Egypt Rolls and Somewhere Ghandi is Smiling...

So midday today the news arrives that Hosni Mubarak has stepped down in Egypt.  So eighteen days after the first protests, a government of thirty years is gone, gone, gone.

One of the most rigid authoritarian governments in the Middle East was brought down by Facebook, Twitter, and the internet, and thousands of Egyptians who had the courage everyday to keep hitting the streets and demanding their freedom.  The part that is startling is that thousands of people demonstrated every day, and only 300 people died.  If you are one of the three-hundred then it was obviously a big deal, but I don't think many people would have bet that Egypt would change hands with so little bloodshed.

I love this picture and summary.

My favorite quote from the last two weeks was from Robert Gibbs, the president's press secretary. He commented that the people of Egypt "want to see concrete action by their government." He then added, "Now means now".

We are all wondering what will come next.  How much freedom with the military really tolerate?  We don't yet know, but we are all watching.

Apparently this is the anniversary of the Iranian revolution of 1979.  Kind of ironic.  I wonder how this news is playing in Iran.  Is the power structure sleeping well at night?  I somehow doubt that.