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A few things to remember, while we’re celebrating the optics of a Pepsi moment

85% of Egyptians believe Islam’s role in politics is positive. 48% want it to play a large role in politics. 59% of Egyptians identify with Muslim fundamentalists, while only 27% identify with modernizers. 49% of Egyptians have a favorable view of Hamas. And 20% hold a favorable view of Al-Qaeda.

But hey — they Tweet! So, like, you know.

What could possibly go wrong?

69 Replies to “A few things to remember, while we’re celebrating the optics of a Pepsi moment”

  1. Carin says:

    OH, you’re such a pessimist Jeff. The Egyptian MILITARY is in charge. Don’t you wingnuts LOVE the military:

    “I was on a sidestreet and a soldier stopped me and asked me where I was going. I told him and he accused me of working for foreign enemies and other soldiers rushed over and they all started hitting me with their guns,” he said.

    Ashraf was hauled off to a makeshift army post where his hands were bound behind his back and he was beaten some more before being moved to an area under military control at the back of the museum.

    “They put me in a room. An officer came and asked me who was paying me to be against the government. When I said I wanted a better government he hit me across the head and I fell to the floor. Then soldiers started kicking me. One of them kept kicking me between my legs,” he said.

    FREEDOM.

  2. Carin says:

    Hey, you forgot to mention that estimates go as high as 95% for FGM for Egyptian women. Because nothing says love of freedom than making sure your women don’t enjoy sex.

    untrustworthy bitches.

  3. Spiny Norman says:

    The modernizers may have led the protests, but I don’t think for a moment they’ll have much influence on the next government.

  4. Ernst Schreiber says:

    Any Mustafah Kemal types in the Egyptian Military. Oh wait. He was a dictator.

    Nevermind.

  5. Jeff G. says:

    You’re missing the optics here, Carin.

    The world is about marketing. Nothing more. Freedom is as freedom looks (while the camera is turned on).

    After that, who cares? WHERE’S THE NEXT CAUSE I CAN CHAMPION FOR A MONTH OR SO?

  6. Joe says:

    I am sure the Copts are just giddy over the possibilities for the future.

    How is that visa application to the States going?

  7. Jeff G. says:

    You know whose negatives are high? Israel. Cancel them.

    Put on “Glee,” instead.

  8. Joe says:

    Carin, Egyptian men think that little man in the boat just causes trouble.

  9. Joe says:

    Disney is already working on Egyptian Revolution, The Musical.

  10. Carin says:

    I think all the angst and anger in the ME can all be tied back to FGM.

    What’s the point of your wife not cheating on you, saving her flower for ONLY YOU, when the sex sucks?

  11. Old Texas Turkey says:

    You know who’s negatives are high? Israel. Cancel them.

    Reminds me of my favourite Dennis Miller quote of “having to run the gauntlet of mind stupefying mediocrity that passes for network executives to make to the other side and still hold ones creative soul intact”.

    That is what passes for foreign policy now, except that the mediocrity is replaced by stupefying incompetence. You know we can’t press our advantage with the military. Now that Egypt is free, who needs the police in the police state. Let them find their way to salvation. Send Jimmah and some of Hugo’s boys over to vouch for the legitimacy of the elections.

  12. ThomasD says:

    Insty is characterizing this (or, at least accepting someone else’s characterization) as a military coup. I’m not sure that is particularly apt. The question is whether this is the military stepping in and sticking a fork in the already-done Mubarak in order to preserve some semblance of order; or this is the military making their move after locking down the Muslim Brotherhood; or this is the military making their move after being co-opted by the Muslim Brotherhood.

  13. Old Texas Turkey says:

    Don Fanucci will be on at one this afternoon to wet his beak … so to speak

  14. cranky-d says:

    Maybe 50 years from now they can try to throw off the oppressors they are about to embrace. It probably won’t work, but they can try.

  15. I think the best thing about this is that the Muslim Brotherhood really hasn’t infiltrated the Egyptian military at all. ACK-THPWP-HACK! HACK! COUGH! HACK!…..erm…Sorry, I just can’t swallow it.

  16. Ernst Schreiber says:

    I think all the angst and anger in the ME can all be tied back to FGM.

    What’s the point of your wife not cheating on you, saving her flower for ONLY YOU, when the sex sucks?

    The point is SHE doesn’t know it sucks Carin

    HONOR! MACHISMO!

  17. Joe says:

    Carin, it is absolutely insane.

    Then again, we are talking about a religion that makes it an ideal for a fifty four year old guy to have a nine year old wife. Funny how Amanda Maracotte is not all over this.

  18. sdferr says:

    ThomasD, a couple of the guys in the Hudson Institute panel yesterday thought as you do, that the military coup took place many years ago (1957?) and hasn’t released its grip since.

  19. Jeff G. says:

    I hope Obama calls for a renewed uprising in Iran.

    I give it a 70% chance.

    HAHAHAHAHAHA

  20. Pablo says:

    What’s the point of your wife not cheating on you, saving her flower for ONLY YOU, when the sex sucks?

    Yeah, but only for her.

  21. Jeff G. says:

    I remember when the media was giddy about the democratic revolution in Iran in 1979.

    Optics.

  22. Old Texas Turkey says:

    I saw the interview with the Egyptian google guy on CNN, that supposedly started the protests (and soon to be disposed for his troubles) and thought to myself, This fucking guy? Mubarak is losing to this fucking patsy? He’s gone soft.

    Frank Lopez was not available for comment

  23. Pablo says:

    Insty is characterizing this (or, at least accepting someone else’s characterization) as a military coup. I’m not sure that is particularly apt. The question is whether this is the military stepping in and sticking a fork in the already-done Mubarak in order to preserve some semblance of order; or this is the military making their move after locking down the Muslim Brotherhood; or this is the military making their move after being co-opted by the Muslim Brotherhood.

    “Hey, Hosni! See that mob out there? It’s getting really tough to hold them back. We’re not sure how much longer we’re going to be able to do it. Do you really want to be here when they get in?”

    Is that a coup?

  24. Pablo says:

    I remember when the media was giddy about the democratic revolution in Iran in 1979.

    Optics.

    Students and freedom, baby! What’s not to love? That was a great 9 months, wasn’t it? Well, unless you were being held hostage during them, I suppose.

  25. ThomasD says:

    #18 Yes, somewhere in Egyptian military headquarters this is playing out.

    Only they’re indoors, more finely dressed, at less than arms length, and smiling at each other while sipping sweet tea.

  26. Carin says:

    What’s the point of your wife not cheating on you, saving her flower for ONLY YOU, when the sex sucks?

    Yeah, but only for her.

    Yea, I’m sure the sex is great when you have a rather unwilling partner for whom it is performing a duty and most likely painful.

  27. Carin says:

    “Hey, Hosni! See that mob out there? It’s getting really tough to hold them back. We’re not sure how much longer we’re going to be able to do it. Do you really want to be here when they get in?”

    Is that a coup?

    “Yes, fly me elsewhere. Where did I place my banking information?” Looks around. “Ah, there it is. Yes, let’s go!”

    400 million? I think I read that figure the other day.

  28. Pablo says:

    Yea, I’m sure the sex is great when you have a rather unwilling partner for whom it is performing a duty and most likely painful.

    You can smack that unwilling part right out of her. Allah is down wid it.

  29. geoffb says:

    Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Get fooled again and again.

  30. cranky-d says:

    But remember, you cannot beat her indiscriminantly. There are guidelines.

  31. dicentra says:

    What could possibly go wrong?

    The NYT could give Glenn Beck a birthday present?

  32. dicentra says:

    400 million? I think I read that figure the other day.

    I heard something starting with “B.”

  33. sdferr says:

    Will the Egyptian central power turn to inculcating a hatred of the great external enemy in order to divert the masses attention? It’s worked before. May as well expect to see it again, though possibly after a short breathing space to get people back to work.

  34. dicentra says:

    Linky to NYT article referenced in my 31.

    Also, it’s Sarah Palin’s birthday today, and it was Glenn Beck’s yesterday. They were born the same year. I was born 99 days before Glenn.

    COINCIDENCE!?!?!? I THINK NOT!

  35. sdferr says:

    Jen Rubin asks “As after Tunisia, the world now begins to wonder: Which despot is the next to go?”

    What the heck, I nominate the Castro bros. and Hugo Chavez.

  36. Ernst Schreiber says:

    The despotic despots don’t go sdferr. That’s what makes them despots.

  37. MC says:

    FREEDOM square: Smells Like Teen Spirit

  38. Silver Whistle says:

    Jen Rubin asks “As after Tunisia, the world now begins to wonder: Which despot is the next to go?”

    I’m not putting any money on Putin going, that’s for sure.

  39. Silver Whistle says:

    Here’s a thought – I wonder if Barrett Brown is off to Moscow to organise an anarchistic uprising of smart, educated, non-religious Russkis? On account of the FREEDOM?

  40. Ernst Schreiber says:

    FREEDOM square: Smells Like Teen Spirit

    How long until it looks like Bloody Sunday?

  41. MC says:

    The Egyptian government is now in the hands of a junta, is facing a constitutional crisis, faces domestic and international pressures of unimaginable proportion, and the dominos fall. Move along. Nothing to see here.

  42. geoffb says:

    Vice President Joe Biden said today is a “historic day for the people of Egypt” that will go down as a “pivotal moment” in history.

    Beirut – The pro-Iranian Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah congratulated Friday the Egyptian people for pushing president Hosny Mubarak from power, describing it as an ‘historic victory.’

    Historic can have many meanings, most end badly.

  43. Big Bang Hunter says:

    Which despot is the next to go?”

    – Bummblefuck comes to mind, but then again “Telepromter Tyrants” are just empty suits, so they even suck at despotism.

  44. Mikey NTH says:

    Go wrong? Everything could go wrong. Then again, maybe not. The Army is in (as expected) and that isn’t anything new. Constitutionally speaking that is normal for Egypt, and so is the concept that after elections it will be the government of whomever the Army backs. If the Muslim Brotherhood wants to get in they will have to infiltrate the Army officer corps, and I don’t know if they have had any success there and I bet I know more than either Panetta or Clapper.

    So once again – it all depends on where the Army is.

  45. Big Bang Hunter says:

    – Hysterical might be more apropos, particularly from the Golden Unicorns in the WH.

  46. JD says:

    Sayeth Barcky, “Let me be clear, it has always been our position …”

  47. Ernst Schreiber says:

    Constitutionally speaking that [i.e. Army control] is normal for Egypt, and so is the concept that after elections it will be the government of whomever the Army backs.

    In terms of the constitution of Egypt, army control is the norm. In terms of the black letter law of the 1980 Egyptian Constitution, the army is acting unconstitutionally.

    I guess they forgot to pinky-swear when they forswore an Army takeover ever again.

  48. BJTex says:

    …says the sweet talking guy who is self-marketing egotistical functional idiot.

    What?

  49. Big Bang Hunter says:

    Camera Lights come on and presser commences:

    ….“Let me be clear, it has always been our position….”(teleprompter skips, and goes dark)”….um…..that we simply don’t have a fucking clue…um…I’ll take questions now….”

  50. Mikey NTH says:

    Ernst: I htink it goes something like this: “There is the secret clause that says that the boys who vote with M-16’s get to be the electoral college. Wait – that’s not in there? Look closer, much closer…yes, that is a pistol…oh! You found it! Good for you. You get to live.”

  51. Joe says:

    The problem with all of this is “the fremen” are really the Muslim Brotherhood and vice versa.

  52. MC says:

    Don’t want to discuss it
    I think it’s time for a change
    You may get disgusted
    And think Im strange
    In that case I’ll go underground
    Get some heavy rest
    Never have to worry
    About what is worst and what is best

    Oh oh domino
    Roll me over romeo
    There you go
    Lord have mercy
    I said oh oh domino
    Roll me over romeo
    There you go
    Say it again
    I said oh oh domino
    I said oh oh domino

    *

  53. Spiny Norman says:

    #51 Joe,

    I hope the protestors remember to walk without rhythm, it won’t attract the worm. Walk without rhythm, it won’t attract the worm. If they walk without rhythm, ah, they never gonna learn.

    Heh.

  54. Carin says:

    Obama conference rescheduled for 3 pm. When Rush is off for the weekend.

    some say coincidence, but Rush always brings this up and I think it’s pretty funny.

    Friday afternoon dump.

  55. […] dicentra, PS suggested by Carin Posted by Darleen @ 12:18 pm Comments (0) | Trackback […]

  56. poppa india says:

    Spiny & Joe-Does that mean don’t walk like an Egyptian?

  57. JHoward says:

    I hope Obama calls for a renewed uprising in Iran.

    I give it a 70% chance.

    Close: He said it’d take time. Freedom, I think he meant. Freedom by the eventual but inevitable rule of a remarkable degree of western-style liberalism, equality, choice, tolerance, and rights. In the middle of a region of resurgent fundamentalism.

    He sounded almost classically liberal. Liberty!

    I guess that would be an uprising, wouldn’t it?

  58. JHoward says:

    Obama conference rescheduled for 3 pm.

    It stunk. But it sounded great! Lying by omission typically does.

  59. happyfeet says:

    pepsi moment

    The National Eating Disorders Association said it takes offense to the can and said the company’s comments are both “thoughtless and irresponsible.”*

  60. dicentra says:

    Dave Burge tweets:

    Weekend to do list: 1. oil change 2. clean out garage 3. witness history 4. seize future 5. replace furnace filter

  61. Joe says:

    As for witnessing history: Who would have guessed a few years ago that the one bright spot in the Middle East would be Iraq?

    They would have called you meshugena.

  62. zino3 says:

    Joe –

    Ummm..

    The little man in the boat CAN be quite a trouble maker. He has a unique ability to cloud men’s minds when his mind is put to that task…

  63. Danger says:

    “I give it a 70% chance.”

    Normally laughing at your own joke doesn’t make it funnier but somehow this one was different.
    Maybe it was the … things;^)

  64. Ernst Schreiber says:

    They would have called you meshugena.

    Is that yiddish for macacca?

  65. geoffb says:

    Claire Berlinski on “What the Turkish military is thinking“.

    After reading it I think another question would be, what is the Egyptian military thinking in light of what is happening in Turkey?

    She also links to the Victor Davis Hanson piece, “The Obama doctrine at play in Egypt“.

  66. McGehee says:

    OT: Today I saw the armadillo hitchhiking to Pine Mountain, GA with a couple of strippers he must have picked up in Atlanta. I know it was him because when I stopped to offer him a ride he leered at my Bronco and said, “Nice truck, Nancy. Compensate much?”

    I would have stayed to chat with him some more but I think he was serious about slashing my tires.

  67. LTC John says:

    #63 – I said it would be a bright spot, back in 2008. But I was there, so I might have been sufferinng from observational bias of some sort. Of course, I didn’t say “only”.

    I count Israel as a bright spot too. I had more hope for Lebanon back then as well… damn.

    Is there anything more vapid than saying that we are “witnessing history” – you do that everyday, sheesh.

Comments are closed.