In Order to Fire Mubarak, McCain Uses the Twitter Method

A political communication in 140 characters is ravaging Washington: John McCain just dismissed President Mubarak, still the head of state, with an upsetting tweet. And possibly also the conference of ambassadors, hosted by Hillary Clinton, convening in Washington for the first time this week. Flippancy? Obvious interference? Lack of R-E-S-P-E-C-T for the rest of the world? Surely. But it’s new, it just surfaced.

Politico.com reports that John McCain, presidential candidate in 2008 and president of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations*, met with the 44th on February 2. This is rather rare, and after the 2008 election they are practically never seen one-on-one.

Obviously on the program are Egypt, U.S. immigration and foreign politics, but also fiscal concerns (that is, for their nation’s voters). While leaving, the senator from Arizona fluctuated between playfulness and routine and left the White House carefully to state the content of the meeting. Afterward, he called on President Mubarak to step down. We are already astonished, unless they are considered close friends. We believed that the acting president (44th) was in charge of the things the U.S. said about Egypt. And already Bush Sr. (thus the Republicans) has communicated with Mubarak. But here, John comes out of the White House, takes out his cell phone: “Hello, Hosni must not stay here.” And it isn’t over. The Senator’s office reported that a tweet came out and here, amazement:

“Regrettably the time has come 4 Pres. Mubarak to step down & relinquish power,” McCain tweeted. “It’s in the best interest of Egypt, its people & its military,” McCain wrote.

It’s pure nonsense or absolute mockery; John McCain is playing a video game in which you-are-the-hero. “Overthrow the president and become the leader.” Mubarak was dismissed by tweet. The diplomatic approach of the President of the Commission of Foreign Relations is staggering. That same morning, I heard Antoine Sfeir explaining that Egypt was the East and that we must treat Mubarak like an easterner so that he does not lose face. One tweet by John McCain ruined this stance. The form of media (Twitter) becomes the backdrop. At the “Lunch” with letters replaced by numbers.

What do the 1 or 2 million Egyptians living in the U.S. think? Twitter is a bit summary. Recently Sarah Palin’s policy of communicating via this medium was criticized — at the time of Tucson, particularly.

And still the happy Mubarak has not received the Tweet to step down. There is no longer Internet communication in Egypt. It was he who cut the power! We don’t even want to smile.

*Editor’s note: Senator McCain does not in fact serve on the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. He is the ranking member of the Senate Armed Forces Committee.