If the words "right now" are supposed to be a link, it's not working.

What kind of decisive difference are you referring to?

If the words "right now" are supposed to be a link, it's not working.

Is it, Donald? Is it really? Or are you just so blinded for your love for Egyptian authoritarianism that you can't see that it's working correctly, and always has been?

I'm not insinuating anything, just asking the question.

What kind of decisive difference are you referring to?

It's not crazy to think that Mubarak is in serious trouble, and it's not crazy to think that Americans yelling at the government will make them hesitate in supporting the brutal crackdown that they and Mubarak are surely itching to see.

Really great coverage with plenty of links over on American Leftist.-Tony

http://amleft.blogspot.com/

Was gonna sign BUT just watched Obama basically sell Mubarak down the river, sooooo, ????? I'm tellin' ya, average president, average. A Gerald Ford.

Dunno what you're referring to, Mike (I just got back from a long bike ride), but the top link in memeorandum this evening is to a Telegraph article entitled, "Egypt protests: America's secret backing for rebel leaders behind uprising"

From the article: "The disclosures, contained in previously secret US diplomatic dispatches released by the WikiLeaks website, show American officials pressed the Egyptian government to release other dissidents who had been detained by the police."

And that's all I've read so far. Anyway, whatever, I went ahead and sent a message.

OK, I just reread your comment. I take it you meant average as opposed to horrible. Just for clarity's sake.

I sent a comment via the link. In my exact words: "Allow the Egyptian people to throw out their dictator."

May my expression of opinion, when combined with those of many others, contribute to the triumph of Truth, Justice, and the Potentially Sentient Way.

JS wrote: "it's not crazy to think that Americans yelling at the government will make them hesitate in supporting the brutal crackdown that they and Mubarak are surely itching to see."

Oh really, well, I guess it may not be socially crazy, because only thinking powerful people can get away with mass murder while everyone averts their eyes is socially crazy, but the one thing a history of the last century has taught to its seven sane students is that what really makes the government 'hesitate' in supporting a brutal crackdown is not "Americans yelling at the government."

Serious, WTF? As you well know (unless the sad day has arrived when you have been replaced by a droid), about ten million people yelled before the last war of aggression against Iraq and nobody OF CONSEQUENCE paid any attention.

Not that yelling at the government isn't enjoyable and important just because there's so much to yell about and so many rotten people who deserve to be yelled at, but come on, get real, the yelling doesn't get any SERIOUS attention unless it serves another purpose, like whipping up support for something else, like maybe some social opinion that can get used in the future to justify some new murderous aggression. (Oh no, now the Islamicists are coming!) I guess we'll see how it plays out.

As for the obscured reality, apparently it's time for Hosni to go, the corrupt old tyrant, just as once upon a time it was time for Anwar to go for quite different reasons. But alas, all those reasons may be hard to find out, especially with Wikileaks the victim of those important Swedish condom laws. But whatever Hosni's problem, unlike Anwar, he seems unlikely to be mourned with a flood of crocodile tears from the Nile, which probably makes him bitter.

Anyway, in the name of the creative forces of the cosmos and the flickering human spirit that darkness always threatens to extinguish, I will put aside my lethal cynicism for a moment and join you and mistah charley in this battle against inevitability, but here we go again:

The King is dead, long live the King!

You do know that wikileaks is here, right? Sounds like maybe you didn't.

The main Wikileaks page is currently at http://www.wikileaks.ch/ (and in fact even wikileaks.org is redirecting to a usable page now).

Why do I find that url amusing? Anyway there are a lot of mirrors.

The one that the old site redirects to doesn't seem to be real wikileaks, though.

thanks for the links. I'll have to read some cables instead of relying on what others say about them.

Another friend of hers is Lanny Davis, so by proxy, she's friends with President Gbagbo. When do we get to hear someone come out and tell us why he's not a dictator?

I'll bet I see JOBS, JOBS, JOBS at the tear gas plant in Pa.

It's not crazy to think that Mubarak is in serious trouble, and it's not crazy to think that Americans yelling at the government will make them hesitate in supporting the brutal crackdown that they and Mubarak are surely itching to see.

Jon, I agree that Mubarak is in serious trouble but I find it hard to believe the State dept gives a damn what I think. Besides, the US needs to worry now about what will happen to Americans after Mubarak is gone, not "moderating" his behavior. But BHO is too chickenshit to publicly call for Mubarak to resign.

Jonathan Versen: Eggsfuckinzactly.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I was singing to the Spirits. As in a dream the TV took me to the heights above Cairo, and no matter which button I push its STILL there. The Spirits say,"See yon columnious smoke signals over the Ancient City?" They say, "It ain't in the paper, its on the wall."

I agree that Mubarak is in serious trouble but I find it hard to believe the State dept gives a damn what I think.

I'm not claiming they care very much, but they do care a tiny amount. And this is one of those rare times when the tiny push we can deliver may make a difference, in this case in the instructions that the US gives to the Egyptian government. Some people in the Obama administration are willing to cut Mubarak loose (not out of the goodness of their hearts, but shifting power relations) and the more we scream at them and about it generally, the more leverage they have against the people who're willing to let Mubarak kill everyone.

Being a huge soccer fan and an anarchist, the link below warms my heart to no end!-Tony

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/dave_zirin/01/31/egypt.soccer/index.html

Al Jazeera has been showing Biden saying "So no, I would not say he is a dictator" quite frequently. Really, they should just decline to respond or something, rather than let the rest of the world point and laugh at us.

OK Jon,
I wrote to them. I still am very skeptical, and felt a little foolish doing so, but I did.

Jonathan Schwarz: Promise me YOU will call John Boehner @1-202-225-0600 about Social Security.

Jonathan Versen: HOW can YOU be an activist disenter if YOU don't disent actively, so don't feel foolish. I wrote,"Drop Mubarak. He's done. We'll get better with the next guy."
IF it does any good remanes to be seen.