Let me point out that Fred Kaplan’s editorial page is among the most neo-con you can find anywhere. I agree with this particular editorial about the direction the Egyptian uprising is taking, but I can’t imagine why the writer of the editorial and you insist on emphasizing the initial reaction of the White House, while ignoring the clear direction that it has taken all week.

What on earth did you think the President was saying in his comments on Egypt yesterday, comments delivered directly to Mubarak by phone by the President himself. What don’t you understand about both the President and the SOS putting the emphasis on immediate negotiations, no violent response to the demonstrations, and immediate reforms. Mubarak was put on notice. I don’t think he’s going to listen, but the US is now publicly committed to not accepting the usual measures that Mubarak has used over thirty years to maintain his power.

I’m not sure what you mean by the incompetence of this White House in foreign policy; I’m not entirely happy with their policy toward Israel, but thus far I think they’ve played this just about right, minus Biden’s inability to acknowledge on Wednesday or Thursday that Mubarak is dictator.

Incompetence compared to what? George Jr and Condoleezza, who, please remember, backed the Israeli bombing of Lebanon and who flew around the world to ask governments not to put pressure on the Israelis to stop until they’d vanquished Hezzbollah, which, of course,Israel only strengthened? Or the support Bush and Rice gave for the invasion of Gaza, after having supported a policy of literally trying to starve the voters who elected Hamas in an election declared by international observers to be fair and uncorrupted, a true expression of democratic transfer of power?

As for the editorial’s suggestion that this country should be reaching out to any particular political faction, we should be keeping on eye on how individual actors in the drama are being treated, including the Muslim Brotherhood, most of whom are probably in jail by now, but as to us playing some active role in deciding what kind of government is going to emerge strikes me as hardly a good idea.

My thanks to Swopa for the usual excellent post. I had a bet with some friends about who would be the first of the neo-cons to claim that Bush deserves credit for what’s happening in Egypt; I bet on either Michael Gerson or Secretary Rice herself, although I would have preferred Ari Fleischer had he not been taken already. But Elliot Abrams is just as perfect a hypocrite, in fact probably better. BTW, Bush had a chance in 2005 to put real pressure on Mubarak, when the latest in a series of smaller uprisings began to insist on genuine elections. Instead, Bush went along with the same corrupt rules that meant Mubarak would win in a walk, and he even sent Laura Bush to meet with women’s groups in Egypt to encourage them to vote, even if the election wouldn’t be “perfect.”

BTW, the minute I heard Biden on PBS NewsHour, I and a circle of friends starting organizing calls to the White House to object and to encourage the administration to side with the Egyptian people, not the dictator who has ruled them with the ruthless disregard for even the most minimal human rights that defines every dictatorship.

If any of you want to do more than complain about the administration, you might consider calling the White house and leave messages of support for the right of the Egyptian people to full democratic governance, as well as disappointment that Biden couldn’t call Mubarak a dictator, and support for the administration being willing to cut Mubarak loose if he uses violence against unarmed demonstrators, because such behavior will prove once and for all that he is an unwanted dictator who runs a police state.

P.S. my apologies for the strange problem with contractions in my post, much appreciation for anyone who can explain what I’m doing wrong.