Mubarak defiant: it is Israel (and US), stupid

He has just given his speech.  He is bizarrely defiant.  Says that he won't seek another term, as if this was the issue.  He hit hard against the protesters and even addressed the "peasants and workers of Egypt" (like when Trotsky gave his first speech in New York City and addressed the crowd in the Bronx as "workers and peasants of the Bronx").   He is so weird: he talks like he is still in control and talks about a process that will last for months.  The man is going to leave but with Egypt in flames behind them.  The situation only got more tense and more potentially explosive.  But I will say this: this defiance does not come out of nowhere.  I can't believe that this is the same leader who is rejected by his own people before TV cameras.  He even reminded us of his military role: yes brag of the defeats of 1967 and 1973.  But I speculate this: Israel so freaked out, and it was so clear and blatant.  They realized that peace with Egypt won't survive.  So the US scrambled: sent an envoy to Cairo: realized that there is no US puppet to lead the country so the scenario of defiance was adopted. His tone and stance of defiance is matched by the rhetoric of the Obama administration which is clear in its avoidance of the issues of democracy in Egypt.  And don't forget that many racists lead the US policy making in the Middle East (people like Feltman at State and Shapiro at NSC) and they concur with Kaplan's racist dictum about the Arabs and democracy.   US is digging itself in a bigger hole, as we speak.  Aljazeera is now silent: in the sense it is showing the protesters at Tahriri Square and they are in a state of rage that is even scary from my living room.  The man is asking for trouble: they will physically push him out if he does not leave.  Israel wants him to fight to the last Egyptian.  But that won't work.