Time to get off the fence BO!

So it’s not just republicans that’ll do the exact opposite of whatever it is you suggest, now it seems the entire population of a north African country have been driven to violence by your insipid legal speak.

The latest events in Egypt are depressing, women and children are being murdered by a regime propped up by your government and desperate to hold onto power. The sad truth for you (and us) is that you, Mr. President, are better placed than anyone else on earth to deal with this situation - You could do something about it, but instead choose not to, and to all intent and purpose you remain quiet.

You could have called for the switching on of the Internet in your Tuesday address, which could’ve become your very own ‘Tear Down This Wall’ moment, but more importantly it would’ve allowed the people of Egypt some relief from the constant fear that a media/communications blackout generates. It would've offered them a chance to actually understand what was happening around them, but you couldn’t even go that far. You asked for a transition of power without offering who that should be transferred to, or from for that matter. You asked that things needed to change ‘now’ but refused to mention Mubarak by name. And finally you demanded that any transition be ‘peaceful’ as if the Egyptian people had any say in the matter, and as if the people would’ve wanted anything other than a peaceful end.

Like a first world war British general you are masterful at leading from the rear, and here in the US, whether we voted for you or not, we have long understood that your preferred position on anything is not to have a preferred position. You’ll sit firmly on whatever fence you can clamber up and bide your time smiling down at people as they pass in one direction or the other. I’m almost impressed by your complete lack of backbone, I mean it seems you’re so afraid of a fight that you’d rather expend your energy staying on a wobbly fence in the middle than sliding off to side or the other. Just as long as it keeps you out of harms way, and above any flying fists.

The problem is the rest of the world haven't realized this yet, and many, like most Americans, still believe that the world looks to the US president as the leader of the free world. Now, although ‘free’ seems to have become a matter of perception, you can still prove that the term leader is still applicable when it comes to you.

Although you probably feel like you shot the gun and went too far, the rest of the world are still trying to work out what that hedging language actually meant and find out where you stand on the Egyptian crisis.

I have no doubt that you’re secretly crapping yourself about Mubarak’s obstinacy, especially as it now looks like he’s gonna be hanging on for another 70 years or so. But, for once think of the people before the political ambitions of you and Axelrod, and instead of worrying about clawing back long lost credibility with Mubarak and the rest of the middle-east, how about coming out with real tangible support for those peaceful demonstrators and their children?

There's no doubt that you're the master of the ambiguous, and doing too little too late, but for once be the candidate the US people voted for and slide down off that fence.