The Rude Pundit: A Photo From the Last Calm Moments of the Egyptian Protests

[meegbear]

That's a photo from late last night in Tahrir Square in Cairo. The gathered thousands and thousands of people stopped their protest and their lynchings of Mubarak effigies and paused to watch President Barack Obama tell the world that "an orderly transition (of power) must be meaningful, it must be peaceful, and it must begin now."

He was threading a diplomatic needle, in a way, standing with the protesters while still allowing Mubarak some unnecessary dignity, trying, as Obama does so very often, to have his cake without admitting that he likes cake so no one can accuse him of being a cake eater. What did it mean, the transition that starts now? Does it last until September, when Mubarak says he won't stand for reelection? Does it last a couple of days? Christ, it would have been so easy for Obama to explicitly say that Mubarak must step down. It would have electrified the citizens, the people on the street, all over the Middle East, in Egypt, in Jordan, in Yemen.

It didn't matter; the old dictator told the young president to go fuck himself. Egypt's foreign minister rejected Obama's statement. And, of course, he blamed the West for the violence that is now occurring in Cairo.

Now, with the government ordering the protests to end, the Rude Pundit is thinking about when he was in a hotel room in Houston over 20 years ago, watching the crushing conclusion of the Tiananmen Square demonstrations. And he's thinking, as perhaps those people in the picture up there, "Not again, not again, not again."

http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/

[tabatha]

1. This is exactly what I predicted.

Blame the West for violence and interference in Egypt (as what happened in Iran).

That is why Obama had to walk a fine line.

Because any distortion could be used against him and in the end defeat the wishes of the Egyptians.

[Bragi]

3. Read the views on Obama's "diplomacy" here:

http://twitter.com/#!/search/%23jan25%20obama

[tabatha]

4. They are expecting too much of Obama.

How can they say he is like Bush?

Bush interfered in other countries; Obama will not.

Sorry, they are angry and emotional and upset.

[AnOhioan]

6. They are saying that because ...

in their eyes it is about who we support...they know that the the US has supported Mubarak...Dem and Repub administrations alike.

Obama loves to nuance things, a clearer expression of support for the desires of the Egyptian citizens may have been better received.

[myrna minx]

2. K&R n/t

[kenny blankenship]

5. What?? You want a clear, unequivocal statement about anything from Obama?

Don't hold your breath--that's good advice.