It looks like yesterday's reporting that Hosni Mubarak would step down as President of Egypt were premature -- but barely. I was going to write about something else, but there's only one real story today. Mubarak has stepped down and there's dancing in the streets of Cairo and Alexandria. If Mubarak had hoped yesterday's speech would save his butt, he was about as wrong as he could possibly be.
Juan Cole:
After the crowd at Tahrir Square absorbed the news that Mubarak was still president and that his gestures to them were mostly vague or symbolic, they were from all accounts angry. Some took off their shoes and showed the soles, a sign of disrespect. To their credit, the protesters mostly quietly dispersed in order to get some rest for Friday, when they were already calling for major protests.
But, some were so exercised that 3,000 headed toward the presidential palace, where they staged a demonstration. Another 10,000 headed toward the television station, which they surrounded. The symbology here was dire, since the first thing a coup-maker in the Arab world does is to send tanks to surround the television station...[CLICK TO READ FULL POST]
