True; I meant not give a damn as in shooting unarmed protesters and beating them, to terrify them and stop them from taking to the streets. Which is unfortunately, what seems to be happening. The main outcome of this seems to be showing the rest of us, outside Iran, that there are a good number of people who are opposed to the present regime; 30 years ago, this was not the case. The definitive role of a repressive government is to repress its' people

Well spoken. Without sympathetic elements in the ruling class- like the Revolutionary Guard or a significant number of clerics- the protests simply cannot hold up. Unless of course, every single citizen, man woman and child, was willing to take to the streets...

What, you mean like Tieneman Square? As I recall, that didn't work out so well....and unfortunately, brick and chain does not really work when the other side has guns and ammunition galore. Public demonstration is all fine and good if the powers that be are not willing to meet unarmed citizens with massive firepower; but the sad truth is that totalitarian governments are determined to stop dissent regardless of the body count. If you don't give a damn about world opinion, there is very little to prevent you from extreme military over reaction to keep the status quo.

Point taken. I was exaggerating to make a point; many internet users are in fact teens and tweens (who have no concept of what MAD even means), and given the apalling knowledge by the lumpenproletariat, and students, of geopolitics, geography, and anything outside the realm of TMZ coverage, I have a suspicion that there would in fact be less interest...though I hope the point is never put to the test...

I think you are correct, it would have a much less public appeal. Remember the masses are, by definition, idiots. I fear that a nuclear attack would have a similar mass interest as a US senate vote on farm subsidies (unless a really major celebrity was, in fact, caught in the nuclear conflagration...)