Iran Riots And The Media

Andrew Sullivan rightly laments the dearth of coverage over the rioting that's been going on in Iran since the Mullahs began rationing gas:

For some reason, this isn't front-page news. It should be.

I know what he's thinking: NY Times and WaPo, the media that matter to him. And he's right: Neither has it on its online front page, and it's disgusting that they don't.

There's one other media outlet that matters to Sullivan and his buddies: Fox News, the media outlet they vilify as the lapdog of the right. Since the right wants to -- no, needs to, in their eyes -- play up fear of Islamofascism and democratization as the roadway to peace, then Andrew Sullivan shouldn't be surprised to find this story on the top of the Fox News Web site.

Ah, then he'll be surprised to know that it's almost not. Here's what the dreaded network thinks is important today, top to bottom:

• Immigration bill at brink
• Dark discovery in the desert (a murder story; standard Foxfodder)
• Raging floods kill Texas boy
• Return home plan for illegals
• Blair's gig: Mideast envoy
• Michigan family faces deportation without law
• And, tada, Fiery protest on Iran's gas stations

That's pretty low on the page -- just about even with Passenger Flies Into Rage Over Apple Juice and the video coverage of Woman: Starburst Dislocated My Jaw.

Really, what is the Left's hysteria with Fox coming from? Even the stalwart conservative voices -- O'Reilly and Hannity -- spend most of their time talking about the lastest missing cute blonde, not any issue of substance.

Notwithstanding its remaining periodic moments of charged debate and clear-thinking commentary, Fox has fallen into mind-numbing stupidity. It's been terribly frightening to watch this happen because the executives at Fox are reading their data on the mind of the American people and concluding that the new, lousy Fox is giving more people more of what they want.

At least there's rioting over gas prices in Iran -- what an exquisite irony! -- to cheer me up.

Hat-tip: Real Clear Politics