UPDATE:
2 February – Cairo
The CNN crew including Anderson Cooper were attacked. The fled to their hotel. Anderson Cooper explains:
It’s like sending Prince William to Afghanistan on a state visit during a surge against the Taliban. CNN has sent the “Silver Fox,” Anderson Cooper, to Cairo. The US military has sent Special Forces to protect the US Embassy.
Question: How long will it be before the Special Forces have to leave the Embassy in order to get Anderson Cooper safely back to his fans and his mother? O for the days of that reporter who reported the first tomahawks to hit the domes of Bagdad as he sat on the floor of his hotel room? Or the CNN reporter whose exposure to overseas assignments just forced a kind of leave of absence? Those two had grit. They were always in sweaty short sleeves and out of breath and in tune with the action on the ground and their mothers had gone past worry.
Anderson can be relied upon to get people to say what CNN wants America to hear. One Egyptian tells him “We don’t want to live in a fundamentalist state. We are poor and want jobs.” Another one offers “we will not harm Israel. We have an agreement with them we will honor.” He ads, “the Muslim Brotherhood are no more in control here than any other faction.” Now don’t you feel better? It’s like an afternoon talk show transported. But hold, aren’t there any “Egyptians gleefully yelling, hey, our time is come. They have sent Anderson Cooper!”
Anderson tries to do straight up reporting but face it, HE is the news. He has become a “property.” Surely his locks are even insured. Anderson wears cloths that hug the body so that little air can enter to cool him so he’s of limited use in the tropics, yet he bravely goes there. He looks like he could be on his way scuba diving. The hair is coiffed and the mike clean. There is no dust in the frame. Yes he was in Haiti, OK, he was at the oil spill in New Orleans and before that for the hurricane. But even when he is bent perpendicular to the ground by hurricane force winds, Anderson is wearing a really boss parka and keeps his cool.
He knows his facts, he hits his marks. Egyptians know he has as much value as King Tut. CNN, why would you do this to Anderson? It is like watching Houdini in a tank of water hoping he can find the keys to unlock his handcuffs before his air runs out. Is this a dream? All of the feeds from the font are beginning to come together – CNN, al Jazeera – oh, God, tell me…it’s 11:32 EST – is that Anderson on tape or live?
DarcsFalcon
February 1, 2011
Cairo is 8 hrs ahead of me, so it’s probably 7 hrs ahead of you. He’s probably tape, not live. Live is too risky probably.
I had to laugh – I haven’t heard anyone say they had “really boss” anything since I was a kid. We said it ALL the time! LOL Oh my goodness, you really took me back with that one!
samhenry
February 1, 2011
Trust a falcon to know all the time zones. I’ll just bet you collect them like some people collect states! lol
DarcsFalcon
February 2, 2011
LOL Nah, I just send my helper Google to go fetch it for me.
samhenry
February 2, 2011
Karim – you do not have enough identifying information for me to clear you as a commentator here. You must have an e-mail *never published” and a wordpress website. Anyone could be Karim. However, I will publish your comment. Most people think that an orderly transition is the only way to preserve the idea of a state that can be relied upon. You can’t govern from the streets. A true revolution is something else. Democracy is the ballot box. It is understandable with recent Egyptian elections that have been manipulated why people are untrusting. There needs to be an election very soon not in September. Mabarak should step aside now and allow his VP to assume leadership prior to the election. We keep forgetting he is 82 and has always been dictatorial but now it has to be worse. He is very ill with cancer and the, well let’s call it senility factor, enters in. The international community should pressure him more than they have but in ways that will not hurt the Egyptian economy or its people.
Karim, your comment is this: I believe that Mubarrak has done the right thing now after appointing a VP and announcing that he will not run for re-election. He cannot just leave this way as the current protestors [sic]wants and create a vacuum. Bardei is such a fake. He doesn’t even live in Egypt and he is making things worse and aligning himself with the muslim brother hood for his own personal gains. He should go back ti Vienna now and leave the Egyptians alone and allow some time for the changes to take effect.