News Nuggets 538

A striking picture of a quirky seafood restaurant in Portland, Oregon.  From National Geographic.

The White House's Plan to Push Mubarak Out of Egypt (Elspeth Reeve) from the Atlantic
"Getting Hosni Mubarak to quit Egypt is like trying to put a cat in a bathtub. Nevertheless, the White House, The New York Times' Helene Cooper and Mark Landler report, is working with Egyptian officials on a plan that would see Mubarak stepping down immediately and newly-appointed Vice President Omar Suleiman taking over, supported by the country's military. Mubarak still refuses to agree to such a plan--he wants to leave in September--but the talks are continuing anyway."

Egypt Endgame (Marc Lynch) from the Foreign Policy Magazine
"It's time to meet escalation with escalation and lay out, in private and public, that the Egyptian military now faces a clear and painful choice:  push Mubarak out now and begin a meaningful transition, or else face international isolation and a major rupture with the United States."

Egypt has Obama Cautiously Shifting World View on Democracy from the Washington Post
"So far, Obama's measured steps have drawn mostly praise across the political spectrum."

Why Obama and Washington Can't Solve the Egypt Crisis (John Barry) from the Daily Beast
"Obama and his team have tried every trick in the American Power playbook to end the crisis in Egypt. Now officials tell John Barry the frightening truth: They can't do a damn thing."
I don't get that this is 'frightening.'  If the US does have the capacity to "do something" the question then becomes -- should they do that thing?  I think Americans have a very poor track record in acting decisively in

A related item:
Bonfire of American Vanities (Timothy Egan) from the New York Times
"The brutal truth is this: where it ends in the cradle of civilization will not be America’s call. The particles of political energy are scrambled; to presume to know where they will re-align is to think the sun can be kept from rising on a given day.  But what we have in Egypt now, Tunisia last month, and perhaps Yemen in the days to come, is a fascinating real-time history lesson."

We Are All Egyptians (Nicholas Kristof) the New York Times
"I asked him as politely as I could what a double-amputee in a wheelchair was doing in a pitched battle involving Molotov cocktails, clubs, machetes, bricks and straight razors. “I still have my hands,” he said firmly. “God willing, I will keep fighting.”"

Does Egypt Prove Bush Right? (Fred Kaplan) from Slate
"No, his "freedom agenda" failed long before he left office. In this week of tumult and revolution throughout the Middle East, few spectacles have been more pathetic—more crudely and shamelessly vain—than the attempt by certain neocons to portray the rush of events as a vindication of their own long-discredited ideas."

The 'Freedom Agenda': Let's Try This Again (James Traub) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Egypt could be a watershed moment for democracy promotion in the Arab world -- but only if the United States understands how it went wrong the last time."

U.S. Pressure on Mubarak Opens a Rift With Arab Allies from the Wall Street Journal
"President Barack Obama's attempt to abruptly push aside Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in favor of a transition government has sparked a rift with key Arab allies Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, which fear the U.S. is opening the door for Islamist groups to gain influence and destabilize the region.  Vying to influence the outcome of events, Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. have sent public and private messages of solidarity to Mr. Mubarak and his vice president, longtime intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, diplomats said. The messages amount to support for the president and Mr. Suleiman to oversee the transition and to ensure that Islamists can't fill any possible power vacuum."
In my view, this is why Obama's measured approach has so far been the best possible option in the face of a no-win scenario for the Administration.

How the Press Attacks Help the Opposition (Howard Kurtz) from the Daily Beast
"As Mubarak's thugs viciously attack American journalists, Howard Kurtz says they only help the protesters' cause by making the horrors of dictatorship clearer to Westerners watching at home."

Britain Proves the Folly of GOP Economics (Robert Shrum) from The Week
"First slash spending. Then watch the economy contract."

Few New Jobs, but Unemployment Rate Fell to 9% from Daily Kos
"Seasonally adjusted job-creation figures announced this morning by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed a far weaker than expected gain of 36,000 nonfarm payroll jobs for January. This was much lower than the consensus of experts surveyed by Bloomberg last Friday and by Reuters and The Wall Street Journal. But the official unemployment rate – U3 – fell to 9 percent, making January the 21st month of joblessness at or above 9 percent, the longest period since records began in 1948."
The analysis of the numbers is pretty interesting here.

Fear, Shame And Your Underwater Mortgage from the Huffington Post
"Nearly 1 in every 4 U.S. homeowners with a mortgage owe more on their home than it's worth. Once a month, those 10.8 million are faced with a question that cuts to the core of the American Dream and offers a confusing collision between a deep-seated sense of personal obligation and a cold, simple business calculation: Should I pay my mortgage?"

The Myth of Aging Gracefully (Susan Jacoby) from the Daily Beast
"Who wants to live to 100? Everybody. But in a Newsweek column, Susan Jacoby dispels the optimistic marketing that has made old age seem pleasant and carefree. Her new book, Never Say Die, is out now."

FIRST LADY NUGGET!!
Nancy Reagan Documentary: Assessing the First Lady (Eleanor Clift) from the Daily Beast
"Long derided as a lackluster first lady, a new documentary takes a second look at Nancy Reagan and finds a key player at critical junctures of her husband's presidency."