Mubarak steps down

Breaking news from the New York Times.

Now the real challenge begins. I wonder how many Egyptians realize that. (I was skeptical that most Americans understood how small a step Barack Obama's election was toward fixing our nation's many ills, and I was right.)

I wonder what George W. Bush thinks of what has happened in Tunisia and Egypt. One of the many arguments he made to justify the invasion of Iraq and the deposing of Saddam Hussein was that a democratic Iraq would inspire other nations under the heels of autocratic governments to rise up and embrace democracy. He might look on Tunisia and Egypt as authoritarian dominoes falling before the irrepressible desire for freedom and democracy, much as he claimed to envision would happen.

On the other hand, neither Tunisia nor Egypt was part of the "axis of evil." It's not likely he would be too happy at Mubarak's exit. And Bush certainly knows that democracy doesn't guarantee results that the U.S. likes: witness Hamas's victory in the 2006 Palestinian elections.

Perhaps, liberated from the presidential bubble, he will be able to ponder the truth of the old saying, "Be careful what you wish for."

In any case, the Egyptian population wasn't fired up by the inspiring example of Iraq (mild sarcasm intended). It was infuriated by skyrocketing prices for food and the fear of rising unemployment, and resentful of decades of corruption by the ruling party.