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Remember when Fox Newsies loved democracy in the Middle East? That was when George W. Bush needed excuses for his invasion into Iraq. Now that democracy has actually spread there, not so much. Today on Fox & Friends, Laura Ingraham openly expressed a preference for Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak - and met with approval from host Steve Doocy.

In a discussion about cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, Ingraham said:

The Muslim Brotherhood? Well, we’ll see if they’re gonna be able to be honest brokers in any type of negotiation. I think any type of agreement for a cease fire is going to be probably brokered in Egypt. Mubarak would have been a much clearer and I think far more honest broker than (current president Mohamed) Morsi but we’ll see.

As she said that last sentence, Steve Doocy murmured “Sure” in agreement. He added, “The Arab spring has certainly changed a lot of stuff over there.” It was clear he did not mean it had changed for the better.

Yes, if only Egypt had stuck with a brutal leader the citizens didn’t want – because it would have suited us and Israel better.

When you have one family in charge, soaking everyone in Egypt for the right to do business, why, I can see how people might get a little angry about that:

Mubarak -- who stepped down on Friday in the wake of massive protests that have gripped Cairo and Alexandria for weeks -- and his family have a net worth of at least $5 billion, analysts tell The Huffington Post. Recent media reports pegging the family fortune at between $40 and $70 billion are considered to be exaggerated.

Much of their fortune has reportedly been invested in offshore bank accounts in Europe and in upscale real estate. On Friday, Switzerland froze accounts possibly belonging to Mubarak and his family, a spokesman told Reuters, under new laws governing ill-gotten gains. Last month, the Swiss froze the accounts of Mubarak's ally, ousted Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, whose overthrow inspired the first protests in Cairo.

The Mubarak family reportedly owns properties around the world, from London and Paris to New York and Beverly Hills. In addition to homes in the Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh and the upscale Cairo district of Heliopolis, they also have a six-story mansion in the Knightsbridge section of London, a house near the Bois de Bologne in Paris and two yachts.

Largely through Mubarak's two sons, Gamal and Alaa, the family controls a network of companies that earn money through concessions wrangled from foreign companies that do business in Egypt, according to prominent businessmen and "Corruption In Egypt: The Black Cloud Is Not Disappearing," an investigative report compiled in 2006 by a coalition of opposition groups. (The report, which names the companies allegedly owned by the Mubarak brothers and details multiple instance of corruption by government officials, has been cited by numerous international good government groups, such as Transparency International, but it was taken offline and is no longer available on the Internet. The Huffington Post obtained a copy, replete with rhetorical flourishes and thinly-sourced allegations, which is available here.)

"Egypt's state under Mubarak's regime is an embodiment of corruption," concludes the report, with descriptions of numerous allegations of corruption involving bribery, undue influence and nepotism.

Continue reading »

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[Scarce has much more.]

It's quite the scene in Cairo:

"We have brought down the regime, we have brought down the regime," chanted the hundreds of thousands of people who packed into Tahrir Square for "Farewell Friday."

Egyptians waved flags, cried, cheered and embraced when the news reached them through a public address system. "Finally we are free," said Safwan Abou Stat, a 60-year-old protester.

... The military made clear it also wanted the demonstrators off the streets and for life to return to normal. It was clearly ignored.

Hundreds of thousands of people crammed into the area around Tahrir Square.

Live television pictures from Alexandria also showed massed ranks of people filling a main boulevard in the city and Al-Jazeera reported there were other demonstrations in Suez, Mahala, Tanta and Ismailia.

A group of army officers, including a lieutenant colonel, had also defected to the protesters. "The armed forces' solidarity movement with the people has begun," Major Ahmed Ali Shouman told Reuters by telephone just after dawn prayers, saying he had handed in his weapon. "Some 15 officers ... have joined the people's revolution."

From the Guardian:

he march from the presidential palace back to Tahrir square was a wall of sound. Car horns blared, amateur fireworks exploded centimetres above our heads,onlookers cheered raucously from the balcony above. Some people fainted, others unfurled their Egyptian flags in the middle of the street to pray, and many, many people had tears in their eyes.

Amid the jubilation though, there was a moment of reflection for those who died to make this day possible. 'Be happy martyrs, for today we feast at your victory,' sung the crowds.

On the ground were military police in red berets, all smiles and thumbs-up to demonstrators. Apprehension about what might happen next in an Egypt now under army control was being pushed aside to allow for celebrations, but as the procession reached the high-walled Ministry of Defence, Egyptians could not resist reminding their new overlords of who now held the balance of power in the Arab World's most populous nation. 'Here, here, the Egyptians are here,' they shouted up at darkened windows, pointing down to the street.

"For 18 days we have withstood tear gas, rubber bullets, live ammunition, molotov cocktails, thugs on horseback, the scepticism and fear of our loved ones, and the worst sort of ambivalence from an international community that claims to care about democracy," said Karim Medhat Ennarah, a protester who has provided the Guardian with updates throughout the uprising. "But we held our ground. We did it."

Isn't it funny how those tireless and bellicose defenders of "freedom" on our shores -- the American Right -- are the ones worrying and fearmongering about this outcome?

Robert Fisk on Mubarak's stubborn refusal to go after his army and most of his own ministers turned on him:

Last night, a military officer guarding the tens of thousands celebrating in Cairo threw down his rifle and joined the demonstrators, yet another sign of the ordinary Egyptian soldier's growing sympathy for the democracy demonstrators. We had witnessed many similar sentiments from the army over the past two weeks. But the critical moment came on the evening of 30 January when, it is now clear, Mubarak ordered the Egyptian Third Army to crush the demonstrators in Tahrir Square with their tanks after flying F-16 fighter bombers at low level over the protesters.

Many of the senior tank commanders could be seen tearing off their headsets – over which they had received the fatal orders – to use their mobile phones. They were, it now transpires, calling their own military families for advice. Fathers who had spent their lives serving the Egyptian army told their sons to disobey, that they must never kill their own people.

Thus when General Hassan al-Rawani told the massive crowds yesterday evening that "everything you want will be realised – all your demands will be met", the people cried back: "The army and the people stand together – the army and the people are united. The army and the people belong to one hand."

Last night, the Cairo court prevented three ministers – so far unnamed, although they almost certainly include the Minister of Interior – from leaving Egypt.

But neither the army nor Vice-President Suleiman are likely to be able to face the far greater demonstrations planned for today, a fact that was conveyed to 83-year-old Mubarak by Tantawi himself, standing next to Suleiman. Tantawi and another general – believed to be the commander of the Cairo military area – called Washington, according to a senior Egyptian officer, to pass on the news to Robert Gates at the Pentagon. It must have been a sobering moment. For days, the White House had been grimly observing the mass demonstrations in Cairo, fearful that they would turn into a mythical Islamist monster, frightened that Mubarak might leave, even more terrified he might not.

The events of the past 12 hours have not, alas, been a victory for the West. American and European leaders who rejoiced at the fall of communist dictatorships have sat glumly regarding the extraordinary and wildly hopeful events in Cairo – a victory of morality over corruption and cruelty – with the same enthusiasm as many East European dictators watched the fall of their Warsaw Pact nations. Calls for stability and an "orderly" transition of power were, in fact, appeals for Mubarak to stay in power – as he is still trying to do – rather than a ringing endorsement of the demands of the overwhelming pro-democracy movement that should have struck him down.

President Mubarak, you misunderstand America. Sure, we are historically willing to accommodate dictators, we have endorsed and supported your corrupt regime to serve perceived strategic interests. But even at our most cynical, we have our limits.

You, sir, have crossed a line our country will not abide. It's hard to deny the awe-inspiring power of a unified democratic uprising, and Egypt deserves real elections. And you need to get out of the way before some really spectacular cheekbones are endangered.

And there are economic consequences for Americans. If something happens to the Silver Fox, what else have those poor folks at CNN got? Parker/Spitzer? PARKER F-ING SPITZER? Those people need to eat, they have families.

Everybody cool out.

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Dick Morris has always given me the creeps, because he just gives off this nasty toe-sucking-troll-who-lives-under-the-bridge vibe. I guess after last night, we can make that a fascist toe-sucking troll:

MORRIS: I think that what Mubarak should be doing and what the Obama administration should be doing is aggressively confronting the demonstrators. I think that if we encourage the military to stand down, if we encourage the Mubarak supporters to refrain from controversy or even from violence, we really are opening the door to Islamic fundamentalist domination.

That was Morris describing why President Obama is really to blame for the crisis in Egypt to Laura Ingraham last night on Fox's The O'Reilly Factor. Notice that Morris couches the words so that he's not directly calling for the American administration to engage in acts of violence, but he does clearly say we should openly condone and support a dictator's street thugs in committing acts of violence.

This came as part of Morris' ongoing campaign to claim the President Obama "lost Egypt", or as he put it last night, Obama "broke Egypt, and now he owns it" -- a claim that seems to be gaining some circulation at Fox, which is increasingly desperate for anything, anything it can grasp for attacking Obama in this situation.

Even Dick Morris's disgusting grunts from under the bridge.

Todd Gregory at Media Matters has more.