All else aside, we are facing in Egypt the consequences of thirty years of benign neglect, keeping Mubarak in power because of his role in the region (Israel has every reason to be thankful for him!) but at the same time implicitly consenting to his totalitarianism and the corruption in his government. There was ample time to work on “softening” measures; we did not do it.

Obama cannot be held to blame for that, but he can be held to blame for continuing the “do nothing” posture during his presidency, his administration’s sponsorship of movement.org (apparently quite active with internet support of the uprising) and his overall tilt in favor of Islam and his apologetics for militant Islam.