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“Top leadership quits Egypt ruling party” [updated]

One toke over the line sweet Jesus, one toke over the line:

The leadership of Egypt’s ruling National Democratic Party resigned on Saturday, including Gamal Mubarak, the son of President Hosni Mubarak whose rule has been shaken by days of protests, state television said.

Al Arabiya television said Mubarak had also resigned as head of the ruling party. This could not immediately be confirmed.

A party official could not confirm the Al Arabiya report but said that if Mubarak had resigned from the party it would not affect his position as president.

“These are two different positions,” the official said.

(thanks to bh)

****
update: events seem to be rather, uh, fluid…:

Reuters: Al Arabiya television has retracted its report that President Mubarak had resigned as head of Egypt’s ruling party. via @bbcworld

92 Replies to ““Top leadership quits Egypt ruling party” [updated]”

  1. Joe says:

    If this is true, it appears he is stepping down officially from the party but still holding the presidency till elections:

    Reuters is reporting, via Egyptian state television, that President Hosni Mubarak resigned as head of Egypt’s ruling party on Saturday. Al Jazeera is reporting the same.

    Other top leaders have also stepped down, including Gamal Mubarak, the son of the president, who has long been considered by many the presumptive heir to the presidency.

    The secretary-general of the party, Safwat el-Sharif, has also resigned in a gesture to protesters, Reuters reports. “The new secretary general of the party is Hossam Badrawi, seen as a member of the liberal wing of the party.”

    Assuming this is accurate, Mr. Mubarak would still retain the presidency, so the impact of his resignation from the party is unclear. Protesters could see the move as cosmetic, or it may shift public sentiment in Egypt toward compromise and away from the protesters.

    Mr. Mubarak has said repeatedly he will remain in office until elections in September, in which he will not run. The National Democratic Party has long dominated political life in Egypt, and the shake up of the party leadership would appear to be a major development.

  2. bh says:

    Might be bunk:

    Ok – we are getting no official confoirmation of Mubarak resigning as NDP leader. TV station breaking the news now back pedalling

  3. bh says:

    Okay, yeah, retracted:

    Reuters: Al Arabiya television has retracted its report that President Mubarak had resigned as head of Egypt’s ruling party. via @bbcworld

  4. Joe says:

    Chris Matthews just figured out Obama and Clinton both blew their 3:00 a.m. telephone calls…

    The facts on the ground are scary and potentially bitter, but the schadenfreud of Chris Matthews is rich and buttery. Except for the fact that the fate of millions hang in the balance, I am almost getting a tingle.

  5. sdferr says:

    Bob from Virginia copy-pasted parts of a 2007 interview of Sandmonkey by Pam Geller over in the comments section of a Neo-neocon post. Sandmonkey has been on the case for a long time. It’s good though, to hear criticism from an admirer of the US who stands at some distance (though not so far his life isn’t affected directly by the choices of the US), who sees more or less what we in the minority here see.

  6. sdferr says:

    Natan Sharansky, also on the case for a long time.

  7. happyfeet says:

    Nor is it a sign of health when other American conservatives are so fearful of a popular awakening that they side with the dictator against the democrats. Rather, it’s a sign of fearfulness unworthy of Americans, of short-sightedness uncharacteristic of conservatives, of excuse-making for thuggery unworthy of the American conservative tradition.

    Kristol

  8. bh says:

    Gerecht’s piece is worth a read.

    Kristol, on the other hand, is actually raping that strawman.

  9. bh says:

    You know what isn’t a sign of health? When you can’t be bothered to understand other people’s arguments and instead stack up a bunch of pejoratives.

    Nuance? None for him, please, he’s getting his righteousness on.

    Dickhead.

  10. Stephanie says:

    Gerecht is worth a read, but misses the thrust of the movements by miles. Too rosy and dismissive of the evils lurking. It reads like he thinks the MB are Islamic lightweights who can be co opted and not “true beleivers.” The April 6 movement is comprised by alot of middle class folks with regular exposure to western ideals.

    Why do elites think that revolts only come from the poor or the rich? Can’t a fruit seller get a break?

  11. happyfeet says:

    not if they want a whole dollar for one little kiwi fruit

  12. geoffb says:

    I’d say fisting with no reach around in sight. Charlie Sheen has nothing on Kristol.

  13. geoffb says:

    By next week Krauthammer will be Dr. Strangelove and Beck Col. Jack D. Ripper.

  14. Stephanie says:

    I see that hf has firmly grasped the events that have transpired regarding the recent revolts in Tunisia and Egypt while penning his protest signs.

    /sarc

  15. sdferr says:

    Mike Castle is a keeper. Hosni, not so much. Oh, and store food, lots of food.

  16. happyfeet says:

    what I just thought it was interesting to see how variegated was the opinion in the weekly standard

  17. happyfeet says:

    if you haven’t noticed failshit America’s plan for freedom in the middle east is called “wait and see maybe we’ll get lucky there’s probably like a 1 in a million chance events won’t follow the template of 1979 so let’s cross our fingers and make some queso for the super bowl”… it’s depressing how tiny velveetas have gotten I wonder if M’chelle made them do that

    bitch

  18. Stephanie says:

    A fruit seller is what sparked the riots in Tunisia that are cascading around the ME. You know, the guy with the kiwi fruit for a dollar who offends your sensibilities for daring to sell his fruit at a profit.

    He was a college graduate reduced to selling fruit on the streets to support his family who was offended when the police demanded he shut down his little fruit stand and took his fruit which was HIS property and not the property of the state to dispose of as they saw fit.

    He later set himself on fire in protest of the government’s actions and died before he could see the results.

  19. bh says:

    In our system, only one person decides foreign policy.

    If you want to complain about the rest, I’ll point out that you haven’t yet told us about your plans to run guns and communication equipment to the pro-republican forces within Egypt.

  20. happyfeet says:

    yes I know the story but there is also a food price narrative and my point is I just won’t a whole dollar for a little kiwi what are hard to peel anyway … but that was at Ralph’s I was just looking cause I get my fruits from the ghetto

    I need to go this weekend … hey maybe this afternoon – I should go get yogurts from the kosher grocery store cause they have the best yogurt selection and then I get smoothie fruits and nanners from this tiny little south american grocery place in the ghetto north of north hollywood – and then if I have time I can go get meat at Vallarta which is by the ass end of the Burbank airport and the prices on meat there are very very very reasonable plus they do lots of their meats with tasty seasonings already on

  21. happyfeet says:

    won’t *pay* a whole dollar is what that should say

  22. happyfeet says:

    Mr. bh I don’t really think like how you do I think what I figure is if America manages to come out of this Egypt situation with a diminished identification with freedom and democracy in the popular mind of the middle east then that will be a huge Win for Obama and daddy Soros… and I’d say things are pretty well on track so far.

  23. sdferr says:

    There was a contestant running against Mubarak in the last election Mubarak stood. He ended up in jail, for five years I think. He’s not in jail now though. He also happens to represent what is characterized as a liberal party: El-Ghad. Seems like a fellow to offer our help. He might even know others.

  24. bh says:

    The way I think is that I’d feel like an asshole if I could convince someone to go up against Mubarak and then the MB… and… that’s it.

    When Reagan did these things, he gave the opposition groups weapons and logistical support. When Bush did these things, he put boots on the ground and our guys shot tyrant supporters and Islamist crazies.

    When Obama does this thing…

    Yes, America has a history of supporting liberty. We also have a history of talking people into shit and then not following through.

  25. sdferr says:

    Here’s a thing about that time Nour was arrested.

  26. bh says:

    That link leads to this link as well, sdferr.

  27. sdferr says:

    Here’s another one [click on the transcript scroll at 6:49 to jump to the moment], touching on Nour more recently.

  28. bh says:

    OT: Has anyone come across a Chrome extension that does what the Text Formatting Toolbar does in Firefox?

  29. Pablo says:

    Sandmonkey has a very compelling account of the last couple of weeks.

    He also seems unimpressed with the Muslim Brotherhood and their apparent chances going forward. While I deeply respect what they’ve done, and support every last one of their aspirations, I have but one question: Then what? What is the plan? A disturbing line:

    This is a revolution without leaders. Three Million individuals choosing hope instead of fear and braving death on hourly basis to keep their dream of freedom alive.

    As lovely as that sounds, it is a recipe for a vacuum. Vacuums offer big opportunities to anyone who can fill them. Nations need leaders, my liberty loving friend. Leaders need plans. Hard turns into God only knows what are a bad, bad idea. Find the leaders. Have a plan. THEN back them both with all your might and send Mubarak packing. I beg you.

    I suppose I’ll go tell him that.

  30. Pablo says:

    Ah. Sandmonkey = Mahmoud Salem. They gave this to Spitzer? WTF?

  31. Mikey NTH says:

    #4: Except for teh fate of teh Suez canal and what that means for global shipping I am just thrilled.

    Oh well. At least a lot of idle ships can find use again now that the Suez short-cut is going to be closed. And I am certain that South Africa will be happy.

  32. newrouter says:

    so over at the corner rich lowry agrees with billy kristol that glenn beck is a bircher for noticing islamocommies.

    i’m reading this and found this:

    n 1972, the Kremlin decided to turn the whole Islamic world against Israel and the U.S. As KGB chairman Yury Andropov told me, a billion adversaries could inflict far greater damage on America than could a few millions. We needed to instill a Nazi-style hatred for the Jews throughout the Islamic world, and to turn this weapon of the emotions into a terrorist bloodbath against Israel and its main supporter, the United States. No one within the American/Zionist sphere of influence should any longer feel safe.

    According to Andropov, the Islamic world was a waiting petri dish in which we could nurture a virulent strain of America-hatred, grown from the bacterium of Marxist-Leninist thought. Islamic anti-Semitism ran deep. The Muslims had a taste for nationalism, jingoism, and victimology. Their illiterate, oppressed mobs could be whipped up to a fever pitch.

    so where was that published?
    http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/218533/russian-footprints/ion-mihai-pacepa

  33. guinsPen says:

    Has anyone come across a Chrome extension that does what the Text Formatting Toolbar does in Firefox?

    Sounds like you need a steely dan.

    Talk to nr.

  34. Mikey NTH says:

    Pablo: I also fear. Without a strong, disciplined force on the ground or nearby the destruction of an autocracy can lead to worse tyranny as the only people with that sort of discipline are usually the worst people ever – the wanna-be tyrants who are not only because they were suppressed.

    At this point my hope is in the Egyptian Army; that they have the discipline, respect, and force to make this a soft-landing. Otherwise, this could be very bad.

  35. bh says:

    A steely dan might conflict with my Bay City Rollers plugin, guins.

  36. B. Moe says:

    Only pussies peel kiwis before they eat them.

  37. B. Moe says:

    And Go Steelers!

  38. sdferr says:

    How to go Steelers, under the cleats of the G: 34 – 17

  39. happyfeet says:

    you have peel them for to put them in a fruit salad especially if you’re gonna share with somebody

  40. happyfeet says:

    hi good morning would you like to share my fruit salad I made it fresh this morning and here I have lemon wedges too for to put on top

    sure that sounds very tasty… oh hey why is it fuzzy?

    fuck you pussy just nevermind the whole thing gimme back my lemon wedges

  41. bh says:

    Don’t think I’ve ever eaten a kiwi.

    Why? Pussy food.

    Like penises or petit fours.

    (Actually, I just don’t like things that look like alien guts inside.)

  42. Mikey NTH says:

    newrouter: Sounds like old Yuri forgot the saying about ‘beware what you wish for’ because that has come back and bitten Russia really hard, harder than it has bitten the USA.

    I mean – I remember ten years ago how lefties were castigating the USA for what it did in Afghanistan after the Soviet invasion and the USA abandoning it. (And the USA being at fault for providing the grounds for 9/11). And now the USA is castigated for remaining engaged in Afghanistan. It is almost like it doesn’t matter what the USA does, the lefties will always find fault. Sort of like they are on the other side – no matter where the other side is or who comprises it. “If the USA is there – I’m against it!”

    (heh.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7cry-4pyy8

  43. bh says:

    Greatest mashupever.

    Ever, I says.

  44. Abe Froman says:

    I mean – I remember ten years ago how lefties were castigating the USA for what it did in Afghanistan after the Soviet invasion and the USA abandoning it. (And the USA being at fault for providing the grounds for 9/11). And now the USA is castigated for remaining engaged in Afghanistan. It is almost like it doesn’t matter what the USA does, the lefties will always find fault. Sort of like they are on the other side – no matter where the other side is or who comprises it. “If the USA is there – I’m against it!”

    I probably have a book’s worth of back and forth emails on this with a director friend of mine who thought it was his duty as a smug Yalie to spend the 250 days a year he doesn’t work converting me into a pinko. Your passage above pretty much summarized his endless prattle. I’ve learned how to argue with these people in long form – regrettably it is useless on blogs because you’re operating in teams not of your choosing – but it will never cease to amuse me how little shame even well-educated lefties have about their means of escape when they’re rhetorically cornered.

  45. geoffb says:

    Smart, smarter, smartest power evuh!

  46. B. Moe says:

    By the way, bh, hummus and cukes do rock.

  47. bh says:

    Hells yeah they do.

  48. Abe Froman says:

    What the heck is a cuke? (says the guy too lazy to Google). Hummus me knows.

  49. bh says:

    Cucumber. Used as the hummus eating device.

  50. bh says:

    It’s like the toilet’s eating hummus through a crazy straw.

    Great line.

  51. newrouter says:

    deseed the cuke or just slather on top?

  52. Abe Froman says:

    Ah. I had no idea there was cucumber slang.

  53. bh says:

    If you have a fat or soft cucumber, yeah, I’d cut away the middle. Otherwise, just cut it into slices and use it as a hummus scoop.

  54. happyfeet says:

    mercy

  55. John Bradley says:

    If you have a fat or soft cucumber, yeah, I’d cut away the middle.

    Yeowch! Surely there’s a non-surgical solution; Viagra or Cialis, perhaps?

  56. John Bradley says:

    Oh hell, now I’ve gone and spilled italics all over the place…

  57. B. Moe says:

    And you just shave the kiwi if you are putting it in a salad, feets.

    Did you know kiwis used to be called Chinese gooseberries?

  58. newrouter says:

    pita,cuke,hummus

  59. Pablo says:

    Why? Pussy food.

    Like penises or petit fours.

    If my sinuses could talk, they’d want to have a word with you about bourbon, bh. Damn, you got me. Nicely done.

  60. newrouter says:

    the dark side of eating hummus:

    Thus, the seeming popular uprising in Egypt is really about an insurrection planned by the two most anti-Semitic, anti-Western forces in the world: Islamic and Communist radicals, operating together to take down their common enemies. What is transpiring in Cairo’s “Liberation Square” is really about a plan for liberation from the West by the powers-that-be in the East ultimately via armed conflict. One can be fairly certain that this “revolution” is hardly spontaneous so much as the outcome of an planned, instigated script the conclusion of which will be the destruction of Israel and America and the military domination of the world by the authoritarian powers of the East:

    link

  61. B. Moe says:

    Trader Joes peanutbutter favored cream cheese is fucking awesome.

    Imma go pass out now.

    GO STEELERS!!!!!

  62. happyfeet says:

    oh. okeydoke brb have to shave my gooseberries!

  63. newrouter says:

    The events in Egypt are part of a pattern, and they are part of a sequence. As the Russian exile Pavel Stroilov told Jamie Glazov of FrontpageMag.com in January of 2008, “These and other facts of FSB involvement in international terrorism … have tremendous implications. Contrary to the view of many in the U.S., Russia is anything but a reliable ally of yours in the ‘war on terror.’ The Kremlin is playing a treacherous double game: while enjoying the West’s support as an ally, it secretly supports and manipulates al Qaeda through FSB agents of influence.”

    This situation is no different in Egypt. The crowds calling for Mubarak’s resignation are being manipulated by unseen agents of influence. To what end? The answer is not far to find. The Great Game has been going on for many decades. It is still being played, even now.

    link

  64. happyfeet says:

    wow they’re so smoov

  65. newrouter says:

    “freedom” = slavery folks are out there touting unshaven kiwi go figure

  66. bh says:

    Bourbon is probably good for your sinuses, Pablo. The burning sensation lets you know it’s working.

  67. bh says:

    Unshaven Chinese gooseberries actually.

  68. newrouter says:

    darth cheney speaks so it will calm me

  69. newrouter says:

    who put the acid in the hummus:

    You remember ElBaradei right? He’s the tool for the IAEA who kept giving blessings to Iran and their nuclear program. But I’m sure he’s a good guy – he has a Nobel Peace Prize just like Obama does. Wait a minute… On second thought, I guess that designation is pretty much a joke currently. I’m also sure it is a huge coincidence that George Soros and ElBaradei both sit on the Board of trustees for the International Crisis Group.

    link

  70. bh says:

    You guys want to know a secret?

    I’ve covered all the bases for the party tomorrow but it occurred to me that some people like kids and some women just don’t care about football.

    So I made a bunch of cheap $5 and $10 parlays and teases off the props for them. So, for instance, someone’s kid or girlfriend will get a ticket that requires 1. no overtime 2. Kuhn to rush for over 8 yards and 3. heads on the coin toss. Got like twenty of them.

    Gambling makes everything better. It’s like alcohol and sluts that way.

  71. newrouter says:

    “International Crisis Group.”

    don’t waste it – rahm

  72. geoffb says:

    Jobs galore. Yummo!

  73. Bob Reed says:

    Gambling makes everything better. It’s like alcohol and sluts that way.

    Sounds like you have all of the “vice” bases covered too, bh :)

    Things that I get the vapors just contemplating…

    WHY I NEVER!!!…Well, at least for the last few days :)

    I’m calling it 21-17 Packers, in one of the closest SB’s we’ve seen in years. I described why on a post Dan put up earlier ( http://powip.com/2011/02/regarding-the-super-bowl/ ) being the loyal Packers fan any Wisconsin guy would be.

  74. guinsPen says:

    the party tomorrow

    Tomorrow, tomorrow…

    A surprise belated birthday party for JG?

  75. bh says:

    Wait, those are the vices? I might be doing this wrong.

    (Not looking to bust Dan’s balls but the line isn’t based on the sharps’ favorite, it’s based on pulling in roughly even money from the betting public.)

  76. Bob Reed says:

    Yeah I know bh,

    Although I’m not a betting man myself, that was explained to me by an old DC policeman in the late 90s. I meant to explain that to him in an e-mail but never got around to it.

    And I guess thise are only vices if 1)one is married, 2)one is tee-totaler (!?!?), and 3) one is making book outside of Vegas, Atlantic City, or various and sundry Indian reservations-and gets caught :)

    Sounds like one heck of a party to me.

  77. Rupert says:

    Reagan knew that the lefties and MSM would bash the U.S. no matter what he did, so he just went ahead and did what was best for this country. I don’t see any potential Presidential candidates doing the same – with the exception of Palin. Feets agrees 100%.

  78. bh says:

    “Sounds like one heck of a party to me.”

    I have so much good meat here, Bob, that I keep going out to the garage to look at it. People are going to freak out tomorrow.

  79. […] Proposals, Topical Sandmonkey gives us a compelling rant about events up to last Thursday, and commenter Pablo at Protein Wisdom extracts a money quote: This is a revolution without leaders. Three Million […]

  80. guinsPen says:

    What are Uncle Meat, Joe’s Garage and Freak Out?

    I’ll take Turning Zappanese for $300,
    please,
    Art.

  81. Rupert says:

    Mubarak will only move do to age and or illness. He would be a fool to trust Obama. I went to school with a couple of guys from Egypt – very good engineering students and very family oriented. Before we laugh this country off, may we take a few moments to think about those who are stuck there. Obama will not help our friends if the bloodshed starts.

  82. geoffb says:

    A Moving Letter from Salim Mansur

    That intelligent people, or people who claim to be intelligent, (I have in mind the talking heads in the U.S. media such as Chris Matthews or Fareed Zakaria) cannot make the difference between the sham of the Muslim Brotherhood talking about freedom and democracy and the generic thirst in man to be free. These are the people who have like the Bourbons learned nothing and forgotten nothing. They are glibly about to put the Lenins of our time into trains heading for Moscows of our time, they find nothing odd that they are pushing for the Muslim Brotherhood to be taken into governing when everything needs to be done to keep the Muslim Brotherhood out

  83. Rupert says:

    geoffb – that is exactly to the point. I’d say it was a mistake, but the elites of the world seem to mostly get things wrong.
    You’ll understand that I can’t root for the Packers, being a Bear fan and all. I’m also sure that you want no Bear fans rooting for you. It only leads to disappointment. Best of luck.

  84. geoffb says:

    Well I’m a Lion fan but I’ll root for the team of the old days of NFC central even though we were rivals. Lions, Packers, Bears, Vikings were the only teams that mattered to me in my youth. Nut I understand tour position.

  85. geoffb says:

    But not nut, typing in the dark here.

  86. Rupert says:

    geoffb – for me it is kind of like a Cub & Sox thing. Even though I want a regional team to win, I’m old enough to remember all of the insults through the years. I hope Green Bay does well as I hope Indiana Basketball does well, despite the fact that I’m a Purdue fan. If Green Bay wins the Superbowl then it is just so much better to watch the Bears play them next year. Anyway – you have the RedWings. I’m worried about the Hawks.

  87. Pablo says:

    (I have in mind the talking heads in the U.S. media such as Chris Matthews or Fareed Zakaria)

    Hell to the yes! Fareed sounds like he should be smart, and he’s got that smoky, worldly looking thing going on but when you peel it all back that boy is dumb as a stump. Chris Matthews dumb.

  88. McGehee says:

    I headed out this morning while all the godbotherers were at church and thus was able to find a fairly well restocked grocery store at which to procure snacks for tonight’s entertainment.

    Me in my hat and boots got a few strange looks and I half expected somebody to tell me, “Hey,m that team isn’t playing today,” and I’d say back, “It’s okay — it’s their stadium.”

    Anyway, I’m rooting for Green Bay, although Pittsburgh has a player from Wyoming with a beard I almost want to worship. Except he’s probably going to shave it off after the game, the traitor.

  89. TRHein says:

    Thanks everyone… I really appreciate the fact that you all took the time to change the tone of the post so that I did not freak out at hf again.

Comments are closed.