Rachel Maddow: Tuesday Largest Protest In Cairo So Far. Friday'll Be Even Bigger. It's Snowballing!

[Turborama]

Run time: 02:27 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9B_VAX_KWc   Posted on YouTube: February 09, 2011 By YouTube Member: Naskeleng Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: February 09, 2011 By DU Member: Turborama Views on DU: 1060

 

MADDOW: If you had wondered if the whole Egypt thing was winding down, the answer is no. More specifically, the answer is this. This is look at this.

This is Tahrir Square, Liberation Square in Cairo today. This is not our file footage of protesters on the big protest days last week. This is how many people were out in the city's main protest area today. " The Washington Post" reporting that, quote, "hundreds of thousands gathered in what witnesses estimated was the largest crowd in the downtown Tahrir Square since protests began two weeks ago."

The BBC concurring, saying, quote, "Correspondents say it is the biggest demonstration since the protests began on the 25th of January." Even after sundown, thousands of people stayed in the square. They are not going home.

This is as big as it has been.

This weekend, the government met with protesters and political opposition groups. They offered some concessions. The Constitution would be amended so the opposition can run in elections. There would be expanded freedom of the press. " Prisoners of conscience" political prisoners would be released. The 30-year-old state of emergency, which frankly calls into question the whole concept of the word "emergency" that will finally be lifted sometime eventually.

In other words, the government conceded just about everything they could, except the biggest and loudest and most insistent and consistent demand of the protesters, that the president, Hosni Mubarak, step down.

They conceded everything up to that.

Would those concessions be enough to stop the energy from the protest movement?

Would people, by and large think they had gotten enough from the government, and stay home the next time the protesters hit the streets?

No.

Emphatically no.

The crowds in the street today bigger than they have ever been. The concessions from the government not cooling the protest movement down. This thing is getting bigger, not smaller. The next major protest is scheduled for Friday. Friday protests, as you know, generally are larger than those on any other day of the week. Anything could happen. But right now, this appears to be snowballing.


NBC News chief foreign correspondent, Richard Engel, tomorrow Cairo time. So in just a few hours, he's interviewing the new vice president of Egypt, the new guy sort of in charge there, the man whose concessions have apparently failed to stop the protests. That interview between Richard and Omar Suleiman is tomorrow. We will then have Richard live here on the show to report back.

She's right, it is snowballing, check this out in LBN: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4726762

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. Bless you for posting, Turbo.

Pls continue doing so if you can, for us who cannot catch Maddow.

K&R

[Turborama]

2. Thank you for your kind words & will Do, dixiegrrrrl

The only way I can see her is online, we can't get MSNBC here, and if I see a clip that hasn't been added tou YouTube I upload it to my channel "Naskeleng", as can be seen in the OP.

Same goes for Anderson Cooper, who has been doing some good coverage of this revolution of late.

This one was the latest one from AC360 I've uploaded: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x552214

And this one seems to be starting to go viral, judging by the amount of times it's been added to Facebook and has been tweeted. Even though it seems to have been hardly noticed here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x551895

I've got whole load a load of work that's piled up and I'm focusing my time on YouTube, and a new Twitter account as well now so my DU time is a lot more limited than it was.

Thanks a lot for all the tireless work you and the guys in GD are doing keeping this story alive! It is not a 3 day news cycle thing. There's a geopolitical earthquake happening. Right. Now!

:hi:

[formercia]

6. Suleiman is looking a bit fucked-out.

It's starting to get to them.

[rurallib]

3. FReeSpeechTV is running AlJazeera nearly full time

great coverage.
protest has spread into strikes around the country.
I guess most of the commercial stations got bored.

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. There's Free speech tv online?????

Oh, my..yes, I found it!!!:bounce: :bounce:

We cut off our television a few months ago ( yayyyy) and now I am seeking onlne sources.
Just added the above, thanks to you.

[Turborama]

7. I think you're going to really like this, then....

In case you missed it earlier: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x360546

:hi:

[Shining Jack]

5. K&R