Obama’s Mixed Messages on Egypt Reveal Internal Division

Obama’s Mixed Messages on Egypt Reveal Internal Division

Obama’s Mixed Messages on Egypt Reveal Internal Division

Obama’s mixed messages on Egypt show that the administration can’t decide whether to advocate for incremental change or to stand behind the protestors.

Facebook
Twitter
Email
Flipboard
Pocket

The Nation’s Washington DC editor Chris Hayes joined MSNBC’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell last night to discuss the Obama administration’s mixed response to the Mubarak regime.

The vague messages could result from internal divisions within the administration. There are factions pushing for incremental change to support regional stability, and those urging full support of the protestors, Hayes says.

But Obama’s the message yesterday was the strongest statement yet that basically said ‘not good enough.’ “The balance of power… had kind of reached a tipping point in favor of a more forward-leaning support of the protestors,” Hayes says.

-Sara Jerving

 

We cannot back down

We now confront a second Trump presidency.

There’s not a moment to lose. We must harness our fears, our grief, and yes, our anger, to resist the dangerous policies Donald Trump will unleash on our country. We rededicate ourselves to our role as journalists and writers of principle and conscience.

Today, we also steel ourselves for the fight ahead. It will demand a fearless spirit, an informed mind, wise analysis, and humane resistance. We face the enactment of Project 2025, a far-right supreme court, political authoritarianism, increasing inequality and record homelessness, a looming climate crisis, and conflicts abroad. The Nation will expose and propose, nurture investigative reporting, and stand together as a community to keep hope and possibility alive. The Nation’s work will continue—as it has in good and not-so-good times—to develop alternative ideas and visions, to deepen our mission of truth-telling and deep reporting, and to further solidarity in a nation divided.

Armed with a remarkable 160 years of bold, independent journalism, our mandate today remains the same as when abolitionists first founded The Nation—to uphold the principles of democracy and freedom, serve as a beacon through the darkest days of resistance, and to envision and struggle for a brighter future.

The day is dark, the forces arrayed are tenacious, but as the late Nation editorial board member Toni Morrison wrote “No! This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

I urge you to stand with The Nation and donate today.

Onwards,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

Ad Policy
x