Joe Biden doesn't know what to say, on the PBS News Hour, except that Mubarak is not a dictator. As somebody said on twitter, when you shut down twitter, that makes you a dictator. Biden can't spit out the word democracy, let alone embrace it. He looks bought and clueless.
JOE BIDEN: Look, Mubarak has been an ally of ours in a number of things and he's been very responsible on, relative to geopolitical interests in the region: Middle East peace efforts, the actions Egypt has taken relative to normalizing the relationship with Israel.
And I think that it would be -- I would not refer to him as a dictator.
JIM LEHRER: Mr. Vice President, should we be -- should the United States be encouraging these protesters, whether they're in Tunisia or Egypt or wherever? They want their rights.
JOE BIDEN: I think we should encourage both those who are, to use your phrase, seeking the rights and the government to talk, to actually sit down and talk with one another, to try to resolve some of what are the -- the interests that are being pursued by those who are protesting.
Now, so far, there seems to be some differences. And, historically, in the past, the concern was in some of these countries that some of the more radical elements of the society, more radicalized were the ones in the streets.
...We're encouraging the protesters to, as they assemble, do it peacefully. And we're encouraging the government to act responsibly and to try to engage in a discussion as to what the legitimate claims being made are, if they are, and try to work them out.
JIM LEHRER: Does the U.S. have any role to play in this?
JOE BIDEN: I think the role we have to play is continuing to make it clear to us that we think violence is inappropriate on the part of either party -- either of the parties, the government or the protesters.
JIM LEHRER: But there was something said today. I think the president said or the president's spokesman said the United States is not going to take sides in this dispute in Egypt.
JOE BIDEN:Well, look, I don't -- I wouldn't characterize it as taking sides.
I think that what we should continue to do is to encourage reasonable accommodation -- accommodation and discussion, to try to resolve peacefully and amicable the concerns and claims made by those who've taken to the street. And those that are legitimate should be responded to, because the economic well-being and the stability of Egypt rests upon that middle class buying into the future of Egypt.
I just saw his lying, downward gaze, shadowy face on Aljazeera.
“No Mubarak is not a dictator”, Biden solemnly says.
Perhaps then Mubarak should be giving Biden lessons on how to ‘legitimately’ win elections for a good THIRTY YEARS in a row!
What the heck’s going on over there on Capitol Hill?
Don’t they hear what the Arab street is saying: We reject the status quo and ALL it’s supporters!
Folks that includes us too here in America!
They are protesting against US too!
They’re saying: Hands off my country, America!
That reminds me of an Egyptian joke I heard back in the Bush era:
Bush is getting worried that he might lose to Kerry in the Presidential elections, so he asks his ally Mubarak for help: “You seem to have a knack for getting re-elected every time, maybe you can help me out.” Mubarak says: “No problem, I’ll just send my team of specialists to show your guys how it’s done.” The team arrives, sits down with Bush’s team and give them a three-week course on properly doctoring an election, after which they go back to Egypt.
A few months later. The preliminary results of the US Presidential elections are appearing on the TV screens:
5.3% for Kerry.
9.7% for Bush.
and 85% for Mubarak.
Good one. I like it.
Biden: Oh no democracy is breaking out in the middle east!
Obama: No it ain’t bro.
Biden is hopeless muppet, in his words are the kernel of why America (the country, not the people) is despised in the world today. That changed for a while after Obama was elected but it’s become clear to everybody except true believers that he’s little different than Bush and in some ways worse – ie. prosecuting whistleblowers; Obama has prosecuted more whistleblowers than every other US President combined.
I hear Rachel Maddow has shown on-air the “Made in USA” tear gas canisters being used by Egyptian security forces. The internet in Egypt has been totally or partially cut by the Gov as have SMS services. Apparently the internet cuts occurred just 10 minutes after AP uploaded this video of a protestor being shot in the street:
Raw Video Man Shot in Egypt Protest
I don’t know if the events are linked, probably not – but cutting the net off is a deeply disturbing move.
Cutting off the internet is also very stupid, as it will leave many people unable to work so more inclined to head out to the streets… it also appears terribly desperate – not the action of a “stable democracy” that is “in control.”
Bijou
I am with you on your sentiment but very few Masris have internet access. They don’t tend to run internet businesses in Shubra or Zagazig. Most of the people don’t even know what an i-pad is. 40% of them live on less than $2 per day.
Australian media taking it’s muppet cues from Biden apparently. Today in Melbourne’s supposedly “quality” broadsheet there was more space given to how Israeli’s feel about what’s happening in Egypt than was given to the protests themselves. As to what Egyptian people were feeling? Who cares.
The Australian actually ran a quite informative piece on events in Egypt (Greg Sheridan must be on holiday), surprising for a Murdoch rag – they have pretension they rarely match:
Net down, special forces deployed in Cairo as Egypt braces for protests
Sadly, one of the things it says it that the protestor shot in the video I linked to above has died. RIP.
Rand Paul tells Larry King that USA shouldn’t be giving aid to Israel when it’s economy is doing well and ours isn’t. J-street is freaking:
link to haaretz.com
what outsiders such as joe biden say about these mideast revolutions will have about as much effect upon them as an ass’s braying at the moon has upon the tides.
This vice president of the United States is either clueless or is under the false impression that his audience is ignorant.
The Egyptian people have been talking to their US-backed dictator for decades, but the dictator hasn’t listened. And why should he? In a power imbalance such as this, the powerful party dictates the agenda.
As an aside, Biden seems to be under the illusion that the US government has listened to the will of the people, especially in recent years. I seem to recall millions protesting the invasion of Iraq, but the US government ignored them all.
On second thought, Biden is not clueless, he’s merely the typical beltway insider, pretending as though he cares about the average citizen.
I mostly remember Biden for his lies about his education and his plagiarism of Neil Kinnock in 1987.
What has he done lately to get himself on PBS?
Interesting how the prospect of democracy terrifies the self-ordained masters of the universe. What, they might not do what we have decided? What makes them really uneasy is that having made themselves beholden to to yet another Middle East bully, Israel, the Palestinians might get the same idea and demand a real democracy. And where would all the Israeli apartheid supporters be then?
It’s always interesting how those with power backed by official police and armies, always call for everybody to be peaceful–even while the cops are beating the crap out of the public dissenters congregating without arms. This is true no matter if the PTB are liberal or conservative. Here’s another pattern just as obvious:
Kill the messenger if he/she criticizes Israel link to veteranstoday.com
Incidentally, the US government keeps telling its people and the world that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East. On PBS, Biden was unwilling to admit that Egypt wasn’t a dictatorship. Well, if Egypt is a democracy, in Biden’s view, then how can Israel be the only democracy in the region?