Month: January 2011

What Curfew?

by Chris Bodenner

Scott Lucas observes:

So there is a 13-hour curfew imposed in Egypt, right? What that means is that people should remain at home, there shouldn't be any gatherings and police should be in-charge of the street. Instead, the police are missing and people are swarming through the capital Cairo. The situation is made worse by opportunistic looters. Several people in Egypt are reporting that shopkeepers are gathering relatives and friends to protect their businesses from looters in isolated areas of the city.

Parvez Sharma's site has become a beacon for missing protesters:

I have been blogging, texting, skyping, twittering, gmail-chatting, fb-chatting for 72 hours now. I have not slept. I do not intend to– as long as my many friends– are out there in the streets of Cairo not daring to sleep either.

Now I am getting messages from folks who have missing relatives in Cairo’s chaos.

FB friend: My sister-in-law has a sister in Egypt, her sisters husband went out to protest & has not been seen in almost 36 hours. There has been no word from him & police claim to not know where he is. She has asked me to pass this along to you, she does not want to post it on her page because she is afraid that they will retaliate against her sister & other relatives there. His name is Maram Eid he is 29 years old, he is 5 feet 8 inches tall, he was last wearing jeans, a black shirt, & a brown jacket with a patch sewn on it, the patch is of the Egyptian flag. He is married & has a 3 month old son. He is a graduate of the University of Alexandria.

Me: Can i use the real names?

FB friend: From what I know yes you can. They have asked several other family members if Maram has been seen & no one has seen him.

The Weekly Wrap

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By Khaled Desouki/Getty Images

Today on the Dish, we tracked Egypt's Friday of Anger. Protesters prayed, and got water-gunned, gassed and injured. The army arrived, some protesters cheered, fighting continued into the night, Islamists joined, and protesters formed a human chain to prevent looting of the Egyptian National Museum. ElBaradei was detained, a curfew was declared, Cairo caught fire and later calmed down. Mubarak stayed mum at first, and then dissolved the government but didn't resign. We got the background on the "not ordinary" police, teargas cannisters were Made in the USA, and we kept an eye on the human toll. Marc Lynch offered advice to Washington, and Clinton spoke. Alex Massie zoomed out, we assessed the role of the Arab youth, and Joshua Tucker wondered if 2011 would be like 1989 for revolutions. Larison looked to a possible future without Mubarak, Goldberg urged Obama to push him out, and Bernstein prescribed caution. Steinglass cheered them on despite our interests, many considered the implications for Israel, and readers were torn. You can trace the updates as they developed here and here, Al Jazeera's live-stream here, and today's best video here, here, and here.

Conor begged to differ with Glenn Reynolds about uprisings and US intervention and approved of the NYT's handling of the Wikileaks cables. Isaac Wood looked at the house in 2012, Conor delved into the details of the discourse war, and rabbis fought against Glenn Beck. Conor parsed Clinton on the drug war, and championed the food truck.

Quotes for the day here and here, question for the day here, chart of the day here, MHB here, Yglesias award here, FOTD here and here.

EgyptianGettyLongari

By Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images.

Thursday on the Dish, we tracked the momentary lull in Egypt, an Egyptian Dish reader gathered all the relevant links, and #jan25 became defunct. Youths led the revolt, clashes erupted in Suez (videos here) and beyond, and Claire Berlinski explained why Americans should care (hint: it's your tax money). Egyptians didn't want to drink a sweet drink made from rotten fish, and financial markets reacted. Elliott Abrams delinked the protests to Israel, a reader penned a letter from Cairo, the Muslim Brotherhood decided to join Friday's protests, and the Egyptian army benefitted from a luxury Officer's Club. Protests spread to Yemen, Amira Al Hussaini collected Arab reactions on Twitter, Chris stayed vigilant with fresh videos and put the protest in context. Larison rated Lebanon's new PM, Conor egged on Ezra Klein about China's rise, and Chris captured the shock and horror of the murder of Ugandan gay rights advocate David Kato.

Conor agreed with Mark Levin (for one sentence), took Barbara Ehrenreich to task, urged Arizona Republicans to grow up, and wouldn't back down on why vile rhetoric doesn't work. Conor picked on Gingrich's ridiculous passion for ethanol, Mitt threatened to skip Iowa, and James Poulos saw a generational shift in Obama's campaign during the SOTU. Obama answered one question on prohibition, and Conor weighed the crimes of Spitzer against Clinton's. Readers rebutted Millman, and regaled us with their dental woes. The Hirschorn stood up to the Smithsonian on behalf of free expression, Facebook forced your friends to advertise, and Whiskey bloggers ruined whiskey blogging. Patrick visited the United States Of Swearing, people exercised in intersections with i-pods, and Palin capped off the week with a WTF moment.

Chart of the day here, cartoon of the day here, VFYW here, MHB here, quote for the day here, and FOTD here.

Wednesday on the Dish, Patrick rounded up the SOTU reax, including the three words most NPR listeners heard, while Nate Silver put Obama's power in perspective. Conor illuminated the real state of the union and obliterated the perfunctory SOTU editorials, while Douthat bemoaned the lack of specifics on the deficit. Alex Balk comforted us about the state of our stomachs, and Kevin Featherly ogled Bachmann's pupils.

Chris tracked events on the ground in Egypt, including the status of Facebook/ Twitter, and the day's craziest pictures and video. Blake Hounshell critiqued the WaPo for critiquing Obama's response, and Marc Lynch remained humble but optimistic, along with Steven Cook. Stephen Walt stood by his earlier assessment about Tunisia's domino effect, and Conor prickled at the blatant profit-scheme of the military-industrial complex. The US lost more troops to suicide than combat, but gaming helped them cope. Jennifer Rubin refused to apologize for calling Steve Clemons an Israel-basher, and Conor wondered if ending hotel porn would increase escort calls. Belgium pranked its phone company, and terrorists were punished.

Conor fought back against Hugh Hewitt's insistence that the right is a victim, but he wasn't any easier on Olbermann's bazooka style rhetoric. Frum blamed Fox News for the lack of 2012 candidates, Conor begged Bill Kristol to break a story about the GOP's inner sanctum, rather than just complaining about it, and he dared Ailes to hire Glenn Greenwald. Conor reiterated the Dish's policy on airing dissents, and the Internet still wanted the President to answer questions about our drug policy. We heard the flipside to animal testing, Noah Millman rebutted a Dish reader on the three-fifths compromise. Readers also weighed in on evolutionary psychology and rape, Obamacare, and Conor luxuriated in Huckabee's "folksy Old Testament wrath."

Walter Murch tested the science of 3D and found our evolution lacking, but Dish readers proved him wrong. E.G. found the shame of states bigger than just a joke, studying declined, and Apple (and Girl Talk) changed how we listened to albums. The DEA sold rubber duckies, America shuddered at eating soy, and weed went the way of Walmart.

Headline for the day here, VFYW here, MHB here, and FOTD here.

Vfyw
Stowe, Vermont, 2 pm

Monday on the Dish, Conor raged against the cable news machine and wasn't too broken up over Olbermann's anouncement. Patrick parsed the cult of Palin and Douthat's dismissal of her, while Andrew took a sick day. Conor raised concerns about Obamacare, took Rich Lowry to task, and rallied for a political blogosphere with lots of parties and cliques. We rounded up reactions to the abortion crimes of Dr. Gosnell, William Saletan challenged pro-choice writers, and readers chimed in on the connection between abortion and slavery. Tunisia's press hit a bump in the road, Alexis Madrigal went behind the scenes for Facebook's compromised security, and Joshua Foust helped put a bombed Afghan city in context. Chris Rovzar urged us not to overstate Giffords' recovery, and Jen Paton connected the dots between Loughner's insanity and McVeigh's terrorism.

Frum infused Obama's SOTU with some Bushisms, Don Taylor lobbied for left-wing deficit hawks, and Conor challenged David Brooks to think outside his box. Palin could paint Texas purple, and even Limbaugh's callers nailed him on being a nutbag. The Tea Party Patriots put everything in the budget on the table, Bernstein yawned at Cilliza's analysis, and Ezra Klein picked at the low-hanging fruit in the GOP's healthcare qualms. Bloomberg might save us from ourselves, Jamelle Bouie argued European multiculturalism doesn't have the same implications as America's, and Yglesias shilled for dental hygenists.

More friends made us more popular, Ebert learned to love his lack of a chin, and we dove back into the ideology and science of Angry Birds. Novice-like teachers intrigued students, the bubble of higher education came closer to popping, and Chinese youths escaped via fake Facebooks. Young women envied a prostitute's life, and Conor asked whether local newspapers are enough. Beagles needed love, and Conor penned the trailer copy for Aaron Sorkin's new John Edwards vehicle. The artist himself closed the books on Calvin & Hobbes, Ferris Bueller could also apply to a Fight Club treatment, and horoscopes all say the same thing. 

VFYW here, beardage watch here, MHB here, and FOTD here.

–Z.P.

What Can America Do? Ctd

by Patrick Appel

Aaron Mannes's analysis:

[T]here have been innumerable calls for the United States to support the protesters and align its policy with democracy in Egypt. This is probably the least bad course of action. But there should be no illusions on several points. For the vast majority of Egyptians, the United States is inextricably linked to the hated regime. Nothing the White House or Foggy Bottom does can change that in a few days, weeks or months. Also, the ability of the U.S. to influence events is limited. It does appear that Secretary of State Clinton’s call for the Egyptian government to not respond with violence did send a message to Egypt’s generals that the U.S. would not support a violent crackdown. (A not dissimilar message was sent to Iran’s generals as the Shah’s regime was falling.)

Is 2011 The Next 1989?

GuideToProtesting

by Patrick Appel

Joshua Tucker asks the question:

While there clearly was a snowball effect during the collapse of communism – with the collapse in one country giving rise to the collapse in other countries – we sometimes forget just how long it took for the first revolution to come to fruition, and how long it then took to spread to the second country. Timothy Garton Ash has this wonderful line in his book The Magic Lantern where he reports having said to Vaclav Havel that "in Poland it took ten years; in Hungary 10 months; in East Germany 10 weeks; perhaps in Czechoslovakia it will take 10 days!". (Rumor has it some subsequently amended this rule to include that in Romania it would take 10 hours.) So one important lesson from 1989 is the fact that snowballs take a while to pick up steam. Events in Tunisia are still unfolding, and may continue to unfold for sometime. This does not necessarily mean they will not eventually spread elsewhere.

(Photo: From an Egyptian Guide to protesting, translated by Alexis)

Egypt’s Lobbyists

by Patrick Appel

Justin Elliott looks at US arms sales to Egypt and those who lobby for them:

PLM Group agreed to lobby Congress "to facilitate approval of commercial and non-subsidized government-to-government arm sales, and to improve the terms of the aid package." PLM would also "provide general, high-level strategic advice relative to the Egyptian image among American decision-makers." 

“The Force Of Human Freedom”

by Patrick Appel

Matt Steinglass argues that, in the long run, should democracy come to Tunisia and Egypt "that will probably lead to greater stability and security for everyone." But, unfortunately, "this is one of those long runs in which many of us are dead." How he sees today's events:

Obviously, we should all be warily celebrating the possible fall of the Mubarak regime, not bemoaning it. Not because it will lead to any near-term benefits for us, but because it stands a chance of making Egyptians freer. … That doesn't mean that such freedom will be in the interests of the United States, in the near term or really in any term we can envision. We should be cheered when other nations start to "find their voice", not because it is in our interests, but despite the fact that it may not be.

Obama’s Choice

by Patrick Appel

Eli Lake has penned a guest post over at Goldblog's place. A key insight:

If Mubarak was really going down, Obama has started what could be a long process of trying to build a relationship with the government that comes next. But this approach, which looks haphazard following Biden's interview on Jim Lehrer, also has its consequences. General Kayani in Pakistan and King Abdullah in Jordan, not to mention America's friends throughout the Gulf, will be studying that press conference, if freedom fever spreads to their streets. The GWOT since 9-11 relies more and more on these clients. So how Obama handles a crisis in Cairo will also effect the counter-terrorism partnerships in the regimes that survive the current wave. 

Another:

I don't think a new Egyptian government would withdraw from the peace treaty with Israel. It's hard to govern Egypt, provoking a war with Israel would be suicidal. The Muslim Brotherhood leadership would always talk about the peace treaty in terms of a referendum for the Palestinian people. But I don't think it would want the Egyptian security services enmeshed with Hamas' enemies in the West Bank. What's more I doubt the next Egyptian government would enforce a blockade of Gaza.