; show trials with no due process, torture, and all the rest. With so much executive power, it's not beyond the realm of possibility.

I think that indeed TZ reflected many of the latent thoughts of the American population during the time it aired. The anti-war movement in the days before the Vietnam era had been driven underground by McCarthyism and HUAC, so dissenters had to find creative ways of spreading their ideas without raising any red flags. Blatant critics would never make it on the air. Rod Serling was a genius in this way as he managed to weave metaphors about the American experience into settings on distant planets or in distant futures, and conversely used the fantastic and the magical to show us truths about our normal lives.
This was an excellent article, because you remind us that a television show can be an art form, and a venue for social criticism, despite what they have become today. In today's context, where officials have been commenting on their fears about how letting the American public know the truth about certain government programs could be "divisive," how big of a leap is it to the McCarthy assertion that any negative opinion about the government is too troublesome to be allowed? Major media outlets would rather placate us with frivolous crap then rile us up by giving us something to really think about, and by looking at the headlines one would think the biggest problem in America currently is the death of Michael Jackson. They would prefer we lived in a fantasy world. But perhaps TZ's enduring popularity suggests that the public longs for something more from it's entertainment; at least, I certainly hope so.