The Obama administration, faced with a choice of supporting the youth revolution or the camels...

[EyeofRamen]

...unleashed on it, has chosen the camels.

"Obama has coddled his administration colleagues who support Mubarak, want him to stay, and support VP Omar Suleiman.

Unlike Obama, Wael Ghonim, the 28-year-old Google executive who helped instigate the Egyptian uprising, wants genuine change."



Juan Cole:
http://www.juancole.com/2011/02/wael-ghonim-vs-barack-obama-change-we-can-believe-in-yes-we-can.html

[Buzz Clik]

1. Oh, hell yes! We want another president who interferes in the politics of other countries.

Damn you, Obama! Send in tanks, troops, drones, and poison gas NOW!!!!1111one

[babylonsister]

2. + a gazillion! nt

[leftynyc]

6. Well said

I'm sick of the morons who think he should have gotten involved with this. It would have been the worst thing for the protesters to have American government support.

[EyeofRamen]

10. I think the point of the article was how Obama

isn't standing up for Middle Class Americans like Ghonim is for poor Egyptians.

I somehow doubt Juan Cole, of all people, wants Obama to send in tanks, drones and troops.

[tekisui]

28. Or, just not support the dictators, as he has chosen to do so far.

Your hyperbolic option is not the only alternative. But, strawman away...

[blogslut]

3. Or

Obama decided it wasn't our place to decide how the Egyptian people want to run their country.

[EFerrari]

5. While we fund, train and arm an army that detains, tortures and kills

Egyptians, Obama can't claim to be neutral or to have no influence in this situation. That's also true in many other countries, of course, where we arm the government for counter insurgency.

[blogslut]

8. Look

I grant that America buttresses dictators and despots. We've been doing so almost since our inception. I will also concede that our government does very nasty things without telling us. I will accept that president Obama is most likely upholding some of this behavior.

However, I will not agree that president Obama should have taken a public stance on the uprising in Egypt. And I am sad that Juan Cole has apparently fallen victim to hyperbole and cheap sloganeering.

[EFerrari]

9. Robert Fisk pointed out that the tanks in Tahrir are American property.

He noticed that in addition to the Aribic characters, they also had English lettering -- reserve equipment that the Pentagon keeps there as it does in many places.

Those tanks are a very public stance, one that hasn't changed and likely won't change.

[blogslut]

12. Like I said

America has been making money selling our munitions to other nations for a very long time. I don't see why this should be considered to be some sort of fresh revelation.

[EFerrari]

18. It's not a fresh revelation, only an illustration of where the government comes down

on the Egyptian conflict.

[sufrommich]

14. And before they were American tanks they were Russian tanks.

Do you imagine there would be an absence of military equipment if the US stopped arms to foreign countries?

[EFerrari]

15. The topic was Obama's public stance. As it happens, Germany and France

have suspended arms sales to Egypt but we didn't and Britain didn't.

[blogslut]

17. Now wait a minute

Considering you're the one who started the veer to off topic points in this thread, what does this mean?

[EFerrari]

20. Pointing out that Obama's government has taken a position is not OT

but a direct response to your post.

[blogslut]

22. HaHa!

Okay. You go with that then.

[Ignis]

26. Exactly! It's our job to sign the aid checks and STFU!

We certainly shouldn't tell an aid recipient* whether or not we approve the way in which they're using the American taxpayer's funds.

* = Yeah, yeah, we've reduced aid payments to Egypt in recent years, but it's still > 0.

[tekisui]

29. But, we can lend monetary and vocal support for dictators?

That is some double think you want us to do.

[spanone]

4. bullhockey

[sufrommich]

7. Bullshit. nt

[whattheidonot]

11. huge.

this revolution is huge. If successful it will change the world. The global system will change and there will be more equitable capital movement. The alternative is US is failed and a war in the Middle East. Egypt will become radicalized

[EyeofRamen]

13. Does the link go somewhere else or is everyone

seeing an entirely different story than I posted?

The story I posted has NOTHING to do with Obama getting involved in Egypt other than mentioning his support of Mubarak.

The story I posted has to do with the differences between how Obama is governing (to the right: supporting billionaires, the PATRIOT Act, etc.) and how Ghonim is actually effecting the very change that Obama kept telling us he was going to do.

What are you guys talking about tanks and stuff for?

I'm new here, but man! What's up?!

[EFerrari]

16. It's not unusual for posters to leap to Obama's defense

instead of considering the material if it is critical of Obama as this piece is.

[whattheidonot]

19. BO

Bush - Obama, the former the worst, the later most disappointing to put it mildly.

[Bluebear]

25. in a nutshell.

[EyeofRamen]

27. Ah... thank you.

While I think Obama is a far superior choice to McCain, I also think it's unAmerican to never question our leaders.

[Matariki]

21. I don't get this - Obama is, verbally at least, supporting the protesters.

Is this article about behind the scenes stuff? Because it doesn't line up to what Obama has been saying.

[Zhade]

23. "Supporting" them while advocating Egypt's chief torturer take Mubarak's place.

I imagine most Egyptians can see his "support" for exactly what it is. Thank goodness -- too many Americans here can't, or won't.

[Tarheel_Dem]

24. Has the "progressive movement" suddenly gone Neocon? If this was

truly, as has been advertised, "a people's revolution", then let "the people" sort out their impending new democracy. The Egyptian people chose to take to the streets to overthrow the current regime, but did they consult this adminstration about it? And if they didn't, why is it expected that this administration should sort out their revolution? They're about to learn that democracy can be messy, and Pres. Obama is POTUS, not Egypt.

[EyeofRamen]

30. Howdy neighbor!

I'm in Tennessee.

I see from your user name that you're either in North Carolina or from there!

:hi: