Posted on 02/08/2011 3:58:29 PM PST by mojito
When reporters have to ask State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley the same question multiple times, it is generally a sign the administration (1) does not want to answer it, or (2) does not know the answer (even if it should). Perhaps one of those two theories explains the following colloquy from yesterday’s press conference:
QUESTION: … without repeating the well-worn talking points … about orderly transition, et cetera, et cetera, free elections, does the Administration believe that Mubarak’s departure at this point would be unhelpful and might actually complicate the reforms?
MR. CROWLEY: Well, we believe there should be an orderly transition — hang on, Matt, I’m going to — and who plays what role in that transition is up to the people of Egypt.
QUESTION: I’m not asking what –
MR. CROWLEY: I understand that.
QUESTION: I’m asking you if the Administration — recognizing that you’re not telling the Egyptians what to do, is it the Administration’s view that his hasty departure could actually complicate matters?
MR. CROWLEY: Again, we’re not focused on personalities.
QUESTION: I’m not asking you if you’re focused on personalities.
MR. CROWLEY: And I’m trying to answer your question. There are things that have to be done to get to a free and fair, credible, and competitive election. There’s more than one path to get there. There’s plenty of room in this process for a variety of players. We want to have an inclusive process. The role that President Mubarak plays in this, the role that others play in this, those are decisions to be made inside Egypt.
QUESTION: But I’m not asking what role he should play. I’m not asking that at all. And I’m not suggesting that you’re — that this has anything to do with broad, inclusive dialogue. I’m just asking if the Administration itself thinks that a hasty departure by Mubarak would complicate things.
MR. CROWLEY: I know you’re focused on President Mubarak. I mean –
QUESTION: It’s not – I’m –
MR. CROWLEY: No, no, but let me move beyond President Mubarak for a second.
QUESTION: But I’m not asking to move beyond President Mubarak.
MR. CROWLEY: No, no, but I –
QUESTION: I’m asking you about Mubarak.
MR. CROWLEY: Let me attempt to be responsive to your question.
QUESTION: Well, from what I’ve gotten so far, I’m not sure that’s possible. (Laughter.)
Crowley then answered the question:
MR. CROWLEY: … Look, if President Mubarak stepped down today, under the existing constitution, as I understand it, there would have to be an election within 60 days. A question that that would pose is whether Egypt today is prepared to have a competitive, open election, given the recent past where, quite honestly, elections were less than free and fair. …
QUESTION: Okay. Well, if you say that, why is it so hard for you to say that, yes, you think it would complicate things if he stepped down? Do you think Egypt can be ready — if Mubarak stepped down today, could Egypt be ready for a free and fair and credible election in 60 days time?
MR. CROWLEY: I think that would be a challenging undertaking.
QUESTION: Okay. So why is it that difficult to get that out of you? I mean, you could have said that – the very first answer to my question.
Here’s a third theory — sort of a combination of the first two: on February 2, when Robert Gibbs called for the transition in Egypt to happen now (and said “now” began “yesterday”), perhaps the administration did not realize that an immediate Mubarak resignation would trigger an election in 60 days.
Consider this colloquy from Hillary Clinton’s February 6 briefing with the traveling press:
QUESTION: But, Madam Secretary, it does seem that, given all these kind of administrative hurdles that you’ve been talking about these last few days, that … there is this reality on the ground, if you will, that dictates that [Mubarak] is going to have to play some role.
SECRETARY CLINTON: That has to be up to the Egyptian people. They have a constitution which, as I understand it — and I am no expert on the Egyptian constitution, never gave it a moment’s thought, really, so now I am trying to play catch-up — as I understand the constitution, if the president were to resign, he would be succeeded by the speaker of the house. And presidential elections would have to be held in 60 days
There's a very good reason for Mubarak not to step down, a CONSTITUTIONAL REASON, that this WH and State Dept. seem to have been unaware of until the last day or two. Now, they're back tracking. Sort of. Someone needs to make sure that Gibbs gets the memo.
You really can't make this stuff up: these clowns are as stupid as they are evil.
I was wondering about this the last few days. There surely are laws of succession that they ought to be going by. It’s a great load of hypocrisy for us to be tossing out their president like an empty soda can without checking procedure.
They’re a bunch of simpleminded radicals that get all orgasmic at the thought of riots and overthrowing Govts. They are showing the same respect for the Egyptian Constitution that they have for the American Constitution...NONE
Mubarak is no angel but he’s the only one who hasn’t behaved “stupidly” here. Things need to settle down long before there is an election and the people need to think about what kind of Egypt they really want after Mubarak is gone.
An Egypt at war with Israel is an impoverished Egypt. If they think they’re poor now, wait till they end up Somalia poor.
I think in general while I disagree with their points of view those fellas in the middle east are pretty slick politicians.
Neither the White House nor the State Department in particular and Democrats in general believe Constitutions mean anything.
The way I understand it, if Mubarak and whoever is second in the chain of command step down, Dr. Zahi Hawass will be in charge. That might be fun, even if it is only for 60 days.
>> these clowns are as stupid as they are evil.
They’re evil to the core. Way more evil than stupid. However, they’re SO evil that it leaves room for a HELLUVA LOT of stupid.
To be fair, it sounds like the same gobbledegook you get from State Department flacks no matter what the adminstration. They are trained to speak in vague generalities and avoid specifics whenever possible. As far as not knowing the Egyptian constitution, up until a week ago who cared? Mubarak was clarly going to stay in power as long as he wanted to, whatever the constitution said.
They haven’t read ours....why would they read theirs?
There’s just no way Mubarak is staying in power past the September elections. In effect the people have gotten what they asked for and more.
Sometimes our constitution sucks but I would never risk it for short term gain. Hopefully cooler Egyptian heads feel the same way about theirs.
This administration is full of a bunch of children.
From the article: "There are things that have to be done to get to a free and fair, credible, and competitive election. There’s more than one path to get there."
Imagine a representative of, oh, maybe China, or Libya, or, maybe Lithuania, saying that about a US election. And, then, actually jumping in and meddling in a US election.
Why, it's as though if we push a few billion dollars at them we expect something in return.
We were warned over 200 years ago about 'foreign entanglements.'
Is gibbs FINALLY gone???
“a CONSTITUTIONAL REASON”
These people don’t care anything about constitutions. Only what they want.
Run the numbers. Without tourism and funding from Uncle Sugar, there is not much genuine economic activity in Egypt.
Not many tourists will change the uncertainty of an unstable social/government, IMHO.
Tourism and the Suez canal. Once the ransom on the canal gets too high, shippers will take the long way or it will be seized and occupied.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley: "Well, we believe there should be an orderly transition -- hang on, Matt, I'm going to -- and who plays what role in that transition is up to the people of Egypt.
Their constitution is suspended under the Emergency Law which has been in effect for the greater part of four decades.
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