http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/02/right_wing_reacts_to_egypt_protests_obama_is_in_le.php

Quote :

"Right Wing Reacts To Egypt Protests: Obama Is In League With The Muslim Brotherhood For the right-wing, it's not much of a leap to go from "President Obama is a secret Muslim" to "President Obama is secretly in league with the Muslim Brotherhood." And in the wake of protests in Egypt, leap they did. The Muslim Brotherhood is often a target of right-wing pundits like anti-sharia crusader Frank Gaffney, who last month claimed the group had infiltrated CPAC. And as the single largest organized opposition group in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood has emerged as a target for the right as the protests continue. On Hannity last night, Gaffney argued that "the Obama Administration's policies are being viewed through, and actually articulated and implemented through influence operations that the Muslim Brotherhood itself is running in our own country." "You cannot possibly get your strategy right, you cannot execute it effectively if you don't know that the enemy is actually giving you advice on how to proceed," he said."

Quote :

"And then there's a story disseminated by the site World Net Daily , and picked up by a few right-wing blogs, that former U.S. ambassador to Egypt Frank G. Wisner met in secret in Cairo with a senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood, and "discussed fall of Egypt with group dedicated to Islam's global spread." WND cites an unnamed Egyptian intelligence official as its source for the story. Wisner was sent by the Obama Administration to Egypt after the protests broke out because of his close relationship with President Hosni Mubarek. Robert Spencer picked up the story and said it's "yet more indication that Obama actively favors the Muslim Brotherhood's coming to power in Egypt." The Fox News site Fox Nation also posted the story, though hedged that it was just a report."

2/4/2011 5:33:59 AM

what's that rule that states its only a matter of internet time before the following comparisons get made:

2/4/2011 2:04:52 PM

A sort of clever sign reflecting the use of the internet and social networking in all this:



On a related note:



[Edited on February 4, 2011 at 6:50 PM. Reason : .]

2/4/2011 6:38:37 PM

The gov., or someone, needs to make Strykers equipped with satellite or WiMAx internet uplinks to deploy in situations like this. They just role them in, put out some solar panels, and start broadcasting internet/cell phone signals to the area.

[Edited on February 4, 2011 at 7:32 PM. Reason : ]

2/4/2011 7:31:19 PM

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-blood-and-fear-in-cairos-streets-as-mubaraks-men-crack-down-on-protests-2202657.html

Quote :

"But the stones came in flocks, hundreds of them at a time, and then a new group of young men were beside me, the Egyptian demonstrators from the square. Only no longer in their fury were they shouting "Down with Mubarak" and "Black Mubarak" but Allahu Akbar – God is Great – and I would hear this again and again as the long day progressed. One side was shouting Mubarak, the other God. It hadn't been like that 24 hours ago... And an increasing number were wearing Islamist dress, short trousers, grey cloaks, long beards, white head caps. They shouted Allahu Akbar loudest and they bellowed their love of God, which was not supposed to be what this was all about. Yes, Mubarak had done it. He had brought the Salafists out against him, alongside his political enemies. From time to time, young men were grabbed, their faces fist-pulped, screaming and fearful of their lives, documentation found on their clothes to prove they worked for Mubarak's interior ministry."

[Edited on February 4, 2011 at 9:34 PM. Reason : ]

2/4/2011 9:32:45 PM

2/10/2011 11:00:59 AM

^

2/10/2011 11:01:16 AM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/10/AR2011021003134.html?hpid=topnews

Quote :

"CAIRO - President Hosni Mubarak will meet the demands of protesters, military and ruling party officials said, the Associated Press reported Thursday, in the strongest indication yet that Egypt's longtime president may be about to give up power. "

also

Quote :

"POLITICO Breaking News ------------------------------------------------- CIA director Leon Panetta told a congressional hearing there is “a strong likelihood” that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will resign “this evening." But a CIA spokesman said Panetta was relaying news reports that emerged just as the hearing began not speaking about independent CIA information. "

[Edited on February 10, 2011 at 11:35 AM. Reason : .]

2/10/2011 11:34:47 AM

Quote :

"But a CIA spokesman said Panetta was relaying news reports that emerged just as the hearing began not speaking about independent CIA information. ""

What the fuck are we paying these guys for?

2/10/2011 11:48:41 AM

For all we know, the CIA helped orchestrate the coup with the military, and the details have not flowed up to Panetta.

2/10/2011 12:37:32 PM

Looking at the CIA's track record, I'm gonna go ahead and say that's unlikely.

2/10/2011 12:46:47 PM

I'm just saying, I don't need the CIA director to retweet me today's CNN headlines.

2/10/2011 1:15:29 PM

If history is any guide, our CIA probably has little or no assets in Egypt devoted to gathering intelligence on high-level political developments within the Mubarak government. Our State Department probably has a better grasp of what's going on. Hell, the Pentagon probably knows more than both, seeing as they're the agency that has been closest to the regime.

But from the look of things our government is pretty well out of the loop.

2/10/2011 1:22:34 PM

LOL@Muburak

2/10/2011 4:09:22 PM

Glad CIA was on the ball again!

2/10/2011 4:14:54 PM

Mubarak says he's transferring power to Omar Suleiman, but he's not actually resigning.

hmm

2/10/2011 4:16:56 PM

Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper - the same guy that didn't know about the London terrorist plot when being interviewed by Diane Sawyer - is now on the record as saying that the Muslim Brotherhood is a "largely secular" organization. It's hard to be stunned at the incompetence coming out the administration at this point, it's just what I've come to expect.

2/10/2011 4:34:05 PM

^^ i thought that he said he was transferring some powers - not all. i couldn't understand half of what he was talking about.

2/10/2011 4:42:23 PM

Apparently the Egyptian military's supreme commander is going to make an important statement later today. He mass-texted literally every cellphone in Egypt to announce this.

2/10/2011 4:44:53 PM

Quote :

"Gen. Hassan al-Roueini, military commander for the Cairo area, told thousands of protesters in central Tahrir Square, "All your demands will be met today.""

2/10/2011 4:45:52 PM

^In case anyone gets the wrong idea, that is not the important announcement.

2/10/2011 5:17:28 PM

Egypt just got rickrolled.

Hosni ain't never gonna give them up.

2/10/2011 5:33:59 PM

i want to reach into the TV and choke Blitzer and Shoukry right now

2/10/2011 5:36:21 PM

Quote :

"11:04 a.m. Mubarak steps down Vice President Omar Suleiman announced that Mubarak has stepped down as president and handed over power to the Egyptian military."

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/blog-post/2011/02/mubarak_left_cairo_egypt.html

2/11/2011 11:13:10 AM

Right on, now comes the hard part. Good luck egyptians!!!!!

2/11/2011 11:14:46 AM

Now the country is being ruled by...military leaders? Surely, this will end well.

2/11/2011 11:31:37 AM

Holy Moley! It worked

Yep, history is still working.

2/11/2011 11:55:43 AM

Quote :

"Right on, now comes the hard part. Good luck egyptians!!!!! "

2/11/2011 12:04:41 PM

I think TSB posters should make threads in chit chat and the lounge about this

2/11/2011 12:09:38 PM

Quote :

"Holy Moley! It worked Yep, history is still working."

Power has been transferred from a single dictator to a council of military generals. If we've learned anything from history, it's that this usually doesn't turn out well. Overthrowing a regime is useless if the replacement is the same or worse. We'll see, but I can't be optimistic.

2/11/2011 12:16:19 PM

They may or may not accomplish free and open elections. But either way, it is not a failure of the dynamics of history, but rather a failure of our ability to understand those dynamics.

2/11/2011 12:22:44 PM

I don't know how the dynamics of history could fail. History will continue on, regardless of the status of human civilization. We could very well kill ourselves off, and I think we probably will at this rate.

To cite an old Propagandhi song, "You can topple ideology but not the armies they enlist." This is the persistent tale of mankind so far. The people with the guns make the rules, and they will make the rules in a way that benefits them.

2/11/2011 12:32:01 PM

Take note: they did this without guns. lol 2nd amendment.

2/11/2011 12:37:02 PM

Twitter is the .50 cal of the 21st century.

2/11/2011 12:46:53 PM

Quote :

"Now the country is being ruled by...military leaders? Surely, this will end well."

It's worked out before. Actually, its track record may be better than most of the alternatives.

2/11/2011 1:53:51 PM

Maybe by your standards.

2/11/2011 1:55:19 PM

Quote :

"Take note: they did this without guns. lol 2nd amendment."

Actually, I think that an amendment specifying a ubiquitous right to record transactions in all settings would be more useful than the 2nd amendment itself.

The founding fathers didn't know we would have the digital abilities that we do now. The ability to capture information and make it known to everyone is more powerful in a connected society than any amount of force. "The pen is mightier than the sword" is a phrase uninformed about the power of the internet combined with modern electronics.

2/11/2011 2:04:03 PM

Quote :

"Take note: they did this without guns. lol 2nd amendment."

I beg to differ. They basically had the entire Egyptian army's worth of guns. If the military had sided with Mubarak then peaceful demonstrations would have failed.

2/11/2011 3:20:02 PM

is it bad that I half expected their "vp" to be overheard saying "this is big fuckin deal"?

2/11/2011 5:58:21 PM

i'm surprised i haven't heard more references to Obama's 09 Cairo speech throughout all this

2/12/2011 3:11:57 PM

Quote :

"Thousands demand reforms in Algeria; 400 arrested"

2/12/2011 3:43:35 PM

So I guess it's Mission Accomplished for Obama's 09 Cairo speech, eh?

2/12/2011 5:07:33 PM

Last paragraph of his speech addressing the issue of democracy:

Quote :

"This last point is important because there are some who advocate for democracy only when they're out of power; once in power, they are ruthless in suppressing the rights of others. (Applause.) So no matter where it takes hold, government of the people and by the people sets a single standard for all who would hold power: You must maintain your power through consent, not coercion; you must respect the rights of minorities, and participate with a spirit of tolerance and compromise; you must place the interests of your people and the legitimate workings of the political process above your party. Without these ingredients, elections alone do not make true democracy."

When I read that I think of two things:
1) The Democratic-controlled House from 2007-2011
2) Obama's insistence that the 2010 elections were not a referendum on his policies.

2/12/2011 9:38:31 PM

Yemen and Algeria both had massive protests today that seemed to have been effectively rebuffed by their governments.

2/13/2011 10:48:48 AM

Quote :

"i'm surprised i haven't heard more references to Obama's 09 Cairo speech throughout all this"

You haven't been watching Faux News then. They've been all over trying to paint the president in a negative light when things looked shaky and they had no problem using his Cairo speech as a reference.

2/13/2011 11:20:05 AM

They have a legitimate angle to attack Obama on here. The administration had absolutely no idea how to support mubarek without being very publicly in the position of enabling tyranny. They specifically refused to say the word "democracy" for the first week. Complete hypocrisy and indecision, especially in condemning Egypt's attacks on journalists while actively attempting to jail Assange and using the same brutal police tactics and intimidation that american forces have in recent protests. Conservatives have ignored this though and focused more on the muslim boogeyman aspect. These weak brown people aren't ready for self-leadership, after all, it's our burden to look over them.

Also...

I'M BACK BITCHES. YOU MISS ME?

2/13/2011 8:07:12 PM

you aren't face?

2/13/2011 8:11:34 PM

There Can Be Only One

2/13/2011 8:12:58 PM

^^^ i would ordinarily agree if it wasn't, ironically, for Assange.

It seems clear to me that we must have been doing some behind the scenes politicking in this, and our gov. knew what Mubarak was going to do a day or so before he did it. The right outcome happened, and we didn't have to drop any bombs, etc.. Isn't that how things are supposed to work?

Things working in our favor (mostly) without us obviously being involved, or spending too much money? Isn't the non-intervention conservatives whine about when they're not in power? Isn't the democracy normal Americans call for?

[Edited on February 13, 2011 at 8:16 PM. Reason : ]

2/13/2011 8:15:47 PM

Giving the dictator $billions each year isn't "non-intervention". Apparently it doesn't even buy you the ability to publicly chastise the despot, unless of course the distressed population riots enough to avoid suppression for weeks.

Perhaps the best outcome was achieved. We'll see what happens when the military refuses to abdicate power and we're STILL giving them $billions each year.

Wait, are you suggesting that the ability to converse privately over diplomatic channels was the key to this success story? AHAHAHAHAHhahaha hahaha ha. The only thing private diplomacy accomplished was Mubarek biding enough time to secure his fortune and get out of dodge before they put his ass against a wall like Ceausescus. The U.S.'s polite language had no role in his decision on when to step down. Save your wikileaks criticisms for the another day.

[Edited on February 13, 2011 at 8:31 PM. Reason : .]

2/13/2011 8:20:14 PM