> That was my response, and it was serious. You probably noticed that Mubarak went, to be replaced by the army. "Obama must go" - and what should come to take his place? You've probably noticed that the U.S. political apparatus is very unlikely to produce someone much different (and quite possibly someone worse). What then?
When this convo first happened, I agreed with you. But this helps me see it differently, and my response to your question here would be, Who cares? Of course the state is going to replace its titular head with one of its own. Do you really expect a few months of protest to overturn 50 or 200 years (or 10,000 years, depending on how you look at it) of (heavily armed) history? In the meantime, however, Egyptians did lots of great stuff, including form an independent trade union, create organizational forms outside the government, and inspire people around the world. In the face of that, pointing out the obvious seems a little silly.