REAL BUT AIN'T EXACTLY THERE: February 2011

“Gaddafi Cares More for Himself and His Power than He Cares for Anybody in Libya”: Libyan American Activist Abdulla Darrat on Bloody Crackdown on Protesters

Monday, February 21, 2011

YEMEN

Yemen Aden Mansoura 18 22 011 live bullets and the fall of martyrs and wounded

Protests Rage in Sanaa, Yemen

Yemen: Saleh Calls for Talks, Protests Continue

BAHRAIN

Anti government protests continue in Bahrain

"They didn't run away. They faced the bullets head-on" on Bahrain in 18th Feb 2011

Bahrain protest - Down Down Khalifa, we will not Give up [ 21/2/2011 ]

MOROCCO

Morocco : Confrontation between police and protestors in Tangier - 20 Feb 2011

Morocco: Army Deployed in Tanger

Moroccans call for change

LIBYA

Libyan violence spreads to Tripoli

Hague called Gaddafi's son to demand end to violence in Libya

Libya: hundreds dead in violent protests

Live ammunition fired at Libyan people as Gaddafi orders "shoot to kill"

Libya Update 21-2-2011

TWEETS MAPPED MIDDLE EAST PROTESTS

Middle East Protests - Tweets Mapped

VIA COUNTERPUNCH

AMERICANS NEED TO START SHOWING UP

Time to Topple Corporate Dictators

By RALPH NADER

The 18 day non-violent Egyptian protests for freedom raise the question: is America next? Were Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine around, they would likely say "what are we waiting for?" They would be appalled by the concentration of economic and political power in such a few hands. Remember how often these two men warned about concentrated power.

Our Declaration of Independence (1776) listed grievances against King George III. A good number of them could have been made against "King" George W. Bush who not only brushed aside Congressional War-making authority under the Constitution but plunged the nation through lies into extended illegal wars which he conducted in violation of international law. Even conservative legal scholars such as Republicans Bruce Fein and former Judge Andrew Napolitano believe he and Dick Cheney still should be prosecuted for war and other related crimes. The conservative American Bar Association sent George W. Bush three "white papers" in 2005-2006 that documented his distinct violations of the Constitution he had sworn to uphold.

Here at home, the political system is a two-party dictatorship whose gerrymandering results in most electoral districts being one-party fiefdoms. The two Parties block the freedom of third parties and independent candidates to have equal access to the ballots and to the debates. Another barrier to competitive democratic elections is big money, largely commercial in source, which marinates most politicians in cowardliness and sinecurism.

Our legislative and executive branches, at the federal and state levels, can fairly be called corporate regimes. This is corporatism where government is controlled by private economic power. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt called this grip "fascism" in a formal message to Congress in 1938.

Corporatism shuts out the people and opens governmental largesse paid for by taxpayers to insatiable corporations.

Notice how each decade the bailouts, subsidies, hand-outs, giveaways, and tax escapes for big business grow larger. The word "trillions" is increasingly used, as in the magnitude of the rescue by Washington of the Wall Street crooks and speculators who looted the peoples' pensions and savings.

It is not as if these giant companies demonstrate any gratitude to the people who save them again and again. Instead, U.S. companies are fast quitting the country in which they were chartered and prospered. These corporations, which were built on the backs of American workers, are shipping millions of jobs and whole industries to repressive foreign regimes abroad, such as China.

Over 70 percent of Americans in a September 2000 Business Week poll said corporations had "too much control over their lives." It's gotten worse with the last decade's corporate corruption and crime wave.

Wal-Mart imports over $20 billion a year in products from sweatshops in China. About a million Wal-Mart workers make under $10.50 per hour before deductions—many in the $8 an hour range. While Wal-Mart's CEO makes about $11,000 a hour plus benefits and perks.

This scenario has metastasized through the economy. One in three workers in the U.S. makes Wal-Mart level wages. Fifty million people have no health insurance and every year about 45,000 die because they cannot afford diagnosis or treatment. Child poverty is climbing as household income falls. Unemployment and underemployment are near 20% levels. The federal minimum wage, adjusted for inflation since 1968, would be $10.00 per hour now. Instead, it is $7.25.

Yet one percent of the richest Americans have financial wealth equivalent to the bottom ninety-five percent of the people. Corporate profits and compensation of corporate bosses are at record levels. While companies, excluding financial firms, are sitting on two trillion dollars in cash.

On February 7, President Obama showed us where the power is by walking across LaFayette Park from the White House to the headquarters of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Before a large audience of CEOs, he pleaded for them to invest more in jobs in America. Imagine, CEOs of pampered, privileged mega-companies often on welfare and in trouble with the law sitting there while the President curtsied.

With Bill Clinton in the Nineties, corporate lobbies tightened their grip on our country by greasing through Congress both NAFTA and the World Trade Organization agreements that subordinated our sovereignty and workers to the global government of corporations.

All this adds to the growing sense of powerlessness by the citizenry. They experience hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths and many more injuries every year in the workplace, the environment, and the marketplace. Massive budgets and technologies do not go to reduce these costly casualties, instead they go to the big business of exaggerated security threats.

While the ObamaBush deficit-financed wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have been destroying those nations, our public works here, such as mass transit, schools and clincs crumble for lack of repairs. Foreclosures keep rising.

The debt servitude of consumers is stripping them of control of their own money as fine print contracts, credit ratings and credit scores tighten the noose on family budgets.

Half of democracy is showing up. Too many Americans, despairingly, are not "showing up" at the polls, at rallies, marches, courtrooms or city council meetings. If "we the people" want to reassert our proper constitutional sovereignty over our country—we can start by amassing ourselves in public squares and around the giant buildings of our rulers.

In a country that has so many problems it doesn't deserve and so many solutions that it doesn't apply; all things are possible when people begin looking at themselves for the necessary power to produce a just society.

Ralph Nader is the author of Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!, a novel.

FROM COUNTERPUNCH

LIBYA, ALGERIA, BAHRAIN, YEMEN

Libyan protesters 'in control of Benghazi'

200 Dead in Libya As Protests Spread

Live ammunition fired at Libyan people as Gaddafi orders "shoot to kill"

Algeria Protesters Push For Change

New shocking video of Bahrain Army shooting protesters with automatic guns

Live Update: Bahrain

BAHRAIN Forces Massacre Protesters. Doctors Call For WORLD to Help!

Yemen: Saleh Calls for Talks, Protests Continue

YEMENI PROTEST IN Taiz Friday 18-2-2011, people ask Saleh to Resign.flv

DEMOCRACY NOW! FEBRUARY 21, 2011

"Iran, the Green Revolution and the USA": Hamid Dabashi On the Future of the Iranian Pro-Democracy Movement

Saturday, February 19, 2011

LIBYA, ALGERIA, BAHRAIN

HERE IS AL JAZEERA ENGLISH LIVESTREAM

http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/

LYBIA PROTESTS:19.02.2011-AT LEAST 84 KILLED

Algeria Today's Anti Government Demonstration in Algiers

Algeria Uprising

Algerian police break up crowd at pro-reform rally

Bahraini protesters fired upon

Raw Video: Bahrain Protesters Fired Upon

ABOUT WARS AGAINST WOMEN

Angela Davis: Wars Against Women- Past Present and Future?

ON THE PRISON-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

Angela Davis Headlines Symposium at U.Va.

Friday, February 18, 2011

DEMOCRACY NOW! FEBRUARY 18, 2011

As Tens of Thousands Protest Anti-Public Sector Bill, Wisconsin Lawmakers Exit State to Stall Vote

HISTORY OF US RULE IN LATIN AMERICA

Noam Chomsky - History of US Rule in Latin America

Thursday, February 17, 2011

LEONARD COHEN, LISBON 2009

Lisbon 2009, Waiting for the miracle, Leonard Cohen,

Lisbon 2009, Famous Blue Raincoat, Leonard Cohen

Lisbon 2009, Boogie street, Sharon Robinson / Leonard Cohen

Lisbon 2009, Everybody Knows, Leonard Cohen

Lisbon 2009, If It be your Will, The Webb Sisters / Leonard Cohen

Lisbon 2009, Closing time, Leonard Cohen.

Lisbon 2009, So Long Marianne, Leonard Cohen

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN... MR LEONARD COHEN

CONDITIONS AND CONSEQUENCES

Anatomy of Egypt's Revolution

By ESAM AL-AMIN

“The revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall.”

-- Che Guevara

Like perfect storms, several factors have to simultaneously and collectively come together for popular uprisings or protests, even massive ones, to turn into a revolution. That is why only a few of them have been successful in world history. A revolution is, by definition, a successful struggle embraced by the masses that radically alters the existing political, economic, and social order.

The triumphs of the American, French, Russian, Cuban, and Iranian revolutions were the exceptions. While each one had its genesis in battling an oppressive or corrupt existing political system, each engendered its own unique features while satisfying distinctive conditions in order to produce a successful outcome.

One was initiated by an armed insurrection, but embraced by the public, against a tyrant monarch. Another was led by mobs producing enormous violence before settling down. Other revolutions had core ideological groups embedded in their midst that greatly influenced or manipulated their course of action before achieving their feat.

Likewise, the Egyptian revolution that erupted on January 25 in the aftermath of Tunisia’s was marked by its own unique features. Although the declared goals of the Egyptian revolution have yet to be fully realized, its primary goal of overthrowing its dictator was spectacularly achieved within a historically short period of time. While it took 28 days of continuous protests to depose Tunisia’s dictator, a country of 10 million people, it required only 18 days of massive demonstrations to accomplish the same in Egypt, a country of 85 million people.

The spark for Tunisia’s revolution was Mohammad Bouazizi setting himself ablaze in the city of Sidi Bouzeid on December 17. It was a desperate act of protest against the authorities who insulted him and seized his sole means of sustenance. Remarkably, the downfall of Zein al-Abideen Ben Ali’s regime four weeks later on January 14 was itself the spark for the Egyptian revolution, which erupted eleven days later. It was probably the only revolution in history that determined its commencement and announced its date to the world online. By February 11, the Egyptian regime had collapsed when its head, Hosni Mubarak, after much obstinate and arrogant behavior, was forced to resign in disgrace.

So what are the elements that distinguish the Egyptian revolution?

Historians will most likely debate for many years the various factors that came together to set off the uprising that turned it into a triumphant revolution. However, the most significant and distinctive features are outlined here. They are:

Popular revolution: The Egyptian people have taken ownership of this revolution from its inception. The youth movement that called for the protests before Jan. 25 admitted that they did not know what to expect. Although many opposition parties had called for demonstrations in the past, they only attracted a vocal but limited number of activists and elites. The popular support for these protests was at best timid if not totally ignored.

But in this instance when the young men and women, calling for the uprising on social media websites, moved to rally support on the ground from neighborhood to neighborhood, thousands of people from all walks of life joined in. They did not stop by simply announcing it online, but actually toured the streets mobilizing the people calling for wide participation.

Asma’a Mahfouz, one of the young activists from the April 6 Youth Movement said in her interview with Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper that, shortly after the protests started, “I was printing and distributing leaflets in popular areas, and calling for citizens to participate. In those areas, I also talked to young people about their rights, and the need for their participation.”

She continued, “I went to a street in Bulaq Dakrur (poor Cairo neighborhood), where I and a group of members from the movement intended to start protesting. At the same time, other members were doing the same thing in other areas. When we had assembled, we raised the Egyptian flag and began to chant slogans, and it was surprising when a large number of people joined us.”

She added, “With increasing numbers joining us, we stopped for some time in front of Mustafa Mahmoud Mosque, and then we led the march to Tahrir Square. We found several demonstrations coming from different areas toward this one, and thus we decided to occupy Tahrir Square.”

As the demonstrations continued, every day broke new ground. It started with the educated youth, both middle class and affluent. They were soon joined by the oppressed and uneducated poor. Within a few days, the protests swelled to include all segments of society, including judges, lawyers, doctors, engineers, journalists, artists, civil servants, workers, farmers, day laborers, students, home makers, the underclass and the unemployed.

Moreover, the demonstrations spread across Egypt like none in its history, not even the great 1919 revolution against the British occupation. The protests since Jan. 25 were not confined to Cairo or Alexandria or even to the main urban centers.

Impressive numbers made their voices heard in every province and city, every town and village, in Upper Egypt and the Nile delta, the coastal areas across the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, in the Canal Zone and the Sinai. On the day Mubarak resigned, an unprecedented 15 million people were demonstrating. Almost twenty per cent of Egyptians were in the streets that day, first protesting, and then celebrating the end of the dictator.

The Role of the Youth: There is no doubt that the Egyptian youth played a critical role in initiating the protests. The “April 6 Youth” and “We are all Khaled Said” movements along with other youth-led organizations including the youth branches of the Muslim Brotherhood and Al-Baradei Campaign for Change, were at the forefront of the activities before and during the revolution.

At critical moments during the tense negotiations with the regime, it was the steadfastness of these young revolutionaries that defeated the attempts by the regime to push for half measures in order to save Mubarak, proposals that might have been acceptable to some opposition parties. But the youth organizers insisted on their main demand, which was the removal of the president. Most of these leaders are in their late 20s or early 30s.

Incidentally, the youth paid the brunt of the sacrifices. A list on Al-Dustoor newspaper’s website shows that 70 percent of those who lost their lives during the massive protests, as well as 80 per cent of the injured, were 32 years old or younger.

The Role of Women: Egypt, like most Muslim countries, is a largely patriarchal society not used to having women, especially young females, leading any group or organization, let alone a political movement. But here the Egyptian people witnessed young women like Mahfouz, Isra’a Abdel Fattah, Nawwara Nagm, and Sally Tooma Moore, not only speaking out against the brutality and illegitimacy of the regime on live television, but also leading the demonstrators in chants and camping out in Tahrir Square for weeks.

The participation of women in the revolution, including in leadership positions from the beginning, have also encouraged other women across Egypt to participate. They have also sacrificed heavily for their freedom. At least 10 per cent of the casualties in the first week were women. This experience has solidified their role as real partners for genuine change, and entitled them to an ownership of this great event in their history.

Applying Non-Violent and Peaceful Means: From the outset, the organizers of the protests adhered to a strict code of non-violent and peaceful protests. They realized that the regime would crack down and employ brutal methods hoping to either deter or provoke them to use violence to justify even greater violence against them.

Ahmad Maher, the coordinator of the April 6 Youth Movement explained in an interview with Al Jazeera English that non-violence was not a tactic but a strategy for the movement. For over two years, thousands of members debated the writings and methods of non-violent struggle, including those of Gandhi, King, and Gene Sharp of the Albert Einstein Institution in Boston, the sages of the use of non-violent means for social change.

Last year Maher’s second-in-command, Muhammad Adel, was dispatched to Serbia to meet with Srdja Popovic, a proponent of non-violent resistance and leader of the Otpor (Resistance) Movement, a group of young activists who helped depose Slobodan Milosevic in 2000. He came back to Cairo with DVDs and other educational and training materials that demonstrated in detail some of the non-violent means and civil disobedience techniques used to induce political change.

When the protests in Egypt began, there were strict instructions for all participants not to carry any weapons, including knives, sticks, stones or sharp objects. They held signs that said this was a peaceful protest. When confronted by the police who tried to intimidate or beat them they would chant “peaceful, peaceful.”

Even when the regime sent thousands of its goons on February 2 to beat them with sticks and sharp objects, attack them with Molotov cocktails, or even shoot them with live ammunition, the protesters only tried to defend themselves, refusing to employ violent means. When they arrested about 350 of the hired thugs, they refused to take revenge despite the dozens who were killed and thousands more injured. They simply handed them over to the military units stationed nearby.

Non-ideological and homogeneous: Another distinctive feature of the revolution across Egypt was its focus on common goals. Despite the desperate efforts by the regime and its regional and international supporters to paint it as either ideologically based or foreign inspired, these efforts failed miserably.

The organizers were non-ideological. Although most ideological parties participated, including the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), the leftists, the liberals, the secularists, and the Copts, all groups displayed a rare unity of purpose, focusing on the primary goal of the revolution without falling into the trappings of narrow divisions.

Unlike other Arab societies with a history of tribalism, sectarianism or ethnic conflicts, Egyptian society is largely homogeneous. The only fault line that its opponents have tried to foment or exploit is that of Muslim-Coptic tension. However, these tensions are a recent phenomenon and are the exception, not the rule. Much of Egypt’s history bears witness to that.

This rare unity among Muslims and Copts was displayed in Tahrir Square and across Egypt. Tooma-Moore, a Christian Copt, demonstrated the unity of all Egyptians, Muslims and Copts, in a recent interview when she said, “It's totally beyond description how the mosque has been transformed into a working hospital. It is a mosque but there are no religious divisions.”

The youth organizers and all participating groups carefully abstained from any religious or sectarian chants. During Friday prayers many Copts surrounded and protected the Muslims while praying. Likewise, on Sunday the Muslims joined the Copts in their Christian services, in a moving display of national unity.

Disciplined and focused: Many observers were surprised at the level of discipline and focus the revolutionaries were able to demonstrate. Throughout the 18 days in the streets, they maintained their focus on Mubarak and his despised regime. They refused to engage in any negotiations that might distract from their primary goal of ousting the beleaguered president. Their slogans and chants reflected this unity of purpose among all demonstrators.

When the regime started offering concessions, almost daily, in the hope of splitting the opposition, weakening their resolve, or slowing down the momentum, the revolutionaries were able to energize the people further, raise their demands and mobilize even greater numbers without conceding their foremost demand.

Decentralized and highly organized leadership: This revolution was not leaderless, but the leaders were not visibly identifiable. They cleverly structured their protests and activities without naming a single group or leader. Dozens were speaking on behalf of the revolution, communicating the same message. Some identified with the youth, others with the diverse opposition movements, while many were independent. The security apparatus was confused and could not identify the major leaders of the revolution.

Even when some leaders were arrested, they were easily replaced because no one person held sole power or vital information that could derail the revolution. When the youth within the Muslim Brotherhood joined the protests on Jan. 28, they were immediately embraced and given leadership roles because of their discipline, resources, and abilities. Although some minor opposition parties tried to take credit or present a different political line, they were immediately exposed and marginalized.

The leaders also illustrated great organizational skills. Makeshift hospitals, staffed with hundreds of doctors, were established to treat the injured and sick. Remarkably, with over two million demonstrators in one geographical area, transportation, security, medicine, food, drink, bathroom facilities, trash collections, Street newspapers, and lost and found services were provided. Tents and covers were also supplied to the thousands of people who chose to camp out in the square.

When the government withdrew all the security forces and released thousands of criminals in order to spread fear and chaos across the country, the people immediately organized and established protection and security teams and neighborhood watches in order to protect their families and neighbors. Within days, thousands of criminals were caught and handed over to the military.

Steadfastness, bravery and determination: When many people in the streets were interviewed on dozens of television networks and new media outlets covering the unfolding events, there was a notable theme that stood out in their tone, namely, the eradication of the fear barrier.

All dictatorial and repressive regimes rule their subjects through intimidation and fear. The Mubarak regime was no different. The regime dispatched at least 350,000 security officers throughout Egypt in the first four days, employing all the tools of repression: beatings, water canons, tear gas, rubber bullets, live ammunition, and armed carriers.

However, the youth led the efforts in facing the brutality of the police even when dozens were killed and hundreds injured in the streets. It was clear that when the youth refused to abandon the protests and faced courageously the repression of the state without retreat, the rest of the people followed and the fear factor was removed from the equation.

Creative and resourceful: As much as this revolution was peaceful, it was also incredibly creative. By Sunday January 30, the demonstrators were in control of all the main streets and squares. Millions of people were following the program set by the organizers. Activities were set to mobilize the people and demoralize the regime.

They were also resourceful. They brought huge speakers to broadcast the singing of the national anthem and play patriotic songs to the delight of the massive crowds. It brought a sense of national unity and patriotism, a feeling of honor, duty, and resolve.

On certain days where the protesters were called to attend by the millions, they were given names to consolidate the gains and unite the people under a single theme: Day of Rage, Day of Departure, Martyrs Day, Day of Defiance. People were free to be inventive and artistic as they thought up slogans, created chants, and drew up posters that focused on Mubarak, his family, and the regime.

Many of them were funny and daring. Bold jokes were widely shared, and comedy sketches were daily performed in the squares and streets. Poets, singers, rappers and bands were everywhere creating a festive Woodstock atmosphere. The more the president showed stubbornness the more entrenched and audacious the people became. With each passing day, the people no longer feared Mubarak, and even displayed an attitude of total ridicule and revulsion toward him.

Ingenious use of technology: It is common knowledge that the youth have not only mastered the use of modern technology, but also transformed it into an exceptionally effective political tool to communicate with their peers, educate the public, organize events, and mobilize the masses.

With over 800,000 Egyptians, mostly youth, using Facebook alone, the revolutionaries found a platform that allowed access with little challenge from the government. The use of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other social media outlets played a significant role in disseminating the message and galvanizing the support of the public.

Educational materials, political messages, training videos, mobilization calls, and organizational information, were placed online and utilized before a single protest was called. By the time the government shut down all mobile phone and Internet services, the genie was already out of the bottle. When asked by the French news service AFP, Abd el-Fattah, one of the April 6 youth organizers said after the government disrupted the Internet, “We've already announced the meeting places. So we've done it, we no longer need means of communication.”

Yet even during the revolutionary days of massive protests, the organizers were able to set up safe houses to send blogs, press releases, and instructions to others across the country, as well as announcing their activities, and communicating their viewpoints to the world.

Effective media strategy: The revolutionaries had a simple media strategy: ignore the government-controlled media and build strong contacts with the local opposition and independent media as well as the Arab and international media outlets.

The organizers knew that the regime would mobilize its propaganda machine through the state-owned print and electronic media. After first ignoring the widespread protests, the official media embarked on vast distortion and smear campaigns against the protesters.

Therefore, the organizers set up a sophisticated multilevel strategy comprising numerous spokespersons, who were united in their message and articulated their vision against tyranny, oppression, and corruption. They presented to the public a coherent pro-democracy social justice and freedom agenda. Every day, more prominent individuals from all segments of society were speaking out against the regime and joining the revolution.

They even set up a huge screen in Tahrir Square that featured live non-stop Al-Jazeera coverage. In essence, the revolution was indeed televised, providing not only a significant level of protection to the demonstrators, but also providing rapid response to all breaking news.

Whenever Mubarak or Vice President Omar Suleiman addressed the public in an attempt to seize the initiative, the organizers would immediately present several spokespersons to effectively respond and neutralize any effect on the public.

Neutralization of the Army: Perhaps the most vulnerable matter facing the revolution was the unpredictable reaction of the army. Initially, the organizers knew that the regime would rely heavily on the brutality of its security forces. But once the revolutionaries prevailed over the security forces by standing their ground, the regime would try to force a confrontation with the army.

The strategy of dealing with the army was to embrace it and avoid any confrontation by all means. The Egyptian army is one of the most respected institutions in Egypt, and the organizers were not going to challenge that.

In fact, the moment the army was in the streets after the withdrawal of the security forces, the people chanted, “ the people and the army are one.” They rushed to embrace and kiss the officers. Every pro-democracy speaker praised the army and appealed for its support.

Immediately, the army not only declared its neutrality in the confrontation between the people and the regime, but also pledged to protect the people. This posture made it possible for the revolution to continue its peaceful protests and embolden its political demands.

Even though the army was slow in providing protection to the protesters when they were attacked by the government’s bullies, the fact that the army did not attack the demonstrators and remained neutral was a huge blow to the regime, which at the end helped topple it.

Lacking depth and understanding, pundits recklessly invented names for the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions. Borrowing from the color and flower revolutions of Eastern Europe or Central Asia, they called them the Jasmine and Lotus revolutions, respectively. But such names are meaningless, as they do not reflect the spirit of these revolutions.

People in Tunisia and Egypt revolted primarily to become free; to restore their dignity; to regain respect for themselves. Hence, these were revolutions marked by the deafening calls for freedom and dignity.

As Martin Luther King Jr. once reminded his fellow oppressed compatriots at the height of their struggle against a repressive system, “I am somebody. I am a person. I am a man with dignity and honor. I have a rich and noble history.”

Indeed these words capture the essence of the revolutions underway in the Arab world today.

In part II, on our Friday-Sunday site, Al-Amin will examine the consequences of Egypt’s revolution.

Esam Al-Amin can be reached at alamin1919@gmail.com

FROM COUNTERPUNCH

DEMOCRACY NOW! FEBRUARY 17, 2011

Defiant Student Protesters Force Withdrawal of Puerto Rican Police from Restive Campus

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

FINALLY GOT THE NEWS

YOUNG EGYPTIAN PERFORMERS RECRUIT AL-TAHRIR SQ PROTESTORS FOR NEW HIT

THANKS TONI!

The Voice of Freedom

DEMOCRACY NOW! FEBRUARY 16, 2011

"A War on Women": GOP Bills Target Abortion, Family Planning, Sexual and Reproductive Health Services

STEVE ALLEN ON TV

Mr. and Mrs. Steven Allen--What's My Line

Jerry Lee Lewis - 3rd Steve Allen Show 1957 (extended version)

Tim Buckley on the Steve Allen Show (1969)

Jack Kerouac on The Steve Allen Show

Elvis Presley Steve Allen Show Jul 1956: I Want & Hound Dog

STEVE ALLEN - ARCHIVE INTERVIEW

Steve Allen - Archive Interview Part 1 of 11

Steve Allen - Archive Interview Part 2 of 11

Steve Allen - Archive Interview Part 3 of 11

Steve Allen - Archive Interview Part 4 of 11

Steve Allen - Archive Interview Part 5 of 11

Steve Allen - Archive Interview Part 6 of 11

Steve Allen - Archive Interview Part 7 of 11

Steve Allen - Archive Interview Part 8 of 11

Steve Allen - Archive Interview Part 9 of 11

Steve Allen - Archive Interview Part 10 of 11

Steve Allen - Archive Interview Part 11 of 11

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

DEMOCRACY NOW! FEBRUARY 15, 2011

Obama’s $3.7 Trillion Budget Calls for Military Spending Increases and Deep Cuts to Social Service Programs

NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS AND WORLD BATTLEGROUND

A Time-Lapse Map of Every Nuclear Explosion Since 1945 - by Isao Hashimoto

World Battleground, 1000 years of war in 5 minutes

Monday, February 14, 2011

NEIL YOUNG

NEIL YOUNG WINS FIRST GRAMMY FOR MUSIC, BEST ROCK SONG

Neil Young - Angry World

Neil Young Exclusive on Q TV

Neil Young - Hitchhiker (Video Clip)

Neil Young - Love And War (Video)

Neil Young - Walk With Me

Neil Young - My Heart (Video)

Neil Young - Downtown (Video)

LEONARD COHEN REVISITED

Who By Fire (with a mind-blowing assist from saxophone giant Sonny Rollins)

Sisters of Mercy - Leonard Cohen (From the Movie Mc Cabe and Mrs Miller)

Leonard Cohen - Tower of Song

Leonard Cohen on Q TV (CBC exclusive)

Leonard Cohen Hallelujah Live

Leonard Cohen There is a war

Leonard Cohen - The Dealer

RIP CHARLES E SILBERMAN

Charles E. Silberman, Who Wrote About Racism in the U.S., Dies at 86

DEMOCRACY NOW! FEBRUARY 14, 2011

“This Is A Dream Come True”: Egyptians Celebrate in Cairo After Mubarak Resigns

Sunday, February 13, 2011

WE ALL LIVE IN A MAFIA NEIGHBORHOOD NOW

Sam Smith

Opponents of the Supreme Court case that unleashed corporate funding of campaigns have largely concentrated on its effects upon elections. But it is becoming ever more clear that the Citizens United decision is corrupting the daily work of legislators every day at every level in American politics and can fairly be described as one of the worst criminal acts in our history. We all live in a Mafia neighborhood now.

To declare that a corporation has the rights of a human person is to create a form of segregation and discrimination based not on ethnicity but on wealth. More than a little of the mounting madness of American politics can be traced to politicians no longer caring what their voters think, but only about the views of a tiny, rich minority that controls their chances of holding office.

Take Maine, the state in which I live and one that has had a reputation for decency and forthrightness, especially in environmental matters. But backed by out-of-state corporate funding, the new rightwing governor, Paul LePage (who won with only 39% of the vote thanks to a Democratic-independent split of the rest) is proposing a series of fake reforms that are totally out of keeping with the traditions of the state.

What is both fascinating and scary about these measures is that not even your average Maine conservative was demanding them. So why push them?

Colin Woodard in the Portland Phoenix gives the answer:

|||| The governor has continued to insist that "most of the proposals" he developed came "directly from business owners and managers who have attended the Red Tape Workshops," but the wish list itself tells a different story: it literally has the marks of corporate lobbyists all over it.

The official copy of the wish list LePage submitted to the legislature has lobbying powerhouse Preti Flaherty Beliveau & Pachios's distinctive eight-digit document tracking numbers stamped on each page, suggesting it originated not in Augusta, but at the law firm's offices at Portland's One City Center.

"For God's sake, if you're going to stab Mother Nature in the back, at least wipe your prints off before you drop the knife," said Representative Bob Duchesne of Hudson, the ranking Democrat on both the environment committee and the new regulatory-reform committee. . . "I think this shows the lobbyists created the list and gave it back to the governor."||||

Woodard notes:

|||| Lobbying disclosures on file with the state Ethics Commission show both PHRMA and Merck paid [lobbyist] Robinson to defeat the Kid-Safe Products Act, a 2008 law that phased out toxic chemicals in toys, car seats, baby clothes, and other children's products. The American Petroleum Institute and drug maker Astrazeneca paid [lobbyist] Aho to do the same. The governor's wish list calls for "revisions to prohibitions of chemicals and materials in products" saying that "if the state is going to regulate consumer products at all, it should only do so when clearly justified on risk-benefit or cost benefit basis.". . .

Another of [lobbyist] Robinson's clients, the Toy Industry Association of America, was among the out-of-state interests that tried to stop the Bureau of Environmental Protection from banning the use of Bisphenol-A in baby bottles, sippy cups, and other food containers last year. BPA has also been banned in the European Union, Canada, Minnesota, Connecticut, and Chicago; Wal-Mart and other major retailers have stopped selling baby products containing the substance. LePage's wish list seeks to "Repeal BPA rule and rely on federal EPA and FDA standards," which permit the substance.||||

Was this the result of a grassroots rebellion against safe sippy cups?

Said Amanda Sears, associate director of the Environmental Health Strategy Center: "Not a single Maine business testified in opposition to the regulations on BPA. The opposition to these proposals from these corporate lobbying firms is entirely about national precedent setting."

Adds Matt Prindiville of the Natural Resources Council of Maine: "I think you can safely say that there is unprecedented access for big out-of-state companies to influence legislative proposals in the state of Maine. . . Repealing these laws will not create a single job in Maine. There isn't a single Maine businessperson who says, 'you know, the reason I can't grow my business is that law that gets brominated fire retardants out of mattresses or BPA out of babies' bottles.' It's ludicrous."

Yes, ludicrous, but tragically real. And if this is the sort of thing that can happen in one of the nation's cleaner states, think of what goes on now in Illinois, California or Texas.

It couldn't be happening at a worse time. With budget crises as the foil, politicians at every level are using the economy as an excuse to do exactly what the big bucks have been demanding all along: cut social welfare, community services, attack labor unions, do away with health and environmental reforms and so forth.

Leading the con is our own president, Barack Obama. Billions for banks but a drastically failing foreclosure rescue program. High speed rail for the upper classes but a massive cut in heating fuel assistance for the poor. And so on into the ever darkening and ever colder night.

And at the heart of it all: the Supreme Court's decision to let corporations pretend that they are human persons, one of the most destructive lies ever concocted in American politics. If corporations were really persons, the ones now daily bribing our politicians would be in jail instead of in power.

There are things we can do about it, such as a grassroots rebellion including amending the Constitution to end corporate personhood. But in the meanwhile, don't let the politicians and the media fool you. It's not really about politics anymore. Your vote is now worth a fraction of what it once was. It's about bribery, the most successful form of bipartisanship in America today.

FROM SAM SMITH'S UNDERNEWS

EGYPT'S ARMY HIGH COMMAND HAS ANNOUNCED

1. IT WILL ONLY STAY TO RULE UNTIL SEPTEMBER ELECTIONS (FOR A MAXIMUM OF SIX MONTHS) OR
LEAVE BEFORE IF THERE IS ANYONE AUTHORITY ELECTED

2. THE CURRENT CABINET WILL STAY FOR NOW

3. THE ARMY HIGH COMMAD HAS DISSOLVED THE PARLIAMENT AND THE CONSTITUTION

ANNA NICOLE SMITH

FIRST OF ALL I DO NOT INTEND ANY OF THE VIDEOS BELOW TO ACT AS VEHICLES FOR DISRESPECTING
ANNA NICOLE, OR ANYONE AROUND HER, OR EVEN PEOPLE WHO WERE DEFINITELY HER PARASITES,
WHO SAW AN OPPORTUNITY, AND SADLY THAT WAS ALL THEY SAW
IT'S TRUE SHE WAS AN AMBITIOUS GIRL WHO STOOPED AT LITTLE TO GET WHAT SHE WANTED, BUT THEN, THAT IS A CONDITION A LOT SHARE WITH HER, ALTHOUGH THEY DISGUISE IT MORE TO THE POINT OF HYPOCRISY
I BELIEVE THOSE WHO LIVE IN GLASS HOUSES SHOULDN'T DENOUNCE ANNA NICOLE'S LIFETSYLE SO HYPOCRITICALLY, THEY NEED TO BE MORE SYMPATHETIC OF HER AFTER ALL HER BEHAVIOUR WAS NOT A SYMPTOM OF ANYTHING, BUT A PRODUCT OF A GENERAL ATTITUDE IN OUR SOCIETY,
'THE GET OVER' SYNDROME
DESPITE APPEARANCES, WHO IS TO SAY SHE DID NOT PAY DEARLY WHEN SHE MADE HER DEAL WITH CELEBRITY?
DON'T JUDGE SO QUICKLY, OR ADMONISH, OR POINT FINGERS, OR PITY, WHICH IS CONDESCENDING TO SAY THE LEAST
FIRST GET A LIFE
SECOND IF YOU CAN'Y COME UP WITH A WAY TO HELP, SHUT UP AND GET OUT OF THE WAY, YOU'D LEARN
A GREAT LESSON IN HUMILITY FOR SURE
WHAT WE DO FOR OTHERS COUNTS MORE ANYWAY THAN THE DUMB THINGS WE DO FOR OURSELVES, THAT MAY CLASSIFY US AS FOOLS IN THE EYES OF MANY, IN OUR PURSUIT OF FORTUNE AND FAME

Anna Nicole Smith WikiLeaks

Anna Nicole Smith's home

TITLE TO CLICK

Anna Nicole Smith In Her Bedroom

Anna Nicole Smith's Drug Habits Profiled

Anna Nicole Smith's Last Interview Ever From Entertainment Tonight

In Loving Memory of Anna Nicole Smith & Daniel (THANKS TO BigBroWatcher. SONG: "I'm Going Home" by Chris Daughtry)

I DON'T RELISH THE JOB OF 'SOUNDING OFF' WHEN ENOUGH HAS BECOME ENOUGH
INSTEAD I PREFER TO DO SOMETHING POSITIVE (HOW OUTRE) IN THE FACE OF SO MUCH NEGATIVE
REST IN PEACE ANNA AND DANIEL, WE WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER YOU AS A MOTHER AND HER SON, AS WE SHOULD

ANNA NICOLE SMITH IN A MUSIC VIDEO

Will You Love Me Tomorrow (1993 Promo Video) (BRYAN FERRY)

DOWN ON ME ETC

YouTube 'Down On Me' Lip Sync Contest

Jeremih x 50 Cent - "Down On Me" - 3D Version

'Down on Me' Video Shoot- Media Interviews

Power 92 - Remix the Runway

Jeremih ft. 50 Cent "Down on Me" BTS Teaser

Down On Me -Jeremih ft. 50 Cent (OFFICIAL NON 3D Version)

Jeremih feat 50 Cent-Down On Me

Saturday, February 12, 2011

LEONARD COHEN

NOW, WE TURN TO THE POET WHOSE LYRICS ARE THE TITLE OF THIS BLOG
AND WE'LL JUST SCHMUNTZ TO THE VERSION OF A YIDDISHE LOVE SONG
GREAT LIKENESS, LEONARD, OY THE VIOLIN!

Leonard Cohen - Dance Me to the End Of Love

Leonard Cohen - Everybody Knows

Leonard Cohen - One of Us Cannot Be Wrong

Leonard cohen - the future. Jools Holland

THE LAST SONG IS DEDICATED TO 'LADY LIBERTY' THAT SOPHISTICATED AND HYPOCRITICAL WHORE WHO STANDS
OFF NEW YORK CITY, WHO WELCOMES EVERYONE IN THE WORLD WITH OPEN ARMS AND THE BEST LINE THEY EVER HEARD
AND YES, I'M THE UNCIRCUMCISED DESCENDANT
OF A COUPLE OF JEWS WHO WERE MASS-BAPTIZED IN A CROWDED
SQUARE IN LISBON, IN THE 1400-1500'S
'WHEN THEY SAID REPENT, I WONDERED WHAT THEY MEANT'
KING D. MANUEL'S RESPONSE TO QUEEN ISABELLA OF SPAIN'S INJUNCTION THAT HE EXTERMINATE OR EXPEL 'THEM',
AS SHE WAS DOING
AND MY RESPONSE IS, 'YOU MAKE ME WANNA PUKE, BITCH!'
I GIVE MY ANSCESTORS CREDIT FOR EVERY OUNCE OF COMPASSION I OWN, SOMETHING SOME OF MY 'BROTHERS'
IN ISRAEL FORGOT TO INCLUDE IN THEIR DREAM OF ZION
NO ONE ENVISIONED THE 'WAY' IT ALL TURNED OUT, THE NIGHTMARE WE ALL HAVE TO THANK THESE FOLK FOR
AND ONE OF THE BIG REASONS FOR WHAT JUST HAPPENED IN EGYPT
THE LESSON TO LEARN HERE? WE'RE ON EARTH TO LEARN TO CARE AND BE KIND TO OTHERS, ESPECIALLY THOSE
WITH LESS THAN US
KATE HEPBURN SAID SOMETHING LIKE THAT, AND I AGREE

Leonard Cohen "Democracy"

Democracy

It's coming through a hole in the air,
from those nights in Tiananmen Square.
It's coming from the feel
that this ain't exactly real,
or it's real, but it ain't exactly there.
From the wars against disorder,
from the sirens night and day,
from the fires of the homeless,
from the ashes of the gay:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.
It's coming through a crack in the wall;
on a visionary flood of alcohol;
from the staggering account
of the Sermon on the Mount
which I don't pretend to understand at all.
It's coming from the silence
on the dock of the bay,
from the brave, the bold, the battered
heart of Chevrolet:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

It's coming from the sorrow in the street,
the holy places where the races meet;
from the homicidal bitchin'
that goes down in every kitchen
to determine who will serve and who will eat.
From the wells of disappointment
where the women kneel to pray
for the grace of God in the desert here
and the desert far away:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

Sail on, sail on
O mighty Ship of State!
To the Shores of Need
Past the Reefs of Greed
Through the Squalls of Hate
Sail on, sail on, sail on, sail on.

It's coming to America first,
the cradle of the best and of the worst.
It's here they got the range
and the machinery for change
and it's here they got the spiritual thirst.
It's here the family's broken
and it's here the lonely say
that the heart has got to open
in a fundamental way:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

It's coming from the women and the men.
O baby, we'll be making love again.
We'll be going down so deep
the river's going to weep,
and the mountain's going to shout Amen!
It's coming like the tidal flood
beneath the lunar sway,
imperial, mysterious,
in amorous array:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

Sail on, sail on ...

I'm sentimental, if you know what I mean
I love the country but I can't stand the scene.
And I'm neither left or right
I'm just staying home tonight,
getting lost in that hopeless little screen.
But I'm stubborn as those garbage bags
that Time cannot decay,
I'm junk but I'm still holding up
this little wild bouquet:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

LEONARD COHEN

NO, IT ISN'T HERE YET, CONTRARY TO WHAT YOU'D BEEN LEAD TO THINK
'WE'RE WORKING ON IT'
WELL, LET'S HOPE IT GETS HERE SOON

EGYPTIAN REVOLUTION: A WRAP-UP

Egypt Cleanup Begins, Army Commits to Transfer

History Made In Egypt

'A Revolution Well Done' - Cenk After Mubarak Steps Down In Egypt

HRC FOR EQUALITY

Joan Rivers for HRC's New Yorkers for Marriage Equality

Ricky Martin at the 2010 HRC National Dinner

P!nk at the 2010 HRC National Dinner

HRC National Dinner: President Obama

HRC National Dinner: Jane Lynch

HRC National Dinner: "Glee" Cast

Whoopi Goldberg for HRC's New Yorkers for Marriage Equality

Moby for HRC's New Yorkers for Marriage Equality

Julianne Moore for HRC's New Yorkers for Marriage Equality

Barbara Bush Gay Marriage Supporter

Fran Drescher for HRC's New Yorkers for Marriage Equality

FIVE MORE VIDEOS FROM AL JAZEERA

Egypt's remarkable 18 days

Jubilant scenes in Egypt's Tahrir Square

Khaled Said's mother celebrates Egyptian revolution

Arab world reacts to Mubarak exit

Cairo cleans up after revolution

Friday, February 11, 2011

200 COUNTRIES, 200 YEARS, 4 MINUTES

Hans Rosling's 200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes - The Joy of Stats - BBC Four

MICHAEL JACKSON

Michael Jackson - Man In The Mirror (Official Music Video)

Michael Jackson - Black Or White Official Video Full Version Part 1

Michael Jackson - Black Or White Official Video Full Verison Part 2

Michael Jackson - Billie Jean, Official Music Video (High Quality)

Michael Jackson - We Are The World (Official Music Video)

MORE CELEBRATION IN CAIRO: FROM AL JAZEERA ENGLISH

Scenes from Cairo: Mubarak is Gone

Scenes from Tahrir Square: Flares and Fireworks

Scenes from Tahrir Square: The Revolution Victorious

Revolution in Egypt

The rise and fall of Hosni Mubarak

CELEBRATION IN EGYPT

Egypt explodes in celebration as Mubarak stepping down

Hosni Mubarak resigns as Egypt prez: Video of Tahrir square first reaction

Democracy protests bring down Egypt's Mubarak

Crisis in Cairo: Hosni Mubarak Steps Down as President of Egypt

Mubarak Resigns as Egypt President; Protesters Cheer

Mubarak quits: Jubilant scenes in Tahrir Square and across Egypt

Egypt President Mubarak steps down - President of Egypt forced to resign after Riots and Protests

ROBOTIC HUCK FINN

Replacing the "n-word" with "robot" in Huck Finn

MUBARAK HAS GONE!

THE PEOPLE IN TAHRIR SQUARE ARE BESIDE THEMSELVES!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

18TH DAY OF PROTESTS IN EGYPT

Parker / Spitzer: Egypt: 'Very bloody' Friday expected

Egypt TOP Story of Revolution Primer documental de las revueltas de los primeros 5 dias (25-29 Jan)

egypt: tahrir (liberation) square reaction after hosni mubarak speech 10 february 2011

Ron Paul "I Believe Tomorrow Will Be A Very Wild & Violent Day In Egypt!"

Rally Outside The United Nations In Support Of Egyptian Protesters

MR WITH-IT RESPONDS TO HIS PEOPLES' WISH THAT HE LEAVE

President Hosni Mubarak Speech To Egypt 02-10-2011Handing Power to Vice President.Egyptian State TV

JUST A LITTLE DENSE, OR INSENSITIVE FROM BIRTH? OR PERHAPS TOO ADDICTED TO
THOSE DOLLARS? YOUR GUESS IS AS GOOD AS ANY!
ONE THING'S FOR SURE, CLUELESS IN CAIRO. . .

AL JAZEERA ENGLISH: LIVE STREAM

Al Jazeera English: Live Stream - Watch Now - Al Jazeera English

THE PEOPLE ARE FURIOUS ALL OVER EGYPT

IN TAHRIR SQUARE THEY HAVE CALLED FOR A BIGGER DEMONSTRATION THAN EVER TOMORROW, IN ALEXANDRIA THE
CROWD HAS TURNED TO GO STRAIGHT TO THE MILITARY BASE THERE, FOR SUPPORT ONE WAY OR ANOTHER
TO OUST MUBARAK
THEY WERE LEAD ON BY THE GOVERNMENT ALL DAY AND THEY ARE JUST FURIOUS
PEOPLE ON AL JAZEERA ENGLISH ARE WONDERING HOW MUBARAK CAN BE SO OBTUSE, AND WONDERING WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN TOMORROW SINCE THE PEOPLE HAVE BECOME SO ANGRY (IN THE MILLIONS)

IF YOU CANNOT GET AL JAZEERA ENGLISH, YOU CAN GET IT FOR FREE BY GETTING 'LIVESTATION' AT
http://www.livestation.com/
STATE TV HAS SUDDENLY STOPPED SHOWING THE CROWD AT TAHRIR SQUARE, ONCE THEY TURNED ANGRY AND STARTED
SHAKING THEIR SHOES AT MUBARAK

THE PRESIDENT STARTED AND ENDED HIS SPEECH

STUBBORNLY REFUSING TO GO
TAHRIR SQUARE IS SO JAMMED, IT'S INCREDIBLE, MUBARAK WAS ABOUT 50 MINUTES LATE, STATE TV BEGAN SHOWING
TAHRIR (EXACTLY AS IN AL JAZEERA ENGLISH) 10:30 PM IN CAIRO, THE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN SINGING THE NATIONAL
ANTHEM FOR THE LAST TWO HOURS
DURING THE SPEECH, THE PEOPLE SHOOK THEIR SHOES AT HIM, AND HAVE GROWN EXTREMELY ANGRY AND ARE NOW
SHOUTING SLOGANS AS THE CROWD CONTINUES TO GROW
THE PEOPLE ARE DISAPPOINTED AND MORE CONVINCED THAN EVER MUBARAK SHOULD GO

WE ARE WAITING FOR PRESIDENT MUBARAK'S SPEECH

I AM GLUED TO AL JAZEERA ENGLISH, THAT IS SHOWING ENORMOUS CROWDS IN CAIRO,
PEOPLE ARE SINGING, CLAPPING, AND CELEBRATING, THE CROWD RECEDED FOR A FEW MINUTES,
BUT IS GROWING AGAIN STEADILY IN TAHRIR SQUARE - IT LOOKS LIKE A HUGE PARTY!

IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THE EGYPTIAN MILITARY

HAS STEPPED IN, IN A COUP, AND PRESIDENT MUBARAK HAS RESIGNED AS HEAD OF EGYPT

Egypt Army Steps In, Sign Mubarak Has Lost Power

Reports: Hosni Mubarak Steps Down as President Of Egypt

10 feb EGYPT Military staging coup (posible) Mubarak left EGYPT, Revolution 2011

MUBARAK IS DUE, ANY MINUTE, TO MAKE A STATE TV ANNOUNCEMENT

DEMOCRACY NOW! FEBRUARY 10, 2011

Striking Egyptian Workers Fuel the Uprising After 10 Years of Labor Organizing

'WHEN WILL OBAMA, THE PEACE PRIZE LAUREATE, DO SOMETHING IN THE NAME OF PEACE?'

Obama and Egyptian Liberation

By KEVIN ALEXANDER GRAY

President Barack Obama needs to stop being two-faced on Egypt.

On one side of his public face he gives the impression of pressing Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak to consider his legacy and “leave power in a way that would give his country the best chance for peace and democracy.”

But then he sent presidential envoy Frank Wisner to Cairo, who later publicly urged Mubarak to remain in power, saying, “President Mubarak's continued leadership is critical.”

In the realpolitik world of Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton it made sense to send someone Mubarak knew to deliver their message. Wisner’s Washington-based law firm, Patton Boggs works for the dictator's government.

After being called out on the Egyptian streets for Wisner’s comments the Administration put out that his comments “were his own” as though Wisner were some “disavowed” member of the mythical “IMF” - Impossible Missions Force.

Yet tossing Wisner into the fray is consistent with Clinton’s initial expression of “confidence in the stability of his [Mubarak] regime” and Vice-President Joe Biden saying, “I would not refer to him as a dictator.”

Even so, it leaves Obama (and the rest of world) where we started out – what’s the United States’ response to the unraveling of neo-colonialism?

Obama should consider his own legacy and let the American people know whose side he’s on: the dictator’s, or those who clamor courageously for democracy.

The most often used word coming from the Obama Administration is “transition” which suggests they are biding their time. Which boils down to what Egyptians protesters clearly see, feel and hear. That U.S. officials “speak about their own interest, not ours.” Another said: “Tell America that we get to choose our president . . . not them.” Yet another opined: “We believe America is against us.”

Mohamed ElBaradei, Egypt’s Nobel Peace Prize recipient, has blasted Obama’s stance by saying: “To ask a dictator to implement democratic measures after thirty years in power is an oxymoron. It will not end until he leaves.”

Unlike Obama, ElBaradei actually earned his Nobel Peace Prize while serving at the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency). He stuck his neck out against George W. Bush over his false claims that Iraq had a nuclear program along with stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons in 2002, and in 2003 he revealed that the documents that the Bush White House had touted about Iraq’s alleged purchase of uranium in Niger were fabricated. He also battled the Bush administration over the issue of Iran’s nuclear program.

In demanding an end to Mubarak’s dictatorship, ElBaradei stands alongside Nawal El Saadawi, a leading Egyptian feminist, sociologist, medical doctor and writer.

He stands alongside Ahmad Maher, the 28-year-old construction engineer and leader of the secular, pro-labor April 6 movement (which takes its name from April 6, 2008, when a series of strikes and labor actions by textile workers in Mahalla led to a growing general strike by workers and residents and then, on April 6, faced a brutal crackdown by security forces).

He stands alongside Asma Mahfouz whose Internet video outlng Mubarak’s abuses went viral.

He stands alongside Wael Ghonim, the Google employee detained for two weeks by Egyptian security forces as the January protest in Tahrir (“Liberation”) Square began.

He stands alongside dissident Ayman Nour, a former presidential candidate and member of the Egyptian Parliament and chair of the El Ghad party who was imprisoned in 2005 by the Mubarak government for political reasons and released on health grounds in 2009.

They all stand alongside the National Association for Change, the Egyptian Movement for Change, members of the Facebook-formed We Are All Khaled Said group (named after a man whose death in a brutal police beating was captured in a photograph circulated over the Internet), The Muslim Brotherhood, and other banned political parties and organizations such as Kefaya, The Democratic Front and the liberal Wafd (which means “delegation), just to name a few.

They, and millions of other Egyptians, are facing and fighting injustice.

Meanwhile, Obama seems intent on managing injustice.

The reasoning the Nobel Peace Prize committee used to justify what many considered a “premature” award, an honor that Obama admitted, “ he didn’t deserve...” was the hope “that he would live up to it.”

What the world has witnessed from him to this point is: an increase in the use of deadly unmanned drones wreaking “collateral damage” in Pakistan and Afghanistan’s tribal areas, support for an assassination program, contractors replacing soldiers in Iraq, an escalation of the war in Afghanistan, and backtracking on the closing of Guantánamo Bay, just to name a few of the disappointments.

This leaves people asking: “When will Obama do something in the name of peace?”

A foreign policy with peace at its core would mean: instead of sending more US warships to the region, reapportion some of the $1.3 billion plus in annual military aid compared to about $250 million in economic aid to Egypt, so that a much greater share goes directly to people instead of the military; that the United States will no longer “rendered” unto Egypt (or anyplace else) alledged “terrorists” kidnapped by the U.S. who are then tortured by the same secret police that have been torturing, terrrorizing, extorting and abusing the Egyptian people; investigation and prosecution of U.S. officials who have ordered renderings, and public discloure and status of those individuals taken without an open and due process and; a focus on freedom, democracy and universal human rights instead of global capitalism/corporatism and militarism.

Obama shouldn’t be playing games with the Egyptian people, but that’s what he’s doing. At the moment, the Obama administration seems to be hoping that Omar Suleiman, Egypt’s spy chief and now vice president, can reshuffle the totalitarian government and things will quiet down. Suleiman was Washington’s “point man” in Egypt for the policy of renditions. This is the CIA’s illegal policy of kidnapping detainees and shipping them to foreign countries, like Egypt, where they were tortured. Suleiman himself has a chilling reputation when it comes to torture.

In the mid-1990s, Suleiman worked with the Bill Clinton’s administration in devising and implementing its rendition program. Back then, rendition involved kidnapping suspected terrorists and transferring them to a third country for trial. Under the Bush administration, US renditions became “extraordinary,” meaning the objective of kidnapping and extra-legal transfer was no longer to bring a suspect to trial - but rather for interrogation to seek actionable intelligence – by any means necessary. The extraordinary rendition program landed some people in CIA black sites - and others were turned over for torture-by-proxy to U.S. dependent regimes. Egypt figured large as a torture destination of choice, as did Suleiman as Egypt’s torturer-in-chief. Suleiman himself reportedly tortured at least one person extraordinarily rendered by the CIA to Egypt —Egyptian-born Australian citizen Mamdouh Habib.

So one thing is for certain: Suleiman is not the man to bring democracy to the country. His hands are “too dirty and bloody.”

And given the history of the security police in Egypt, at the top of the reformers’ list is establishing a criminal justice system based on human and civil rights protections, reform (and prosecution) of some members of the police and secret security forces with the possible elimination of the latter. Consequently, with the elimination of the secret police, the U.S. will have to do its own dirty work.

Obama should be standing squarely not with Suleiman but with the Egyptian people and their right to reject an oppressive and brutal regime.

And we should not demand or expect the Egyptian people to automatically put U.S. interests before their own, especially as they endure being fired upon by tear gas canisters with “made in the USA” written on them.

If the United States is going to talk the talk of freedom and democracy, then it has to walk the walk. Anything less is hypocritical.

Kevin Alexander Gray is a civil rights organizer in South Carolina and author of Waiting for Lightning to Strike! The Fundamentals of Black Politics, published by CounterPunch Books. He can be reached at kagamba@bellsouth.net.