The Night Shift: Aasif Mandvi's Searing Satire — Why All the Cable News Fear Over This Particular Revolution?

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Even before the protests in Egypt turned violent, the top names in cable news started speculating: What will happen to Egypt if U.S.-backed Hosni Mubarek is removed from power? What are the implications of America losing its biggest Arab ally? What does the turmoil mean for U.S. foreign policy, for Israel, for oil supplies?

On Wednesday’s Daily Show, Aasif Mandvi visited an American protest that was organized in support of Egypt’s groundswell, revealing the arrogant, short-sighted pundit debate for what it truly is. (Video after the jump)

Posing an array of absurd proposals and questions to the gathered protestors — What if America chose the presidential candidates and then let Egyptians vote? Why aren’t Egyptians taking Israel’s opinion into greater account? How can American policymakers distinguish the trustworthy Egyptians from the untrustworthy ones? — Mandvi picked apart the cable news debate. In particular, he singled out many of the views expressed on Fox News, which has questioned the ongoing Egyptian revolution in a way that the network never did when it came to the Iranian uprising of 2009.

This is searing, scathing satire at its best, revealing the underlying biases that have thus far informed and driven one side of the ongoing American dialogue about the Egyptian uprising.

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