Teh goggie did it!

How does moronic pseudo-science work its way onto the public agenda? Because moronic pseudo-journalists put it there!

Not to beat a dead dog into the ground or anything, but that's another one of those reasons that Fox brand news is genuinely different from grownup news. This is agenda-setting with a vengeance. It's the No. 3 top super-important story in the whole world because it helps you sort the world into good guys and bad guys, and it does so in a distinctively Foxian way. Thus, it's going to have to push some critically important stories downpage:

A number of high-profile musicians -- including members of Pearl Jam, R.E.M. and the Roots -- pressed the government Thursday to name the songs it blasted at the Guantanamo detainee center to coerce or punish prisoners held there, the Washington Post reported Thursday.

Hugo Chavez is telling Venezuelans to limit their showers to three minutes, because they are "not in times of Jacuzzi," the Daily Mail reported.

House Republican leaders on Thursday rushed to the defense of conservative commentators after President Obama dismissed Fox News as "talk radio" -- part of the White House campaign to marginalize opposing viewpoints.

... because another front in the culture war is in fresh danger:

SUVs owners are often castigated by treehuggers for their Earth-unfriendly lifestyle. A new book argues that pets are just as bad.

Go through and have a good time with the math and logic yourself (here's the original story, if you're wondering where some of the numbers came from or how close Fox can skate to the plagiarism line when the safety of Our Way of Life is involved). Or check here and see whether Toyota will sell you a Land Cruiser with an engine that small; Toyota thinks I need the 5.7, but then again Woodward Avenue* does go through my zip code.

The problem with Fox isn't that the editorials are different. The problem with Fox is that the news is different. And the problem with the reporting on the Great Fox War is that the alleged professionals at the big serious papers don't seem to have caught on. Gentlepersons, do you need a map?

* Why does Fox hate America?