Tiananmen redux? Protests in Egypt turn violent; pro-Mubarak forces attack
1:15:White House spokesman Robert Gibbs:
“The time for a transition has come, and that time is now.”
———–
Things are turning violent in Egypt, and the provocation is coming from pro-government forces.
The Egyptian military has told protesters to go home, that with Hosni Mubarak’s pledge not to seek re-election, their message has been heard and heeded. Protesters have concluded that no, that’s not quite what has happened, and they decided to stay.
So this morning, an organized, orchestrated effort by a large number of pro-Mubarak protesters began to push the anti-Mubarak groups out of Tahrir Square in Cairo. A few minutes ago, for example, Mubarak allies launched an assault of 40 to 50 riders on horses and camels into the anti-government demonstrators. Some of the riders were pulled from their mounts and beaten.
Here’s a Youtube video of the pro-Mubarak forces, many of them mounted, others carrying weapons, surging toward the square.
The Egyptian military is reportedly standing by watching the violence.
8:25: People are digging up rocks from the pavement to use as weapons. According to one Egyptian witness, the pro-Mubarak forces “carry large well-made banners – replicas of the banners that are used in the rigged elections, proclaiming for Mubarak.” In other words, this is a well-coordinated counterattack.
8:45: It’s pretty stunning how quickly all this has played out, and I’m not referring just to this morning’s events. A few weeks ago, the idea that the Mubarak government would be teetering today, along with that of Jordan, Yemen and perhaps others, would have been all but inconceivable. If you ensure that change can’t occur gradually, you ensure that it will come all at once.
8:59: Gunshots can be heard now.
9:04: Mohamed ElBaradei: This is “a criminal act done by a criminal regime”.
9:16 Fox News interviewing Mitch McConnell on health care repeal? Really?
9:33 I’m seeing reports that the pro-gov forces have essentially sealed the exits from the square. That could be very ominous, because it doesn’t happen by accident.
9:56: There’s no real doubt that this is government-sponsored, government-driven and government-planned violence. And however it shakes out, that poses a real challenge to the Obama administration in the days ahead. Do they cut off aid? Break relations? Having sided publicly with Mubarak’s ouster, what do you do now that he has turned to violence against his own people to stay in power?
10:04: Ali Jomaa, the Grand Mufti of Egypt, tells all Egyptians to go home.
“I greet President Mubarak who offered dialogue and responded to the demands of the people. Going against legitimacy is forbidden (Haram).
This is an invitation for chaos. We support stability. What we have now is a blind chaos leading to a civil war. I call on all parents to ask their children to stay home.”
10:13: British PM David Cameron:
“These are despicable scenes that are we are seeing and they should not be repeated. They are underline the need for political reform and frankly for that political reform to be accelerated….
If it turns out that the regime in any way has sponsored or tolerated this violence, that is completely unacceptable.”
10:19: Al Jazeera producer on scene:
“They are throwing Molotov cocktails at the anti-Mubarak protesters. The army has backed off from the Corniche – they used to have a few tanks on the beachfront road, but they have pulled out now.”
10:45: Darkness starting to fall in Cairo; Molotov cocktails raining down on protesters from surrounding buildings. This is going to get very bad.
11:10: multiple, multiple reports of media — foreign and Egyptian — being targeted for violence.
Sherine Tadros, Al Jazeerah English, Tweet:
“right in middle of clashes. I’ve been hit in the face. huge stampedes. Rocks flying. Crazy atmosphere.”
11:16: From the Guardian blog (UK), regarding a Tweet by State Dep’t spokesman PJ Crowley, and they have a point:
“US State Department spokesman PJ Crowley has infuriated people with his appeal for “all sides in #Egypt to show restraint and avoid violence”.
Here is just a sample of the reaction on Twitter:
@draddee
Did @PJCrowley really call on all sides to stop the violence?? All sides!!!!!!!?? Is the USG watching Egyptian State TV’s coverage today?
@AfriNomad
Dear @PJCrowley, You are a coward. Dear #SecClinton, You are a coward. @BarackObama this is your Rwanda moment #Jan25 #Egypt
@weddady
If u support the ppl of #Egypt and want Hosni Mubarak out pls tell the state dept @PJCrowley to stop their idiotic statements
@Salma_Tweets
@pjcrowley,@barakobama,@statedepartment what are you doing to help us, we’re being killed by Mubarak in Tahrir, long live US Freedom!!!!!
11:32: Tweet from scene:
@allawati: Just saw a foreign journalist being chased by a mob with weapons. He was alone. They got him. God help him.
12:00: The lights have been shut off at Tahrir Square, and all exits have been closed. The panic and desperation of those trapped and under attack there can only be imagined.
12:17> From Nick Kristof’s blog at NYTimes:
“In my area of Tahrir, the thugs were armed with machetes, straight razors, clubs and stones. And they all had the same chants, the same slogans and the same hostility to journalists. They clearly had been organized and briefed. So the idea that this is some spontaneous outpouring of pro-Mubarak supporters, both in Cairo and in Alexandria, who happen to end up clashing with other side — that is preposterous. It’s difficult to know what is happening, and I’m only one observer, but to me these seem to be organized thugs sent in to crack heads, chase out journalists, intimidate the pro-democracy forces and perhaps create a pretext for an even harsher crackdown.”
From an eyewitness posting at the UK’s Guardian:
“The first act of violence I saw was a family crossing street into Tahrir Square and a car passed by with a group of women and suddenly they got out of the car and started cursing, intimidating and throwing stones as they ran after the family harassing them and other people. We started creating human chain around the square and inside the square we were putting signs calling it “Shuhada Square” (Martyr Square) to remember the 300 people who died so far. Peace was maintained inside the square. We decided to take a break and go home. As we are walking away from the square, suddenly I see pro Mubarak protesters on horses and camels riding down from Talaat Harb Square toward us, cursing me and my husband. They had whips and all kinds of weapons on them. I called to check on my friends who’d stayed in Tahrir Square and they began to shout that they are being beaten – my friend described to me what she was seeing: a 7-year-old-boy was wounded by stones thrown at him by the pro Mubarak campaigners. The anti Mubarak camp kept chanting: Peaceful. Peaceful. Peaceful but the pro camp kept pushing in and they had all kinds of weapons on them and the stone throwing fight began. In the meantime, all they have on national TV is a broadcast of peaceful protesters chanting pro-mubarak [slogans] and callers calling in blaming everything on the anti-Mubarak protests and saying that they deserve whatever happens to them because they didn’t stop.”
– Jay Bookman
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303 comments Add your comment
Jefferson
February 2nd, 2011
11:18 am
Indeed history is being made before our eyes, while some only think of the price of oil.
The Leg Lamp is a "major award".....
February 2nd, 2011
11:20 am
AmVet
February 2nd, 2011
11:11 am
“journalists from the Communist News Network ”
No, I don’t want to see any CNN journalists beaten.
Jay
February 2nd, 2011
11:20 am
From the Guardian blog (UK), regarding a Tweet by US State Dep’t spokesman PJ Crowley, and they do have a point:
Scout
February 2nd, 2011
11:21 am
Jay:
The phrase was “discussing need” …………….. not “using”.
You need to work on your reading comprehension before you get all worked up.
Common Sense isn't very Common
February 2nd, 2011
11:21 am
Hell Scout the military has plans for everything including invading California I bet. LOL
Lack of Proper Planning etc.
BADA BING
February 2nd, 2011
11:22 am
Southern Muslim….a round of Slurpies for everyone on the blog today, on me.
John Birch
February 2nd, 2011
11:22 am
This is no tianamen with communist government suppression of protestors. This is democracy in action, the people are speaking.
@@
February 2nd, 2011
11:22 am
I’m always amused by the protesters that surround jay here….the Pro-jay Protesters.
USinUK
February 2nd, 2011
11:22 am
aaand, here comes the tear gas …
Scout
February 2nd, 2011
11:23 am
Jay:
“That’s a far cry from using military force to overthrow Mubarak, which is utter and absolute nonsense.
“Garbage,” I think, is the technical term.’ ”
Hummmmmmmmm ………………….
Did you used to say that about overthrowing Sadam ?
USinUK
February 2nd, 2011
11:23 am
Bada – can’t – brain freeze
USinUK
February 2nd, 2011
11:23 am
“Did you used to say that about overthrowing Sadam ?”
and boy-howdy did THAT turn out well …
Scout
February 2nd, 2011
11:24 am
USinUK :
Nasty stuff …………. I’ve been gassed four times with it …… lots of snot bubbles ………………
ChasL
February 2nd, 2011
11:24 am
Wow, such biased opinion AJC. Only pro-government people are evil, orchestrated, undemocratic “bad people”?
Free will is a b!tch ain’t it? No matter what side these people are on, it’s not democracy – not when one form of violence replaces another.
This is what happens when there’s chaos and statelessness. 81 million Egyptians fundamental human rights are violated by the few who weild violence.
@@
February 2nd, 2011
11:25 am
Is there any way of knowing whether tweets are coming from Egyptians? I don’t know anything about tweeting…twittering or whatever the heck they call it.
Scout
February 2nd, 2011
11:25 am
USinUK :
That’s NOT the point for Jay. The point is we DID overthrow him.
Jay
February 2nd, 2011
11:25 am
The unlinked “report” on Drudge was so ridiculous that even Drudge has pulled it down.
Alatsea
February 2nd, 2011
11:26 am
Jay,
Rocks and sticks have been the weapon choice for decades in the fertile crescent.
jt
February 2nd, 2011
11:26 am
On a lighter note
The Dude is back………………
‘Big Lebowski 2′ in the works?
Could Tara Reid have provided us with the best “cat out of the bag” moment so far this year?
Hollywood.tv recently asked Tara Reid, who played the toenail-polished Bunny in the oft-quoted “The Big Lebowski,” what projects she’s got coming up and, yes, she said it: “Big Lebowski 2.”
“The whole cast should be coming back for that,” she said.
Jay
February 2nd, 2011
11:27 am
decades, Alatsea?
millenia is more like it.
USinUK
February 2nd, 2011
11:29 am
Scout – 11:24 – was that YOU in all those World Bank protests??
11:25 – yeah, we DID overthrow Sadam – and it was sooooo successful, that any rumor that we would try the same thing again rates as “garbage” (although, I would say “bollocks”)
Alatsea
February 2nd, 2011
11:30 am
I stand corrected
Southern Muslim Guy
February 2nd, 2011
11:30 am
BADA BING
I will only converse on a “man-only” blog. As long as Scout is here, I will not partake.
As for the Slurpies, I will have to get that money up front. I am out of slurpie cups but these styrofoam ones are just as good.
Thank you.
Joe the Plutocrat
February 2nd, 2011
11:31 am
Del (10:38). again, enough with the fear mongering and boogey-man nonsense? the stability or fragility of “our” economy is our fault. if our economy is “fragile” we need to have a foreign policy, which does not rely on despots and autocrats to ’stabilize’ OUR economy. were you concerned about such “instability” when we invaded Iraq? Scout, ah…. Caesar was also an “Emperor” (from the word EMPIRE). the fact that Rome occupied Galilee makes him more like Bush/Obama than Mubara.
The Leg Lamp is a "major award".....
February 2nd, 2011
11:32 am
Jay
February 2nd, 2011
11:25 am
Maybe Obama flipped his “internet kill” switch on that article.
RW-(the original)
February 2nd, 2011
11:33 am
That “all sides need to show restraint” is a time-honored favorite with the Obama team. Remember when the Georgians were supposed to show restraint while they were being plowed under by the Russians? Too bad we can’t get him to show any restraint as he throws all our grandchildren’s money down a rat hole.
Alatsea
February 2nd, 2011
11:34 am
The troubling thing is that is hard to tell who is who. I believe for now that the US should stay out of the fray. Some are talking about a replacement for Mubarak. Who? Does the administration have someone waiting in the wings? If so we must have him drugged up.
Duane Seigler
February 2nd, 2011
11:34 am
http://egyptinternetprotest.blogspot.com/
Left wing management
February 2nd, 2011
11:36 am
Leg Lamp:
The late Sen. Jesse Helms
John Birch
February 2nd, 2011
11:37 am
Mubarak is the duly elected prsident of the republic and it looks like he’s shown a lot of restraint with the protestors. Kind of like Nixo0n back in the day.
barking frog
February 2nd, 2011
11:38 am
The pontificating prevaricating purveyors of plutocracy ponder
the protests to prognosticate the benefits of picking a participating
party to support.
BADA BING
February 2nd, 2011
11:38 am
Southern Muslim, can I pay you in Egyptian pounds? Are you interested in some ancient Egyptian artifacts I found on eBay?
Left wing management
February 2nd, 2011
11:38 am
John Birch: “Mubarak is the duly elected prsident”
Duly elected? What does “duly” mean?
barking frog
February 2nd, 2011
11:40 am
Hosni is getting hosed.
Scout
February 2nd, 2011
11:40 am
Jay:
“The unlinked “report” on Drudge was so ridiculous that even Drudge has pulled it down.”
Too bad you haven’t pulled some of yours down.
MAKO
February 2nd, 2011
11:40 am
Bookman…again you show how silly the liberal mind works. In China, the government was in control; in Egypt no one is sure who’s in charge. Maybe it’s time for you to take a few months and go visit the Middle East and actually meet the people and learn something about their wants of the future. If you did, you’d be light years ahead of most people.
Jay
February 2nd, 2011
11:40 am
Yeah, dropping firebombs on previously peaceful demonstrators is “restraint.”
Jay
February 2nd, 2011
11:41 am
if that’s the best you got, Scout….
barking frog
February 2nd, 2011
11:41 am
SoMuGu, does a man only blog exclude men wearing dresses?
John Birch
February 2nd, 2011
11:42 am
Means he got 88% of the vote in the 2005 general election in accordance with the law of the land, as opposed to some dictator seizing power.
John Birch
February 2nd, 2011
11:42 am
Jay – Is Mubarke or the army doing that? Who are these pro-Mubarek forces?
John Birch
February 2nd, 2011
11:44 am
Jay – Is Mubarek presumed to be insane? What does he gain by firebombing the protestors?
Doggone/GA
February 2nd, 2011
11:44 am
“Means he got 88% of the vote ”
It isn’t who votes that matter. It’s who COUNTS the votes that matters.
Scout
February 2nd, 2011
11:44 am
Left wing management :
Are the leaders of Venezuela, Vietnam, North Korea, China even Russia “duly” elected?
You guys don’t seem to have a problems with that.
Jefferson
February 2nd, 2011
11:44 am
Let’s speculate on what to do.
Misty Fyed
February 2nd, 2011
11:45 am
I do not wish to see violence; however, I believe some wars have to be fought. When you look at our experience at trying to spread a democratic form of government, there has only been marginal success. Freedom is something that has to be fought for and earned to truly be appreciated. Freedom that is given is never the same as freedom that is earned.
Imagine if the world would have urged calm and insisted on a peaceful solution during our revolutionary or civil war. One of the greatest super powers of all time may not have been. As it stands, we fought; paid a dear price in casualties, but in the end, we emerged stronger and better.
barking frog
February 2nd, 2011
11:45 am
Egypt needs to enact Presidential term limits and lower taxes.
Scout
February 2nd, 2011
11:46 am
“if that’s the best you got, Scout….”
Nope …………… but it’s the best you’ll alow on this thread.
AmVet
February 2nd, 2011
11:46 am
This should play out really interesting here at home.
Just as was the case with the Iraqis, the neo-cons will try to snowjob themselves and the unfortunate fools who listen to them, that they actually give a damn about the people affected.
(But this time will it be the fifth of sixth “reason” to invade?)
As has already been touched on, hyper-xenophobic cons only care about things – the Suez Canal and relatively cheap oil, certainly not ANY Mooslims.
Especially as long as that country remains a US armed puppet and “ally”…
RW-(the original)
February 2nd, 2011
11:46 am
Yeah, dropping firebombs on previously peaceful demonstrators is “restraint.”
Of course it isn’t, but the Obama administration is telling the peaceful protestors that are being fire bombed to show restraint. Isn’t that your point about the reaction to Crowleys “all sides” statement?
Scout
February 2nd, 2011
11:47 am
P.S.
Way back I used to try to have professional (even private emails) exchanges with you.
Unfortunately, you didn’t recirprocate.
@@
February 2nd, 2011
11:47 am
Maybe not a public statement, but the Obama administration has definitely put the word out behind the scenes.
When Obama’s press team sent reporters a “read out” about his calls to the region’s leaders, it also included the phrase. “The military is very much aware of what we expect and everything they’ve said to us privately tracks with what they’ve done in public,” the first administration official said.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/02/how-the-white-house-approached-egyptial-turmoil/70646/
Open to speculation, I’d say.
Jay
February 2nd, 2011
11:47 am
What does he gain, John Birch?
He sends would-be rebels a message: “You think you want a piece of me?”
The same message that the Chinese sent at Tiananman Square, an event that has since been wiped from the collective Chinese memory.
The Leg Lamp is a "major award".....
February 2nd, 2011
11:48 am
Left wing management
February 2nd, 2011
11:36 am
Was he in the same chapter of the Klan as Robert Byrd?
Scout
February 2nd, 2011
11:49 am
Misty Fyed :
Did you ever get my email address from ATSAIC GC?
Got to run …………..back later.
BADA BING
February 2nd, 2011
11:50 am
I wish they would use the tanks a little bit. After all, WE paid for them.
Misty Fyed
February 2nd, 2011
11:51 am
Scout…waiting on call back from GC.
barking frog
February 2nd, 2011
11:54 am
@pjcrowley,@barakobama,@statedepartment what are you doing to help us, we’re being killed by Mubarak in Tahrir, long live US Freedom!!!!!
————————————————————————
It is amazing that the protestors would even consider pleading
for the US to help. The world belief in the US as a freedom fighter,
though unfounded, will never die.
Jay
February 2nd, 2011
11:59 am
The lights have been shut off at Tahrir Square, and all exits have been closed. The panic and desperation of those trapped there can only be imagined.
barking frog
February 2nd, 2011
12:06 pm
The Ivy League boys are setting the stage for the entry
of the Africa Command to open a theater of operations
in Africa. Egypt is in Africa, after all.
@@
February 2nd, 2011
12:06 pm
Indeed, STRATFOR is told that the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Field Marshall Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, who is also the country’s defense minister and emerged as deputy premier in the Egyptian government’s new Cabinet announced on Saturday, is looking at the Algerian model as a way to influence future politics in Cairo. The Algerian military in the 1990s was able to guide the formation of a new multi-party democratic political system, one in which all forces (centrists, Islamists and leftists) were accommodated. But the Algerian model was only made possible after a decadelong bloody Islamist insurgency, which was triggered by the army annulling elections in which the country’s then-largest Islamist movement was headed toward a landslide victory in the 1990 parliamentary elections, then the army engaging in a massive crackdown on the Islamists.
I’ll have to go check out Algeria now. So many countries…
@@
February 2nd, 2011
12:10 pm
Same thing going on in Algeria.
@@
February 2nd, 2011
12:11 pm
Based on what I’m reading, I fear our leftists will rise up any day. Same complaints as those in Egypt and Algeria.
willie lynch
February 2nd, 2011
12:17 pm
This would seem to indicate that the military is satisfied with the solution offered by Mubarak and in their estimation have let the protesters have their day. Now it’s time to return to the way things were, wait it out, then elect the new dictator. Don’t be fooled the military runs this country. Don’t forget it was members of the military that assassinated Sadat.
@@
February 2nd, 2011
12:22 pm
willie:
Don’t forget it was members of the military that assassinated Sadat
It was member of the Muslim Brotherhood within the military that assassinated Sadat. The higher ranking military has since, sought to quash the MB within and without.
Jay
February 2nd, 2011
12:23 pm
That’s my sense too, Willy Lynch.
@@
February 2nd, 2011
12:23 pm
Whoooaaaa! When I hit refresh, ALL text was emboldened. What’s up with that???
Normal
February 2nd, 2011
12:24 pm
@@
February 2nd, 2011
12:23 pm
It means you are being watched….
Jay
February 2nd, 2011
12:26 pm
and as AmVet is about to explain….
AmVet
February 2nd, 2011
12:28 pm
“It means you are being watched….”
And that Jay knows what you are going to write before you even hit the submit comment button…
Normal
February 2nd, 2011
12:32 pm
JAY!
@@
February 2nd, 2011
12:34 pm
Are there female police in Egypt? I just saw a female supporting Mubarak.
ByteMe
February 2nd, 2011
12:34 pm
AJE shows the lights on in the square. CNN was showing darkness before they cut away to talk about the blizzard.
AmVet
February 2nd, 2011
12:36 pm
Now that was funny!
I cannot keep track of the nonsense proffered here, nor by which illustrious poster, but if memory serves correctly, one evening there was an embarrassing assertion about JB’s prognostication powers.
I think it was NiF?
jt
February 2nd, 2011
12:37 pm
Ron Paul has been a persistent critic of foreign aid including aid to Egypt. For example, in 2009, he spoke out against aid to Egypt and to the IMF that provides aid to Egypt. He opposed a–
“$108 billion loan guarantee to the International Monetary Fund, allowing that destructive organization to continue spending taxpayer money to prop up corrupt elites and promote harmful economic policies overseas.
“As Americans struggle through the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, this emergency supplemental appropriations bill sends billions of dollars overseas as foreign aid. Included in this appropriation is $660 million for Gaza, $555 million for Israel, $310 million for Egypt, $300 million for Jordan, and $420 million for Mexico. Some $889 million will be sent to the United Nations for ‘peacekeeping’ missions. Almost one billion dollars will be sent overseas to address the global financial crisis outside our borders and nearly $8 billion will be spent to address a “potential pandemic flu.’”
Afaf El Shenawy
February 2nd, 2011
12:39 pm
The regime in Egypt uses thugs and gangs to intimidate us in our homes and force us to go down the street to support of Mubarak.
Please urge the Egyptian government to respect human rights and rein in the security forces.
please HELP
@@
February 2nd, 2011
12:39 pm
Normal:
I’m being watched!!??!!
Are you trying to tell YOUR MOMENT is upon me? THIS IS YOUR TIME…THE TIME WHEN YOU’LL BE TURNING THE PAGE at jay’s place!!??!!
You and jay have taken over!!??!!
schnirt
I’m off to pick up a bike.
Doggone/GA
February 2nd, 2011
12:42 pm
“one evening there was an embarrassing assertion about JB’s prognostication powers.
I think it was NiF?”
I don’t remember who it was either, but it happened during that 2-3 week period when the server messed up and was posting comments out of timestamped order, so sometimes a reply showed up before the question. And someone, truly in ALL seriousness, got really bent out of shape because he thought Jay could see what he was typing before he even sent it!
Southern Comfort (B.P.O.I.B.W.)
February 2nd, 2011
12:44 pm
Jay @ 12:26
So, it IS true!!!!
@@
February 2nd, 2011
12:44 pm
AmVet:
Not near as funny as the time you assumed control of Luckovich’s by spamming it for two days running. Your anger was directed at one particular blogger.
I think it was Andy.
I’m out.
jt
February 2nd, 2011
12:45 pm
Afaf El Shenawy
Sorry dude,
As a smoker and non-seat belt wearing liberty loving individual, I have my hands full here.
I am with you in spirit though.
Peace be with you.
Jay
February 2nd, 2011
12:52 pm
from Mohamed ElBaradei:
“After today people are realising just what they’re dealing with. Now they’re not just talking about the man responsible leaving the country, they’re also talking about putting him on trial. If he has an iota of dignity left, he should leave. Mubarak has received a vote of no confidence by the entire Egyptian people.
Our determination not to hold negotiations with the government until Mubarak leaves has only been strengthened today. First of all this is not a negotiation – we the people have legitimate demands and we would like to tell the government what to do. Our freedom is not up for negotiation. Secondly how can you negotiate with a regime that is killing its people? When I see some of the young people heading on to the streets and then corpses coming back the other way, it makes you cringe that this could be a state [sic]…I will be encouraging people campaigning for change to return to the streets, and I think Friday will be a very big day in that respect. But even if they don’t, even if they are repressed and crushed, there is still no going back.
Bosch
February 2nd, 2011
1:04 pm
It was the unhinged NiF — and from the two times I’ve ventured over at Tucker’s blog since then, he’s still just as unhinged.
Bosch
February 2nd, 2011
1:07 pm
“I fear our leftists will rise up any day. Same complaints as those in Egypt and Algeria.”
Those on the LEFT are calling Obama a dictator? Wow, talk about being upside down and rightside up.
Bosch
February 2nd, 2011
1:09 pm
Jay,
“Mubarak has received a vote of no confidence by the entire Egyptian people.”
As I mentioned to Del earlier, I wonder how many of the new protesters are actually pro-Mubarek or just “pro-let’s let this run its course in due time?”
Kamchak
February 2nd, 2011
1:10 pm
I cannot keep track of the nonsense proffered here, nor by which illustrious poster, but if memory serves correctly, one evening there was an embarrassing assertion about JB’s prognostication powers.
I think it was NiF?
Yep.
Drain The Swamp (NIF)
March 17th, 2010
4:55 pm
Don’t you think that the posters here should know that you can watch them writing before the post it?
Wouldn’t that be the decent thing to do?
Southern Comfort (B.P.O.I.B.W.)
February 2nd, 2011
1:11 pm
Bosch
That’s just like the two left-leaning blogs appear to have more right-leaning posters. Go figure.
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
February 2nd, 2011
1:11 pm
Well, I don’t trust Bookman and that’s the reason why I write out my posts with a pencil and paper before I type them in. I don’t want him looking around the trailer or the beer truck or anyplace else I post from. Anybody that can answer a question before it’s even asked on this blog is liable to be able to do most anything.
Have a good p.m. everybody.
patriot
February 2nd, 2011
1:16 pm
Another Tiananmen Square? Were we shelling out billions of dollars to pay for the tanks and the guns and the bullets and the training of the Chinese too???
This whole incident is just another example of the blowback that comes from our interventionist foreign policy that can’t keep its nose out of other people’s business. We have propped up this dictator for 30 years with money he has spent killing a terrorizing his people. Every gun, tear gas canister, F-16, tank, etc. was paid for with US taxpayer dollars. Don’t think the Egyptians don’t know that.
Good luck with your freedom Egyptians. You deserve it just like everyone else does. Hopefully our government will keep out of this and allow you to decide your future for yourselves (good luck with that).
Jefferson
February 2nd, 2011
1:18 pm
If it weren’t for the interest payment, the US could chip in … but Bush spent all the savings.
Jay
February 2nd, 2011
1:19 pm
Just now, from White House spokesman Robert Gibbs:
“The time for a change has come, and that time is now.”
joe
February 2nd, 2011
1:20 pm
Unreal…but on the other hand, very believable cause that’s what dictators do…kill whenever their rule is threatened. God bless our free way of life here is the good ole U.S.A. (for those who despise our country, wishing it were more socialist or worse, be careful what you wish for. These poor people of Egypt are dying for what we already have here–thanks to our forefathers who fought for our freedom. Remember that next time you vote).
jt
February 2nd, 2011
1:25 pm
This increased the price of a pack of cigarettes by 87%.
With the average egyptian making around 2 dollars a day………devastating.
Coincidence? I don’t think so.
Tax increase on tobacco products effective 1
July 2010
The MoF submitted a tax proposal to Egypt’s
Parliament in June 2010. The Parliament agreed
to:
change Egypt’s • tier tax system to a mixture of ad
valorem and specific tax system.
• a uniform rate so that all cigarettes would be
subject to the same rate of tax.
• a 40% ad valorem rate on the retail price of
cigarettes plus LE 1.25 (US$ 0.22) per pack
specific excise on cigarettes.
• extend the tax increase to cover loose tobacco by
100%.
The new tax change became effective on 1 July
2010.
Keep this in mind Washington.
And butt out on our salt intake.
Bosch
February 2nd, 2011
1:27 pm
SoCo,
I think it’s just the population of the State is more redder — and alot of the right wing posters seem to be retired or unemployed with nothing else to do but gripe about keeping the government out of their Medicare….
BADA BING
February 2nd, 2011
1:44 pm
If all these other country’s leaders topple at the same time Egypt does, Hillary, and all the pundits and reporters, are going to have to learn how to spell and pronounce a lot of hard replacement names.
Southern Comfort (B.P.O.I.B.W.)
February 2nd, 2011
1:49 pm
Bosch
LOL!!!!!
John Birch
February 2nd, 2011
1:57 pm
This is more like Iran in 1978 than Tianamen square although the Shah didn’t send in the counter insurgents. Better hope we don’t get the Muslim brotherhood coming out on top like the ayatollah did.
Scout
February 2nd, 2011
1:57 pm
Misty Fyed :
10-4, do you still get SOT ………………….
John Birch
February 2nd, 2011
2:00 pm
Joe – Yeah the feds only killed about 250,000 rebs in this country in 1859-65 when there was a revolt against the established power structure. thank god we americans are so much more civilizied!
Curse 'O The Mummy
February 2nd, 2011
2:14 pm
Jay the most interesting thing in your piece today is the pic of that very hot young chickadee. The rest of it, your geopolitical analyses and predictions, bring to mind the expression “The heavy thoughts of a light thinker”.