Patterico's Pontifications

7/3/2013

Morsi Out in Egypt

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 5:26 pm



Coup!

Don’t worry, Obama’s on top of it.

Yes, I was kidding.

183 Responses to “Morsi Out in Egypt”

  1. Not quite sure what to make of all this.

    In that respect, and I hope only in that respect, I am like President Obama. Then again, it’s not my job to know what to make of it.

    Patterico (9c670f)

  2. From Iowahawk’

    Secretary of State keeping close eye on things from the Situation Boat http://twitchy.com/2013/07/03/with-little-going-on-in-the-world-secretary-of-state-john-kerry-enjoys-quiet-time-on-his-yacht/#.UdSvVmmJYGw.twitter … h/t @CuffyMeh

    narciso (3fec35)

  3. This is Obamster’s smart diplomacy that he is uniquely qualified to do that will make the world heal.

    JD (e70b27)

  4. Obama has done a fine job of worsening the view of Egyptians of the US by appearing to prop up Morsi. Normally the Egyptian Army is the main center of US support in Egypt since the Carter/Reagan era but Obama is as usual finding ways to annoy our allies.

    SPQR (768505)

  5. Actually, in looking at the banners that were being carried in Cairo, the USA doesn’t come of near as bad as Obama does. The crowd believes him, and his ambassador, to be weasels of the worst kind, and just asks the (people of the)US why we put up with such Richard Craniums.
    In this case, the “mob” seems to make more sense than all of the “credentialed but not educated” talking heads in NYC and DC.

    Why do we put up with this poseur?

    askeptic (2bb434)

  6. Wait. I thought we were against military coups. You know, like in Honduras were they kicked out El Presidente who wanted to be El Presidente-for-Life. We isolated them and sanctioned them and generally treated them like crap for following their own Constitution.

    If that was any measure of US policy, we should be demanding that Egypt reinstate the freely elected President and for the Army to stand down. Or else.

    Kevin M (bf8ad7)

  7. As Romney said, he does not pick winners and losers, just losers.

    Rodney King's Spirit (ae12ec)

  8. He’s got his legal advisers working overtime trying to distinguish this case (favorably) from Honduras.

    Sammy Finkelman (ad84eb)

  9. Kerry can cause much less damage on a yacht in Rhode Island than he could in his office.

    Bugg (b32862)

  10. Sammy, he’s stupid enough to do that, too.

    Kevin M (bf8ad7)

  11. Is John Heinz sailing his boat toward the MED?? This is like Christmas errrrr Ramadan Eve!! We have live satellite data (thank you NSA and NORAD) on Santa’s position!!!

    Gus (694db4)

  12. And yes, he IS that stupid:

    President Obama, in a statement issued Wednesday night, said that only the people of Egypt can ultimately determine the future of the country, but that Washington is “deeply concerned” by the Egyptian military’s decision to remove President Mohamed Morsi and suspend the Egyptian constitution. He urged the military to “move quickly and responsibly to return full authority back to a democratically elected civilian government.”

    At least he’s consistently stupid. Hobgoblin of little minds, indeed.

    Kevin M (bf8ad7)

  13. Perhaps a covert mission to Provincetown or Fire Island for his boss.

    Bugg (b32862)

  14. Someone’s been at the peppermint schnapps…

    Colonel Haiku (ee023f)

  15. “WINNING!!!”
    – Charles Sheen

    Colonel Haiku (ee023f)

  16. That US Ambassador has got to be feeling a bit concerned right now.

    Kevin M (bf8ad7)

  17. Morsi thrown under the closest Cairo Transport Authority bus…

    Colonel Haiku (ee023f)

  18. “At this point, what difference does it make?”™

    navyvet (02dd07)

  19. Obama: “Nevertheless, we are deeply concerned by the decision of the Egyptian Armed Forces to remove President Morsy and suspend the Egyptian constitution.”

    Deeply concerned? How touching and heart-warming. You should also be concerned about how the ultra-ruthless Al-Qaeda-supporting rebels are trying to oust Syria’s ruthless president. But the ability of you to judge the character and quality of people and situations is so crappy, that I recommend you instead stick with perfecting your swing on the golf course and weekend vacations with Reggie Love.

    Mark (8af037)

  20. Kerry can cause much less damage on a yacht in Rhode Island than he could in his office.
    Comment by Bugg (b32862) — 7/3/2013 @ 6:41 p

    Stole my thought.

    Actually, in looking at the banners that were being carried in Cairo, the USA doesn’t come of near as bad as Obama does. The crowd believes him, and his ambassador, to be weasels of the worst kind, and just asks the (people of the)US why we put up with such Richard Craniums.
    In this case, the “mob” seems to make more sense than all of the “credentialed but not educated” talking heads in NYC and DC.

    Comment by askeptic (2bb434) — 7/3/2013 @ 6:19 pm

    Hey, you know, Obama just might improve the US standing in the world after all, when he finally gets replaced.

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  21. Comment by navyvet (02dd07) — 7/3/2013 @ 7:02 pm

    thumbs up!

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  22. Crazy idea-cab we get all or some of the money Kerry pissed away in March?http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/04/world/middleeast/kerry-announces-millions-in-us-aid-for-egypt.html?_r=0

    Also, perhaps these imbeciles might learn to stop giving away American tax dollars like a $2 whore.Non involvement has the wonderful benefit of costing us nothing. Drunken sailor metaphors get a workout every time this crew opens it’s collective mouth. We still are $17 trillion in debt, but you wouldn’t know it by thier actions.

    Bugg (b32862)

  23. Drunken sailor metaphors get a workout every time this crew opens it’s collective mouth.
    Comment by Bugg (b32862) — 7/3/2013 @ 7:06 pm

    Uhhh, Bugg, we don’t use that expression here in that way, it is an insult to drunken sailors everywhere. When a drunken sailor runs out of money, he/she just stops spending it.

    You must not have been around when we had this discussion some years ago.

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  24. and there once was a pitiful president
    ne’er one so inept been a white house resident
    put all his chips on teh Muslim Brotherhood
    though rational people said they ain’t no good
    he’s unfit for office, that much is evident

    Colonel Haiku (ee023f)

  25. teh people they toppled squat morsi
    forget teh camel, they screamed, ride your horsey
    get teh eff out of Dodge
    some complaints he will lodge
    with teh United Nations, of coursey

    Colonel Haiku (ee023f)

  26. coup d’efez…

    Colonel Haiku (ee023f)

  27. In fine form tonight, Colonel. In fine form.

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  28. 0bama’s Surprise
    camel ride into sunset
    Morsi’s coup d’efez

    Colonel Haiku (ee023f)

  29. “Deeply concerned”. Sounds like he’s channeling Deputy Rear Ambassador Sternwheeler? Somehow I don’t think Kerry is a good substitute for Jame Retief.

    htom (412a17)

  30. “Deeply concerned”-like these nancys are agonizing over whether to send a fruit basket or a floral arrangement, not how to get back OUR quarter billion or so.

    Bugg (b32862)

  31. Where is the President today? Is he still in Africa? Couldn’t he just jet on over to Cairo and solve this with a speech? After all, he won the Nobel Peace Prize.

    Ag80 (eb6ffa)

  32. 6.Wait. I thought we were against military coups. You know, like in Honduras were they kicked out El Presidente who wanted to be El Presidente-for-Life. We isolated them and sanctioned them and generally treated them like crap for following their own Constitution.

    If that was any measure of US policy, we should be demanding that Egypt reinstate the freely elected President and for the Army to stand down. Or else.

    Comment by Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 7/3/2013 @ 6:21 pm

    The Zelaya thing happened before the world had properly gauged this lightweight.

    Now that everyone has him figured out, President Prom Queen couldn’t credibly threaten Leichtenstein with an ultimatum without provoking any other response except laughter.

    Steve57 (c74c87)

  33. Has President Asterisk done anything in the foreign policy arena which has been a success for the U.S.? I can’t think of anything off the top of my head, just all the screw ups.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  34. As President Dithering Idiot has consistently said, the United States will not interfere in the internal affairs of another nation and is concerned, but hopeful, that the Egyptian people will sort out this situation with our close friends the Muslim Brotherhood who according to erroneous reports by Libyan intelligence participated in the 9/11/12 attack on our consulate in Benghazi.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  35. This is the Smart Power we can expect from the Nobel Peace Prize winner for how he might govern.

    JD (e70b27)

  36. Wouldn’t it be nice if the President who is “among the most sophisticated consumers of intelligence on the planet” hopped on the Situation Boat with the Secretary of State and actually did something to deserve his Nobel?

    Never mind. Bush.

    Someone will be along soon to point it out anyway.

    Ag80 (eb6ffa)

  37. JD – Be down your neck of the woods next Weds. night.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  38. and yet we reelected tehwon hussein

    E.PWJ (bdd0a6)

  39. Now that everyone has him figured out, President Prom Queen couldn’t credibly threaten Leichtenstein with an ultimatum without provoking any other response except laughter.

    Comment by Steve57 (c74c87) — 7/3/2013 @ 8:01 pm

    Threaten, Uh,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
    No!

    Surrender to them,
    Uh,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
    Youbetcha!

    peedoffamerican (c1642d)

  40. Maybe, if a couple of million of us march to DC, and demand Obeyme”s removal, OUR military would remove him and UH OH Joe just like Morsi. That’s an act of a Banana Republic you say? Well, he’s made us into one!

    peedoffamerican (04dfe5)

  41. Interesting that moderate Muslims are evidently secularists, along with all the other victims of Islam.

    7. Dog’s got hands of stone and feet of clay.

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  42. Wonderful link of Doug Ross by Drudge capturing the Egyptian’s lovin’ them some Won, Not!

    Egyptians prove the difference between them and Republicans is money and perspicuity. Our money and their perspicuity.

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  43. I was going to make a sarcastic remark about how the GOP could do the same, but it appears that peedoffamerican beat me to that punch. I’m fairly certain that he is serious. And nuts.

    Ian G. (b2d693)

  44. 33- Color me shocked that you are completely unimpressed with a Democratic president.

    Ian G. (b2d693)

  45. 44. JFK was a Democrat, and apart from being a Kennedy, an at least average President.

    No, our prob with the first Gay Prostitute President isn’t that he’s Dim, but Dhimmi, Marxist, Treasonous, and a Succubus.

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  46. This is actually an example of a foreign policy success.

    JD (e70b27)

  47. Like Honduras.

    JD (e70b27)

  48. Yes, it is JD, inspite of him,

    narciso (3fec35)

  49. It’s puzzling that a liberal like Obama is either indifferent or, worse of all, sympathetic towards Sharia-Law-embracing politicians and regimes.

    When the left kissed up to Communist systems during the era of the Iron Curtain (and today too) — “because they at least provide beautiful healthcare to the proletariat, to the masses!” — that at least made some sense, or it at least fit their MO, as foolish as it is. But for the left to respond in a similar fashion towards reactionary Islamicism (call it “Nidal-Hasan-ism”) illustrates just how, well, idiotic they are. It’s like the part of their brain that controls common sense has a big gaping hole in it.

    Mark (248a3c)

  50. So much for that Nobel peace prize. Think they are considering asking for a refund?

    JD (e70b27)

  51. 45- Ahhh, there’s the gay-hating we’ve come to expect from conservatives.

    Ian G. (b2d693)

  52. Shorter Ian – hohophobic xenophobic imperialistic misogynistic racists.

    JD (e70b27)

  53. I was not aware that pointing out homophobia makes one homophobic. You should prove that theory, using mathematics. I’m sure there’s a beautiful mind in there somewhere, but you’ve got to release the hate to clear your mind JD.

    Ian G. (b2d693)

  54. I don’t think it’s gay-hating, but calling Obama “Gay Prostitute President” does not paint the whole picture. Obama does not have an exclusively gay clientelle.

    nk (875f57)

  55. You should try to read for comprehension, serial troll. I was saving you time and listing the standard leftists ad homs. You had already played many of the cards. I just wanted to condense them for you. I was not calling you hohophobic.

    JD (e70b27)

  56. Your continued mendoucheity continues apace.

    Ian G. (b2d693)

  57. Happy 4th of July. Serial troll. Care to tell everyone all the other names you have used?

    JD (40a02e)

  58. celebrate teh 4th with a BBQ under your bridge, IanG.

    Colonel Haiku (a11a66)

  59. Hey ditto! Great day to be an American. Truly. We are all very lucky.

    Ian G. (b2d693)

  60. and be careful with teh fireworks… wouldn’t want to hear about you blowing off on of yer paws…

    Colonel Haiku (a11a66)

  61. Can I get a translation for comment 60?

    Ian G. (b2d693)

  62. Ahhh, there’s the gay-hating we’ve come to expect from conservatives.

    Or all the typical phony-baloney liberals like Alec Baldwin.

    However, to be precise, Obama reportedly and technically is not “gay” but is bisexual. He therefore apparently is similar to his former Secretary of State.

    Mark (248a3c)

  63. Even though America had nothing to do with it and arguably even tried to prevent it, it’s neat to see Egypt get what looks like a real chance at freedom on America’s birthday.

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  64. Ian G. 44,

    Please state Obama’s foreign policies and foreign policy achievements that impress you.

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  65. succinct translation… be careful with the cherry bombs, trollski!

    Colonel Haiku (a11a66)

  66. Yes, there’s the rub, DRJ… what can possibly be described as “achievements”?

    It has ALL been an unmitigated disaster… unless the Prez strove to lower America’s position and influence in the world.

    Colonel Haiku (a11a66)

  67. DRJ-Well I would say killing Bin Laden was a pretty big deal. Yes, I realize that he personally did not kill him and I know that, in a few speeches, he used the word “I” once or twice when he could have used “We”. Most of us don’t consider that a major faux pas.

    Iran has been relatively silent on the arms front.

    Iraq troop withdrawals.

    Ian G. (b2d693)

  68. “He’s got his legal advisers working overtime trying to distinguish this case (favorably) from Honduras.”

    Comment by Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 7/3/2013 @ 6:47 pm

    Sammy, he’s stupid enough to do that, too.

    I’m not sure his legal advisers will be able to come up with an answer, but I’m sure he’s got them trying. They may not be able to succeed but I think they’re working on it.

    He has to do something because the law now states that military aid to Egypt has to be cuit off in the event of a coup, and there is no waiver.

    http://swampland.time.com/2013/07/03/apparent-egyptian-military-coup-puts-obama-in-bind-on-military-aid/

    Under federal law, U.S. nonhumanitarian aid must be cut off to “the government of any country whose duly elected head of government is deposed by military coup d’état or decree or, after the date of enactment of this Act, a coup d’état or decree in which the military plays a decisive role.”

    This is a standard which the Honduras constitutional crisis of 2009 would have passed more easily than Egypt. (First, because there was an arguable constitutional grounds for it and because the military played a smaller role there.)

    I think his strategy will be to try to get the Egyptian military to set up some system so that he can argue the situation, at the point he has to make a decision, is somewhat constitutional.

    What I think he’ll do is wait a few days and then state that what we have now, while maybe not according to the Egyptian constitution, is not a coup because the military isn’t running the government, but the Chief Justice of the Egyptian Supreme court is, and the definition of a coup is military rule. He doesn’t have to say this is more legal than what happened in Honduras.

    Sammy Finkelman (ad84eb)

  69. Let’s see, what did he do?

    He is going to postpone a decision and hope that by the time a decision is made he can say civilian rule has been restored.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/04/obama-egypt-mohamed-morsi-generals-coup

    b>
    There’s general legislation applicable to any country to which we provide assistance as a part of the appropriations bill that takes a close look at this,” said [State Department] spokeswoman Jen Psaki. “With respect to the ongoing situation in Egypt, it’s premature to suggest that we have taken steps, we’re thinking about taking steps. I’m not going to get ahead of, of course, events on the ground, but clearly assessments would be made based on the facts on the ground and choices made by all parties, if needed.”

    Told you. He’s got lawyers working overtime on this. They probably won’t have to say how this is better than Honduras.

    Sammy Finkelman (ad84eb)

  70. ==We are all very lucky.==

    There’s a whole lot more to this America thing than people just sitting back and enjoying their “luck”, Ian G.

    On that note, thank you founding fathers both for your courage and for giving us the plan. And happy Independence Day wishes to all who truly appreciate what this day celebrates and who honor our huge debt to the nation’s founders.

    elissa (18e70c)

  71. http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013/07/04/egypt-overthrow-morsi-coup-obama.html

    Headline: Why the U.S. doesn’t call Egypt military’s ouster of Morsi a coup

    Obama avoids the word “coup”or advocating for Morsi’s reinstatement
    ————————————

    I think Obama’s only legal strategy is to avoid saying anything until an election is held. In the meantime there be a state of quantum uncertainty.

    Sammy Finkelman (ad84eb)

  72. After all, didn’t Abraham Lincoln avoid deciding whether Louisiana (and the other southern states) had actually seceded or not?

    Sammy Finkelman (ad84eb)

  73. This is actually an example of a foreign policy success.

    Like Jimmy Carter undermining the Shah of Iran.

    Kevin M (bf8ad7)

  74. It must make life easier for Democrats like Ian to assume their opponents are bad people. They never have to examine their own beliefs that way.

    Kevin M (bf8ad7)

  75. He has to do something because the law now states that military aid to Egypt has to be cut off in the event of a coup, and there is no waiver.

    You mean, like the Obamacare employer mandate?

    Kevin M (bf8ad7)

  76. Ian G.:

    DRJ-Well I would say killing Bin Laden was a pretty big deal. Yes, I realize that he personally did not kill him and I know that, in a few speeches, he used the word “I” once or twice when he could have used “We”. Most of us don’t consider that a major faux pas.

    Iran has been relatively silent on the arms front.

    Iraq troop withdrawals.

    Killing Bin Laden was a success but is that part of Obama’s foreign policy or is that part of the war on terror started after 9/11?

    Iran has been silent because it’s getting everything it wants: A reduction in oversight of its nuclear and arms programs, the ability to acquire arms from Russia and other nations, and a free hand in the Middle East for its surrogates — Hezbollah and the Taliban.

    The Iraq troop withdrawals was required by an agreement that President Bush negotiated and entered into with Iraq, and that was ratified by the Iraqi Parliament prior to Obama’s inauguration.

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  77. The New York Daily News at first seemed to have nothing in today’s paper about the change of government in Egypt (their front page headline is about Russian spy Anna Chapman tweeting that she wants to marry Snowden with abig picture of her holding a gun) and the secondary is Happy 4th of July but they have a story on most of page 10 and 11 and also the lead editorial.

    The headline is: Upheaval in Egypt / Generals Show No Morsi – and He’s Out With a Bang with a pictuire of fiireworks and some smaller pictures.

    Smaller headlines: Cairo joy as leader is detained and Obama: I’m “deeply concerned’

    They arrested a lot of the Moslem Brotherhood but Morsi is under house arrest.

    The New York Times said in its Tuesday paper that the crowds against Morsi were bigger than the ones against Mubarak, and he article flatly offers the opinion that “it became clear that Morso had lost the support of much of the population”

    I read elsewhere a poll was taken in May that ed 82% in favor of military intervention.

    The Daily News editorial said “This was not a recall at the ballot box but it was the next best thing.”

    Sammy Finkelman (ad84eb)

  78. “there is no waiver.”

    Comment by Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 7/4/2013 @ 9:06 am

    You mean, like the Obamacare employer mandate?

    Yeah, that one also it looks like there may be no waiver. They announced one (on a blog Tuesday) but the authority at most may be to avoid requiring reporting of employee statistics.

    In this case, what they are doing is simply withholding judgement. Like Schrödinger’s cat, you don’t know if it’s dead or alive until you look in the box (not really) so here they will avoid determining what has happened in Egypt.

    Sammy Finkelman (ad84eb)

  79. What all this shows, of course, is that all those people who said the Egyptian people supported the Moslem Brotherhood were wrong.

    Morsi won the election because:

    1) The Islamists played good cop/bad cop with the Moslem Brotherhood endorsed candidate (Morsi) being the more moderate one.

    2) The second place finisher was someone who came from the Mubarak government.

    Both of them got about 25% and there was a runoff, and a good majority or close to a majority didn’t want either one of them.

    3) The Mubarak candidate didn’t seem to have respect for the people and didn’t give people the feeling that his government would be their </i? government.

    4) Close to the end he military seemed to ebe seizing power, and so people supported Morsi as a counterweight.

    Then it turned out Morsi would have nearly all the power. A majority never intended to elect him wigth so much authority.

    They were voting for a office whose powers they had no idea of, and even the wrong idea about.

    Sammy Finkelman (ad84eb)

  80. As Thiessen has put it re the European high handed denunciation of Gitmo, get off your high horse;

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23178284

    narciso (3fec35)

  81. Ending italics (after the word “their” failed.
    ————

    Morsi had actually resigned from the Moslem Brotherhood (at the beginning of the campaign) and he wasn’t their first candidate, who had been disqualified.

    The Moslem Brotherhood was a non-democratic organization that had recently cheated in its own internal elections, and everybody who knew anything (40-60% of the electorate?) knew it. One or more of the presidenial candidates had resigned from it for that reason.

    It claimed to be non-corrupt, but in truth, of course, it was one of the most corrupt institutions in Egypt – it just did things differently.

    The Moslem Brotherhood, when it won the Presidency, and later the Parliament (because too often the opposition was one of the “remnants” and they didn’t always have support) and they were perceived of as honest outside of the major cities) was careful in what it did. Or thought it was careful.

    They did not strike up an alliance with Iran, and in fact wound up on the anti-Syrian government coalition and caused Hamas to break with Damascus. Maybe that’s because their money came from the Gulf states.

    They did not prepare to go to war with Israel.

    They did not attack the Copts, or Shiites, more than very sporadically, and then only outside the government.

    They continued to co-operate with the United States and Israel on terrorism, although sometimes it took a phone call or two from President Obama, or an attack on Egyptian soldiers (in the Sinai) to get Morsi to act.

    And they left the military itself alone.

    The only thing is the military didn’t just care about the military. There’s an idea in the Egyptian military: the Turkish model – meaning the role the military played in the government of Turkey for most of the Twentieth Century, rarely ruling, after Ataturk (died 1938) but sort of supervising the government and making sure it stayed secular and democratic.

    But what the Modlem Brotherhood did do is it violated campaign promises, and wrote a constitution all by itself (that it got ratified meant nothing because the alternative was apparently all power in the hands of Morsi and the opposition hadn’t goten itself organized at that time) and started trying to cement its rule.

    And in the ordinary business of government, they were a collosal failure. The economy was getting worse and Egypt losing foreign exchange because tourism had declined and for other reasons.

    Sammy Finkelman (ad84eb)

  82. The real problem is you had an election for a 4 year term when:

    1) The people had no way yet, or not enough people did, to assess the character of tge candidates.

    2) For an office that people thought was the only opportunity to have some counterweight to the Mubarak or army people – but instead the elected official was gifted with most of the power

    3) Chosen in an electoral system that did not produce a Condercet choice. What you got was a runoff between two very unsatisfactory candidates, each of whom had gotten about 25% of the vote in the first round.

    Never be afraid of too frequent elections, especially at the beginning of a democracy.

    Egypt needed annual elections, or spread out elections or something tghat allowed the government to be replaced after a year or less.

    Sammy Finkelman (ad84eb)

  83. What’s going on here? I’m not getting blank lines between paragraphs.

    Sammy Finkelman (ad84eb)

  84. Now I am. Now it shows them.

    Sammy Finkelman (ad84eb)

  85. it’s a conspiracy, Sammy! NSA has taken control of your turbo-charged keyboard.

    Colonel Haiku (a11a66)

  86. I hope and pray that we can celebrate our 4th of July along with our Egyptian friends on their 4th.

    Patricia (be0117)

  87. Sad and ironic that on this 237th birthday of America I have more enthusiasm for socio-political trends in Egypt than I do for the ones in the US.

    Mark (248a3c)

  88. Egyptians are a lost tribe of rapey pig people

    they’re about as on track for democracy as Paula Deen is for a Soul Train Music Award honoring her contributions to funk

    happyfeet (8ce051)

  89. 76- I consider those counterarguments GOP talking points, DRJ. To be completely frank, it is difficult to have a “good faith” conversation when one side is completely unwilling to give any credit where credit is actually due.

    The presidency of George W. Bush was not a complete disaster. I’m sure that if you were engaged in a conversation with a liberal who was completely unwilling to give 43 any credit whatsoever you would find yourself shutting down. Same goes here. Perhaps that’s why very few liberals post here, and why so few conservatives post on sites that are extremely leftist.

    Ian G. (b2d693)

  90. mr feets–I’m afraid all this cements it that Ima prolly not ever going to get to go see the great pyramids. I really wanted to see them, too. It was high on my bucket list.

    elissa (18e70c)

  91. Ian G.–just so you know, conservatives regularly get banned from extremely liberal sites because they daare to buck the narrative. Liberals are welcome and not banned from posting here. That so few progs choose to do so says more about confidence in their own positions than it says about the host or commenters here, I think.

    elissa (18e70c)

  92. 92- Yeah liberals never get banned from this site…

    Ian G. (b2d693)

  93. Do you have some personal experience with this Ian G?

    elissa (18e70c)

  94. 92- Yeah liberals never get banned from this site…
    Comment by Ian G. (b2d693) — 7/4/2013 @ 10:51 am

    Not quite true…
    but it usually requires a long history of requests from many guests to the site, repeated and documented episodes of just plain dishonesty, and even serious threats to people and/or disclosing private information of other guests before our ever so patient host bans someone.

    The tone of your comment, as best as I can deduce without direct verbal and visual interaction, suggests that perhaps you hold the notoriety of being one of the few people ever banned, showing up again with another name and another ISP site to cause disruption (at least you have the smarts, perhaps, to use another ISP address); though those are automatic reasons for banning as clearly noted.
    We try not to reward dishonesty here.

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  95. Yes, Elissa. It does. Serially.

    JD (e70b27)

  96. I have not had the ‘privilege’ of being banned, but I also get the impression that a lot of liberal visitors are incorrectly assumed to be previously banned commenters, which allows you to ban without reason. JD has asked me what my previous names have been on about a dozen occasions… as if there are only one or people in this country who disagree with much of what is posted here.

    Ian G. (b2d693)

  97. elissa I’m sorta meh on the pyramids – I’d mostly like to do a helicopter tour then call it a day – but a 10-day or so nile river cruise is still on the bucket list

    it’s just one of those ineffable and timeless even sacred cradles of civilization, that river

    magical

    happyfeet (8ce051)

  98. madonna sez happy independence day

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLNSMQjj-GA

    she actually expatriated to the united kingdom for several years if I remember right

    she’s a very complex woman

    happyfeet (8ce051)

  99. Ian G.:

    76- I consider those counterarguments GOP talking points, DRJ. To be completely frank, it is difficult to have a “good faith” conversation when one side is completely unwilling to give any credit where credit is actually due

    You mean like this one?

    The Iraq troop withdrawals was required by an agreement that President Bush negotiated and entered into with Iraq, and that was ratified by the Iraqi Parliament prior to Obama’s inauguration.

    Source: Glenn Greenwald

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  100. This is funny (from Hot Air headlines) :

    Egypt’s new president says Brotherhood “part of nation”

    President Adli Mansour made the comments to journalists after being sworn in as the interim head of state at the Supreme Constitutional Court in Cairo.

    “The Muslim Brotherhood group is part of this people and are invited to participate in building the nation as nobody will be excluded, and if they responded to the invitation, they will be welcomed,” he said.

    Eh. At least he didn’t say, “I won.”

    apostic on July 4, 2013 at 2:02 PM

    Former Conservative (6e026c)

  101. Or maybe this one:

    Killing Bin Laden was a success but is that part of Obama’s foreign policy or is that part of the war on terror started after 9/11?

    Here is what President Obama said about Bin Laden’s death:

    THE PRESIDENT: Good evening. Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda, and a terrorist who’s responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children.

    It was nearly 10 years ago that a bright September day was darkened by the worst attack on the American people in our history. The images of 9/11 are seared into our national memory — hijacked planes cutting through a cloudless September sky; the Twin Towers collapsing to the ground; black smoke billowing up from the Pentagon; the wreckage of Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where the actions of heroic citizens saved even more heartbreak and destruction.

    Who knew Greenwald and Obama have spouting GOP talking points all this time?

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  102. Also from Obama’s speech:

    And so shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against al Qaeda, even as we continued our broader efforts to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat his network.

    Sounds like killing Bin Laden is part of Obama’s war on terror, Ian, not his foreign policy.

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  103. Ian G.:

    To be completely frank, it is difficult to have a “good faith” conversation when one side is completely unwilling to give any credit where credit is actually due.

    I’m quoting this twice because it’s all too true … but it applies to you, not me.

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  104. DRJ- Again, I would argue that the lack of any acknowledgement of successes is tiresome.

    How about reducing the number of Russian and American missile launchers? Does that count or is there a counterargument talking point about that as well?

    Ian G. (b2d693)

  105. How about reducing the number of Russian and American missile launchers? Does that count or is there a counterargument talking point about that as well?

    Yes, Ian, having tremendously powerful weapons has led to a massive reduction in death and injury via war.

    This trend has continued for a long time. This is only one reason, but it’s a huge one.

    Former Conservative (6e026c)

  106. “Ian” is kinda transparent. It has some tics that are pretty unique. I will show y’all later, when I have access to my iPad. It is cute.

    JD (e70b27)

  107. Are you cereal, JD?

    Ian G. (b2d693)

  108. Comment by Colonel Haiku (a11a66) — 7/4/2013 @ 10:09 am

    NSA has taken control of your turbo-charged keyboard.

    Microsoft updated Windows (I thought they were no longer supporting XP) sometime during the night or early mmrning of July 3/4, 2013. A message said they added security features.

    Sammy Finkelman (ad84eb)

  109. This particular computer had previously not been connected to the Internet for several months.

    Sammy Finkelman (ad84eb)

  110. I think maybe some sort of processing has been slowed down, or something.

    Sammy Finkelman (ad84eb)

  111. Afgan President Hamid Karzai wants promises from the Obama Adminsitration to keep troops in Afghanistan, and possibly defend Afghanistan against Pakistan, or else he won’t co-operate with their diplomacy.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/04/world/asia/karzai-frustrated-wants-firm-pledges-from-us.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

    Washington’s attempt to open peace talks with the Taliban in Qatar, he fumed, was “in reality an attempt to cut him out and make an American deal with the Taliban,” according to one of the officials who saw the outburst.

    The Taliban’s sudden willingness to talk in June looked like a potential coup for American diplomacy. The result has been anything but — and not just because the Taliban have done more grandstanding than negotiating since opening their Qatar office.

    Mr. Karzai quickly called off Afghan participation in the talks. And now, two weeks later, persuading him to restore his delegation would most likely take more than the United States would be willing deliver, according to Afghans familiar with his thinking.

    He wants a firm commitment on the number of American troops that would stay in Afghanistan past next year, and a lead role in peace efforts, the Afghans said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss diplomatic matters. Mr. Karzai also wants a mutual security pact that would compel the United States to protect Afghanistan against Pakistan, and, possibly, even take direct military action against Taliban havens on Pakistani soil, they said.

    Sammy Finkelman (ad84eb)

  112. In Obama’s alternate reality universe, it’s always other countries that are supposed to NOT want U.S. troops there.

    Sammy Finkelman (ad84eb)

  113. Well, seems the Egyptian people had enough of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, and told them to stick their Sharia up their Mohammed.

    Althor (b81d49)

  114. Al Jazeera’s offices in Egypt closed and its offices raided.

    Supreme ide of the Moslem Broherhood (Mohammed Badie) arrested as he tried to escape into Libya as well as his top deputy. They are charged with ordering the killing of protesters last Sunday (it a big thing now in Egypt’s politicakl morality hat demonstrators are not to be fired on)

    The new Emir of Qatar (which runs Al Jazeera) congratulated he new leader of Egypt. The old AEmir suddenly abdicated last week, and his Prime Minister/Foreign Minister, who had held the job even before the old emir did – he arranged the coup by which the old Emir replaces his father, now 80) also quit.

    Ne big factor in the opposition to Morsi was the big increase in crime – not just stealing, but rape, apparently caused by the police being afraid to or not knowing how do their job or people released from prison.

    The police were corrupt and brutal before and later they in effect went on strike, becoming very timid. Some police stations were destroyed in 2011, and those who shot attackers arrested.

    Sammy Finkelman (ad84eb)

  115. 118. * Supreme Guide.

    Sammy Finkelman (ad84eb)

  116. Ian G. writes: “How about reducing the number of Russian and American missile launchers? Does that count or is there a counterargument talking point about that as well?”

    Which is hilarious because Ian G. wants to give Obama “credit” for something that hasn’t happened, just because Obama made a speech. That’s quintessential Obama right there.

    But more importantly, Obama has actually already failed because Russia is building new missiles in breach of existing treaties.

    SPQR (768505)

  117. I don’t see many Obama foreign policy successes, Ian, and you don’t seem to be able to list many either. But I’ll do your work for you. Here is a link to Foreign Policy, a left-leaning publication, that published 9 mostly liberal foreign policy experts’ evaluation of Obama’s foreign policy successes and failures.

    The list was prepared before Benghazi in January 2012 and, even then, Obama’s successes were few and far between — consisting mostly of his support for the Arab Spring and his reset with China and Russia. Given recent events such as Snowden and Egypt, how’s that turned out?

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  118. Not to mention the debacles in Libya and Syria.

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  119. Glenn Greenwald’s response is the most interesting to me given the possibility he was already working with Snowden. Some of the things he wrote in January 2012 suggest he was.

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  120. 0bama successes?

    http://youtu.be/K8E_zMLCRNg

    – IanG

    Colonel Haiku (a11a66)

  121. The fact that Egypt had a democratic election at all is pretty remarkable. I haven’t lost hope in democracy. Perhaps another democratic election in Egypt (hopefully very soon) will yield a winner who is not in the Muslim Brotherhood.

    Ian G. (b2d693)

  122. Debacle in Syria? It is a civil war. Did the people of Russia blame Alexander II for the American Civil War?

    Your partisanship is thinly veiled hackery.

    Ian G. (b2d693)

  123. “Ian”s act is very tyred.

    JD (e70b27)

  124. i think thinly veiled should take a hyphen

    happyfeet (8ce051)

  125. ==Perhaps another democratic election in Egypt (hopefully very soon) will yield a winner who is not in the Muslim Brotherhood.==

    So you’re good with do-overs? On democratic elections where you don’t get what you thought you were getting? Neat. Let’s pursue that.

    elissa (18e70c)

  126. Elissa – a military coup is a sign of a nascent democracy. That serial troll’s act is tyred.

    JD (28a7b9)

  127. Roger, JD.

    elissa (18e70c)

  128. Oh how wish somebody besides Lurch was Sec of State. No, not Hillary or Susan either. But somebody who one could feel is somewhat up to the challenge.

    elissa (18e70c)

  129. Elissa – you are familiar with this troll. He has been in tyme out before.

    JD (e70b27)

  130. Yes.

    elissa (18e70c)

  131. 130-Elissa is a winner. I mean a whiner. Yes, a whiner.

    Ian G. (b2d693)

  132. Quote: “So you’re good on do-overs? On democratic elections where you don’t get what you thought you were getting? Neat, Let’s pursue that.”

    Comment by elissa

    You mean if we all march on Washington and protest as the Egyptians have, we may get Obama to step down like Morsi did and have new elections? That would be neat indeed! 🙂

    I am sure many Germans in 1939 wished they could have done a “do-over” of the “democratic “elections” of 1933…

    Althor (b81d49)

  133. Tye is particularly nasty to strong women.

    JD (e70b27)

  134. I missed the part where, a guy get elected in a democratic vote, and then ASSUMES dictorial powers, then the people uprise, and now some say demcracy doesent work, well it only works when a president respects the constitution he swore to uphold – otherwise – he’s just another dic.

    E.PWJ (bdd0a6)

  135. 141-Absolutely. I also missed the part where another country’s democratic growing pains means that Obama is a foreign policy failure. Again… partisan hackery.

    Ian G. (b2d693)

  136. Who said Obama is only a foreign policy failure? He is: A Stuttering Clusterfuck of a Miserable Failure. An empty suit propped up by the media reading old tired Marxist tripe from a teleprompter. A vapid celebrity of a politician incapable of originating or uttering a coherent thought without a teleprompter or cue cards. Demonstrably stupid and yet convinced of his own infallibility, even though unable to think or emote.

    nk (875f57)

  137. 140. LOL, the only option the WH is considering is how to undo this ‘unjust’ result.

    Already the Gaza border is closed. I bet the Sinai becomes a pincer action between Egyptian and Israeli tank divisions around MB irregulars.

    Fatah is pushing a revolt against Hamas.

    More popcorn.

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  138. Per Haaretz, jihadi elements are attacking bases in the Sinai,

    narciso (3fec35)

  139. Narcisco – military coups show the brilliance of Obama’s smart power that he is uniquely qualified to advance. Because he gave a speech.

    JD (e70b27)

  140. 121. Crickets alone disturb the silence.

    “Growing pains”.

    Nasser was a general.

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  141. Ian G., your failure to recognize the gulf between Obama’s vacuous rhetoric and the reality of his failed foreign policy is the result of your hackery, not ours.

    SPQR (768505)

  142. Respectfully disagree, SPQR. I think it is time for JD to chime in with an insult…3..2…1…

    Ian G. (b2d693)

  143. True, but the Free Officers were generally junior except for Nasser and Naguib.

    narciso (3fec35)

  144. Obama must be very vexed with what is transpiring in Egypt.

    How dare the Egyptian people depose the Muslim Brother Obama helped bring to power with his “Arab Spring / Jihadist Winter”!

    That pesky Egyptian army has no business defending the will of the Egyptian people against the theocratic dictatorship of Morsi! Instead, the Egyptian army ought to be preparing for hostilities against Israel, with the Abrams tanks and F-16s Obama has been providing Morsi and the “Brothers” with.

    No wonder Obama has now ordered that American Foreign Aid to Egypt be re-evaluated. Ha!

    Althor (b81d49)

  145. 150. Speaking of vexed:

    http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2013/07/05/Turkey-s-Islamist-Gov-t-Rejects-Egypt-Coup

    Turkey has closed the WH conduit of supply to Aleppo. Traffic was probably bidirectional.

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  146. It’s tricky, because as with my last link, Doha and Riyadh are supporting the Syrian rebels, and Asisi’s regime,

    narciso (3fec35)

  147. 6.8.10.12. 68.69 @coup question

    There were extensive meetings yesterday at the White House so much so that CBS said Obama had a working vacation. I suspect a lot of that was over the legal question, and indeed that’s what the New York Times seems to report:

    A Coup? Or Something Else? $1.5 Billion in U.S. Aid Is on the Line – New York Times July 5, 2013, page A11

    But was it a military coup d’état? For the White House and the new Egyptian government, that is the $1.5 billion question.

    President Obama’s government on Thursday was reviewing the implications for American aid to Egypt after the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi, and under United States law it has no choice but to cut off financial assistance to the country if it determines that he was deposed in a military coup. Egyptian officials quickly argued that what happened was not a coup but a popular uprising.

    For the moment, Mr. Obama seemed content to let the debate play out in hopes of using the possibility of an aid cutoff to influence the situation without actually pulling the trigger yet. In his only public statement since Mr. Morsi’s ouster, Mr. Obama carefully avoided using the “c-word,” as some in Washington termed it, although his description of events certainly sounded couplike. But aides made clear that he would escalate his response depending on where the Egyptian military went from here.

    Sammy Finkelman (d22d64)

  148. Last year Obama had waived a human rights provision in an aid law passed by Congress.

    They were also, no doubt, dealing with practical issues mostly incompetently (the military, after all, had already announced they want to bring back democracy and there’s too much risk for the military in not doing so – they don’t need any pressure.)

    The U.S. should be trying to get from the new government whatever information they have about the Moslem Brotherhood or its affiliates or related organizations and terrorism and also some other countries’ foreign policies. I don’t know if they are doing anything like that.

    In the meantime they decided to evacuate all non-essential personnel from the U.S Embassy in Cairo, leaving behind only a skeleton staff – the only country to do so.

    Sammy Finkelman (d22d64)

  149. Turkey is comparing to the 1960 and 1980 coups in Turkey. The Turkish opposition also came out against it although they said that democracy is more than saying I got most of the votes and now I can do what I want – it’s paying attention to people. Which is what actually the new Egyptian government has said more or less.

    Sammy Finkelman (d22d64)

  150. 151. Goldman is without peer on this socio-economic confluence of event.

    Judaism, not so much.

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  151. 121. Syria is a particular minefield for le Amateur Poseur.

    Jarrett was raised in Iran and the WH has been sponsoring their nuke proliferation for years, courting Pooter to cover all bases.

    Now, having thrown in with the Sunnis, who have no reason to love “I got him”, botching Benghazi’s turnabout for al Libi, botching Cairo, and all the secular Arabs knowing him to be a State sponsor of their oppression he’s about to lose any friend he’s got.

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  152. Today with the BLS happy tidings of 200K Obamacare hires world knows QE easing is excused.

    Down Dog days of Summer.

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  153. More kudos for the monogenes of Belial.

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  154. Can’t wait for the Friday evening scandal admission this week.

    http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2013/07/breaking-qatar-expels-muslim-brotherhood-spiritual-leader-sheik-qaradawi-video/

    Dog certainly has the touch.

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  155. Done that Ramadan shopping yet?

    “The first recorded MERS death was in June 2012 in Saudi Arabia. The number of infections has ticked up steadily, with a flurry this April, May and June taking it to 79.

    Forty-three MERS patients have died to date, an extremely high rate of 54 percent, compared to nine percent of the 8,273 recorded patients with SARS, which was centred on Asia.”

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  156. Obama was born in Hawaii and he may be nominally a Christian.

    But wether it be because of the “dreams” of his father and “proud” African descent, because he identifes with his Muslim ancestry and upbringing in Indonesia, or because in his anti-colonialist ideology he, again,identifies with Third World countries he considers were victims of “American Imperialism”, Obama was apparently sympathetic to Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, went out of his way to diplomatically accommodate their Islamic extremism, and saw nothing wrong with continuing to provide billions of dollars in financial aid,Abrams tanks, and F-16’s to Eypt under Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood. But now that they have been outsted by the Egyptian people, all of a sudden Obama asks our goverment to “review the implications of our aid to Egypt”? Really???

    If that doesn’t show where Obama’s true loyalties lie, nothing else will!

    Althor (b81d49)

  157. “saw nothing wrong with continuing to provide billions of dollars in financial aid,Abrams tanks, and F-16′s to Eypt under Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood”

    Don’t you think those tanks and F16s went to the army, rather than the MB?

    daniel (b9c1ba)

  158. If that’s the case then that aid, those tanks, and the F-16’s, would still be going to the army now as well, so why then does Obama has reservations all of a sudden about countinuing Foreign Aid to Egypt, if not because Morsi and the “Brothers” are no longer in power?

    Althor (b81d49)

  159. Aid is how we exert control over Egypt.

    daniel (b9c1ba)

  160. Aid is indeed not only the way we exert influence over Egypt, but over many other of our so called “allies.” However, this does not negate the fact that Obama apparently was more sympathetic to Morsi and the Islamist terrorists, than he ever was to Mubarak, who kept the Muslim Brotherhood in check, kept the peace with Israel, and presided over one of the most prosperous periods in modern Egyptian history; or to the Egyptian people now rebelling against the Islamist theocratic take-over of Egypt by Morsi and Obama’s Muslim “Brothers”.

    Althor (b81d49)

  161. Oh. I forgot. Obama has MB brothers. Of course. That’s why he gave the army those toys.

    daniel (5d5265)

  162. “Daniel” – why would it be a problem now, when it wasn’t with Morsi and The Brotherhood? We went out of our way to waive requirements to continue to give aid to them. Now, all of a sudden, we need to rethink that? Your unwillingness to address that aspect of the responses to you, while focusing on the throw away portions about Obama and the MB show how vacuous your position is.

    JD (b63a52)

  163. Now we need to make sure the army does nice things. Just like when we gave them toys in the past.

    daniel (5d5265)

  164. we should give them yachts!

    well it’s not far down to paradise least it’s not for me if the wind is right you can sail away and find tranquility!

    happyfeet (8ce051)

  165. what do you call an egyptian piggy boy on a yacht?

    an ally duh

    happyfeet (8ce051)

  166. Done that Ramadan shopping yet?

    Comment by gary gulrud (dd7d4e) — 7/5/2013 @ 11:41 am

    Sure have caught a great sale on toilet paper and fire starting paper for next winter. It was at a going out of business koran sale.

    peedoffamerican (a84075)

  167. i been looking and looking for ramadan lanterns – even online they’re hard to come by

    https://www.google.com/search?q=%22ramadan+lanterns%22&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=jtXYUaHhBsTbigLqz4D4BA&biw=960&bih=476&sei=ndXYUda2AaOtigL8y4D4Bg

    but I want to see them and touch them to make sure I don’t get cheapy ones

    happyfeet (8ce051)

  168. John McCain comes out for suspending aid in support of the MB.

    What a useless bag of mostly water.

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  169. Did McCain go so far? I heard a little bit the day after the coup or so.

    It looks like he did. He’s just trying to be consistent and he doesn’t understand Egypt – I guess he didn’t go over the news reports of the last week or two or even talk to an infofrmed aide.

    Morsi was not freely elected to the position which he held. He had less claim to his position than Hamas does in Gaza.

    Sammy Finkelman (a4dbab)

  170. President Obama went golfing on Friday, so it seems like he found one way to solve his legal dilemma (just avoid making a decision by sending it for a long, long, review) but I guess maybe there are lawyers who could still use some help.

    Yes, I have solved the problem of how not to call ity a coup, and even distinguish it favorably from Honudura – and McCain supported Honduras so he doesn’t even need that.

    This revolt was not a revolt against Morsi – it was against the new Egyptian constitution.

    The constitution is illegitimate – Morsi got it ratified by threatening to hold on to absolute power if it wasn’t. The Mosle Brotherhood broke campaign promises and maybe procedures in writing it the way they did (they were careful to make it too extreme, but still they wrote it entirely themselves.)

    The constitution was in fact illegitimate, not drafted properly and not ratified properly.

    And when Morsi was elected people had no idea what powers the office he was being elected to would have. It looked like it might be nearly nothing.

    The army had almost taken full control and that caused more people to vote for Morsi than for Mubarak holdover Ahmed Shafik. This at least bprovided some hope of a counterweight. THEN IT TURNED OUT THAT THAT OFFICE WAS MAYBE EVERYTHING.

    Besides which it was a very imperfect process. A two man runoff where the top two finishers get around 25% in the first round does not produce good results.

    In the case of Honduras you could argue there was a constitution which everybody accepted and you could argue it was violated (although no constitution should omit the at least de facto possibility of removing the holder of the most powerful office in government if he’s unpopular enough)

    But in Egypt it was the constitution that was rejected more than just Morsi. And without a constitution who is Morsi and what office does he hold? Nobody elected him to a 4 year term in a very powerful position.

    Sammy Finkelman (a4dbab)

  171. I’m starting to think that because liberals are so fond of monarchs and benevolent dictatorships, they’re willing to take a chance on any dictatorship. This may be especially true of Obama, who has expressed his admiration for governing like a monarch on several occasions.

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  172. Talk about “crisis management”! While Rome burns Nero plays his fiddle, Kerry sails his yacht, and Obama golfs!

    Althor (b81d49)

  173. President Obama’s lawyers have decided that there is no legal requirement to decide whether or not there was a coup in Egypt.
    Aid to Egypt Can Keep Flowing, Despite Overthrow, White House Decides

    The legal opinion, submitted to the White House by lawyers from the State Department and other agencies, amounts to an escape hatch for President Obama and his advisers, who had concluded that cutting off financial assistance could destabilize Egypt at an already fragile moment and would pose a threat to neighbors like Israel.

    The senior official did not describe the legal reasoning behind the finding, saying only, “The law does not require us to make a formal determination as to whether a coup took place, and it is not in our national interest to make such a determination.”

    “We will not say it was a coup, we will not say it was not a coup, we will just not say,” the official said.

    Sammy Finkelman (d22d64)


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