UPDATE 1:15 PM
Never mind. Mubarak offered a few new concessions, but, in the words of Al Jazeera English, “made it clear that he wasn’t going anywhere.”
As any student of politics knows, this won’t end anything. Basic political science is that revolutions are most likely to happen not when an oppressed people are at their most desperate, but when they have hope and that hope is denied. True to form, the masses now gathering in Tahrir Square and elsewhere (at nearly midnight local time) are staggeringly angry.
To be continued…
= = =
Numerous outlets are now reporting that in an address to his country in the next few hours, Hosni Mubarak will step down as Egypt’s president, handing power over to (depending on the report) either his newly anointed vice president or the military.
If true, the question, of course, is where Egypt goes from here. But for the time being, this is a remarkable victory for people power. A leaderless, youth-dominated movement, without initiating any violence, has removed from power a brutal dictator of three decades, backed by billions of dollars in military aid from the most powerful country in the world. Can’t have a much more powerful expression of democracy than that.
In other political news, GOP Sen. Jon Kyle announced he won’t run for re-election and reality TV figure Donald Trump is considering a serious run for the GOP presidential nomination.
Meg Whitman blew $150 million trying to buy a Senate seat. I wonder if Trump can blow $1 billion trying to buy the White House?
Trump, like Palin and others, think because they have a very loyal following that they can become President. The problem is their loyal followers represent a fraction of the overall population. Palin may have a VERY devoted following, but it’s by 5%-10% of the country. You can’t win a national election on that. Trump like Palin is hated by at LEAST as many people as like him. There is simply no way in hell for him (or Palin) to get elected.
Yay!
What’s the deal with Kyle? Isn’t he the Senate Whip, which makes him the ranking # 2 GOP Senator? He’s been in the Senate for three terms.
Is he vulnerable? Are there personal problems? Or is he planning to spend all his time preparing for a 2012 presidential run? That last action would be a long shot, he’s been overshadowed by McCain in the Senate his entire career, and he’s hardly known outside of Arizona.
The Donald will be great at turning around the economy. If by turning around I mean selling it all in fractional shares to foreign investors. Suppose we could get by licensing “USA” to a line of ties? Will China Broadcasting use the country in a reality show once we’re desperate for cash and media relevence?
@5 Kyl is term-limited out of his leadership position in 2013. Thus, he’d have to either challenge McConnell for the top spot or accept a demotion.
Hmmm..and the brotherhood, from whom Bin Laden splintered when they wouldn’t support outright jihad including civilians, could end up the winner. So a movement that yes, authorizes terror, but also some time works within the political system? Here’s hoping we initially give them a more Gerry Adams approach than a Ismail Haniya. Northern Ireland has been relatively quiet for a decade
@8
The Brotherhood is but a small percentage of the opposition parties. They have already stated that they will not field a presidential candidate and they will be a small part of a parliamentarian government.
It’s time to call the White House and insist that we no longer give billions of $ to Mubarak or anyone in his regime (Sulieman) or a military dictatorship if there is a coup.
202-456-1111
Best news coverage, with live footage and almost no commercials:
http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/
You are the stupidest liberal media Jew on Earth.
All indications point to Mubarak and his ruling party having been ousted by a military coup.
@9
I’m with you. I’m hoping that if the first election goes to someone Israel can’t tolerate that AIPAC isn’t able to get the U.S. to take the, “No way, 100% we will not discuss anything. We will not sit at the table. You are illegitimate.” approach. It didn’t turn out well the last time.
I think even the most hawkish Israel supporter knows that turning Egypt into something like the West Bank is incredibly wrong.
This is a, mostly, secular uprising of educated young people. Look for a military coup to get way to a civilian government along the lines of Turkey.
@14 Are you saying the “military coup will give way to a civilian government”?
@11- in your wisdom, you fail to note this post was done by Geov, who’s been away too long. Welcome back Geov, good to read ya. And 11, that’s in the right magnitude of your IQ, two past the decimal.
@15
Oops, yeah, that’s what I meant. From what I’ve seen, it looks like the military and the people are on the same side on this. Haven’t paid much attention over the last couple of days though.
It’s an awfully wierd news day.
In Oklahoma, they’ve got one reading of -31F. And that’s not even taking into account any wind-chill factor.
And Bristol Palin says she will probably run for office in her new adopted state of Arizona – but nothing definate.
@17: Due the oddities of the Egyptian military, and their ownership of many of the major companies in-country, the military favors stability above all else. After all, no one can go use their fantastic beach resorts if there’s political turmoil and violence in the streets.
@18 And Bristol’s qualifications for public office are ________________________?
# 20: Answer: Bristol’s famous for being famous. Any attempt to give any other answer would just collapse me into convulsions of laughter.
Hey, I guess I shouldn’t pre-judge. She had enough sense to move quite a distance away from her mother. She’s quite young, and she’s got a lot of opportunity to grow up, learn the issues, and deal intelligently with them – perhaps a decade or more from now. Hey, when I was 19 I wanted to get into politics eventually, too.
That’s assuming that the realizes that she’s got a lot to learn, as opposed to her mother, who assumes that she knew it all by the time she was 18 and now rejects any opinion or fact which conflicts with her world-view as of that time.
“Never mind. Mubarak offered a few new concessions, but, in the words of Al Jazeera English, “made it clear that he wasn’t going anywhere.””
Dang. Stock markets going to go in the dumps first thing tomorrow morning.
And the worst part is, when you check the NYSE website, you will have to be able to read German.
@16 Thanks.
@20 She’s
big on family valuesbeen on Dancing With the Stars. What a stupid question.Oh, and Donald Trump says he will decide in June whether he’s going to run for President in 2012.
This certainly is the silly season.
@24 Oh, the silliness is just beginning. Wait until the voters, God bless ’em, get their paws on all this. We got a foretaste last fall.
“The big shame and embarrassment, which I have not done and never will do, would be listening to foreign dictations whatever may be the source or pretext.”
Well now, isn’t that dandy.
One could reasonably read that as
“F**K you President Obama”
President Obama should keep his mouth shut…Unless, that is, he is going to do something about it when the military in Egypt begins clearing the streets and REALLY smashing human rights….
@19
Turkey is pretty darn stable and builds all sorts of military equipment and guns.
@26
Unless you’ve seen something I haven’t, the military and the people seem to be on the same side.
@28
Unless you’ve seen something I haven’t, the military and the people seem to be on the same side.
Because they haven’t cleared the streets or used their weapons on the masses?
IMO, their military isn’t FOR the people, their military is FOR maintaining their control of the government. Mubarek is a figure head. So Mubarek goes…So what? The only way “Hope and Change” occur over there is if the military becomes a force for defense and not control of the people. IMO the military is not going to give up control and that’s when the killing in the streets begins…
@26 Since when did wingnuts like you ever give a diddly damn about foreigners’ human rights?
As long as we don’t get involved, I don’t care what the Egyptians do: it’s their country, let them do as they will without us trying to dictate to them. If it means they democratically elect Sharia Law, then so be it. Like I said, it’s their country, not ours!
is the rabbit so bat-shit nuts that he cant seem to post a single time on topic? does anybody even read this idiots posts anymore? half the time he spends posting and responding to himself.
fuck, somebody shut off the oxygen machine already….talk about a waste of resources.
@20
answer: probably better than yours were.
Right Stuff,
You might heed what Politically Incorrect spews below you. This nation needs to stay out of events like what is happening in Egypt. We can’t win, no matter what we might do there. We need to monitor, not intervene.
@34
No Doubt we need to stay out of there. My point is the President should keep his big mouth shut before he talks himself into a corner and we DO go there….
Let the Egyptians figure it out…
Seems like Mubarak is playing some realpolitik, buying time by hints of leaving while he’s shoring up his support from within the various factions of the Egyptian military.
At the lower levels, the Egyptian army is still very popular with the people, and the army considers itslef a protector of the people. Egypt has a compulsory draft for males between the age of 18 and 30, but there are exceptions, and the lowest skilled serve 36 months, but college-educate draftees may serve as little as 18 months. Student deferments are rather liberal, and the single male surving heir who has responsibilities for his parents or sisters is exempt. With a rather large army, most families have a family member serving in the army somewhere.
So unless the higher ranks of the military stage a coup, the question becomes: what will happen if Mubarak orders a clearing of the streets? Remember that in China, troops initially refused to clear Tianmen Square. It wasn’t until other units were brought in with soldiers mostly from the countryside, who had been told that the crowd was spoiled urban elitist children that the army cleared the streets with blood.
Okay, looks like he’s going again, turning power over to the military. Reports say he’s at some resort in the Sinai.
Maybe he just needed another 12 hours to get his “finances” arranged. It must take an awfully long time to ship that much cash out of the country. And he’s got to make sure it can’t be traced – Swiss numbered accounts simply aren’t what they used to be.
@27: Exactly. They’re likely the largest corporation/manufacturer in Egypt. And because every officer has a decent-sized chunk of that company, they have every incentive to keep their country functional and calm.
Kind of like the U.S. would be, if our defense contractors were owned by ordinary folks who have to live among the people and not by millionaires and billionaires who get their own little safe, gated, restricted-access enclaves.