Image via WikipediaWell, when Ambassador Frank Wisner was sent on that important mission to Cairo by the Obama Administration, we wondered out loud if this is President O's Reagan moment. And if Mr. Wisner was this administration's, Paul Laxalt sent to tell Mr. Mubarak to "cut and cut cleanly" in the "time has come" moment. Mr. Laxalt, of course, is forever remembered as then President Reagan's ultimate messenger to former Philippine dictator, Ferdinand Marcos.
We don't know what message Mr. Wisner was asked to relay. The BBC reported that he was sent by President Obama to Cairo apparently to urge Mr Mubarak to announce his departure.
Mr. Mubarak, unfortunately, did not hear the message. Or if he heard it, did not know when to cut cleanly. Either that, or there was something wrong with his ears. He could not hear the relayed message and he could not hear the thundering sound from Liberation Square? Could be that he's hearing everything through the delusion channel? What? The kids in the square are asking him to go, are you nuts? They're screaming and pleading for him to stay. While the voices are screaming "Leave!, Leave! Leave!", he could only hear "Save us! Save us! Save us!" Please somebody give him the clear channel.
So anyway, Mr. Wisner was in Cairo ... then he was in Munich. And when we saw him on teevee, we had to cover our eyes when he said this:
Via BBC:
"We need to get a national consensus around the pre-conditions for the next step forward. The president must stay in office to steer those changes," he told the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.
"I believe that President Mubarak's continued leadership is critical - it's his chance to write his own legacy.
"He has given 60 years of his life to the service of his country, this is an ideal moment for him to show the way forward."
Video here ... we won't blame you if you want to cover your eyes, too.
According to the BBC, the State Department spokesman PJ Crowley, ever diplomatic said: "We have great respect for Frank Wisner and we were deeply appreciative of his willingness to travel to Egypt last week."
"He has not continued in any official capacity following the trip. The views he expressed today are his own. He did not co-ordinate his comments with the US government."
We suspect that Ambassador Wisner won't get any invite to the WH any time soon.
In the meantime, President Obama has issued a new statement on Egypt on February 10.
As of this writing, Mr. Mubarak has so far, refused to budge from his undisclosed location. And it does not sound like he is anxious to pack his bags either. This is not/not good.
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