Today on the Dish, Chris blogged the path of the protests at dawn. Mubarak fans were laughed off, protesters ignored the Internet black out, and police cross-dressed in plainclothes. Many protesters congregated in Tahrir square, the march began, and deviated from the script. Peter Bouckaert covered the scene in Alexandria, protesters banded together, and we tried to keep track of the numbers. People wanted Mubarak to resign immediately, but he opted not to. Mubarak's speech didn't please the public or the US government, and we mulled his legacy as he followed Ben Ali's template, and apparently wasn't too big to fail. Conor read the right's spin on Obama's direction, Max Fisher relayed the latest on US opinions behind the scenes, and Islamists got shouted down. Hitchens advised despots on what not to do, Colum Lynch considered ElBaradei's role, and we tried to understand the Muslim Brotherhood. We looked ahead to Friday, things almost turned violent, protests were wearing on the population, but there was a wisdom to the crowd.
Alan Jacobs refused to categorize the general effect of social media, Egypt's own media shifted, and Jeremy Scahill chronicled the Bush smear on Al-Jazeera. Alex Massie wondered if the world had peaked, and Larison remained pessimistic about the stability of change. The tsunamai reached Jordan, Israel feared for the future, and Evan Osnos fingered China as the next possible uprising. Dana Stuster weighed the options for Yemen, Ingrid Rowland searched Egypt's history, and Conor wondered if Roger Ailes and Glenn Beck ever had grandparents. Conor railed against a new bill that would give the President power over the Internet, and responded to readers complaints about the left's protest against the Koch brothers.
Egyptian protest signs here, army background here, tweets from the ground here, and a visual argument for democracy here. Quote for the day here, chart of the day here, FOTD here, VFYW here, VFYW contest winner #35 here.
--Z.P.