# I Pit Hosni Mubarak **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 3, 2011, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-hosni-mubarak/569970 "2011-02-03T01:48:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-hosni-mubarak/569970/61 "2011-02-04T02:38:36Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I don’t know. He seems like one of the better Egyptian rulers to me. You don’t see him forcing his people to build a gigantic tomb for him like some of his predecessors did. Oh, I’m quite sure there would be no shortage of people willing to build his tomb, for free, in a rush. ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-hosni-mubarak/569970/62 "2011-02-04T07:34:18Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Well, if you have brutal dictators as allies in the first place, which is worse – to ditch them when things go pear-shaped\*, or to stick by them no matter what? > \*What is the origin of that phrase, anyway? It comes from pottery, I believe. Clay spinning on the… spinning thing. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-hosni-mubarak/569970/63 "2011-02-04T15:32:40Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > One thing America should have learned from our experience in Iraq is that sometimes a brutal dictatorship is better for a country than any plausible alternative. Yes, those Arabs really are such children. I’m sure there’s no possible way we could have helped remove Hussein from power without also destroying the infrastructure of the country and plunging it into absolute chaos. > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > \*What is the origin of that phrase, anyway? Wikipedia lists [a number of possible etymologies](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pear-shaped). Only one of them is **Shamozzle** ’s pottery explanation; many of the others are aviation-related, which is not suprising given the earliest cited usage. > [@Marley23](#): > > Egypt is known for its _Horus_, not its whores. Next you’re going to tell me I’m wrong about Anudist. ☹ > [@Shamozzle](#): > > Clay spinning on the… spinning thing. Potter’s wheel or pottery wheel. If it’s the manual kind, it can also be termed a kickwheel. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-hosni-mubarak/569970/64 "2011-02-04T15:42:59Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Yes, those Arabs really are such children. I’m sure there’s no possible way we could have helped remove Hussein from power without also destroying the infrastructure of the country and plunging it into absolute chaos. Oh, there was, there was – [Greg Palast calls it “Plan A”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=381910) – but it would not have produced anything even a neocon could have called “democracy” with a straight face. Nor, which is the important thing, would “Plan A” have been nearly as profitable to American business interests. Or so it seemed at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-hosni-mubarak/569970/65 "2011-02-04T22:21:37Z")
Many of the protesters are members of the Muslim Brotherhood and their loyalty to their fellow Brothers supersedes completely their loyalty to Mubarak. I guess it’s true what they say: Bros before Hosni. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-hosni-mubarak/569970/66 "2011-02-05T02:00:36Z")
Reports coming in that the limo that was purposefully crashed into the crowd may have been a stolen US embassy vehicle. OK, time’s up. No more retirement, no more condo in Jeddah. You had your chance and you went for the doubling cube. Time for lamp posts, meathooks, screaming and blood. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-hosni-mubarak/569970/67 "2011-02-05T02:45:35Z")
There once was a tyrant Egyptian Who gave all of his folk a conniption In Pharonical style He would sail down the Nile And take all maidenheads by conscription! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-hosni-mubarak/569970/68 "2011-02-05T02:48:24Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > Reports coming in that the limo that was purposefully crashed into the crowd may have been a stolen US embassy vehicle. When the story behind that comes out, it will be made into a loosely-based wacky comedy, perhaps a remake of _Stripes._ ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-hosni-mubarak/569970/69 "2011-02-08T19:28:55Z")
[Even bigger protest turnout today,](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12394941) “hundreds of thousands” in Tahrir Square, rejecting Mubarak’s concessions and demanding he go. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-hosni-mubarak/569970/70 "2011-02-08T21:35:46Z")
[Rumor has it](http://www.theatlanticwire.com/opinions/view/opinion/Next-Stop-for-Mubarak-German-Luxury-Clinic-6899) Mubarak is planning a stay at a German luxury clinic/spa in the near future. You know. For his health. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-hosni-mubarak/569970/71 "2011-02-10T18:05:04Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Dear Mr. Mubarak: > > You are a very inconsiderate person. > > There. You can stand up to your own people in the street, but now you have been Pitted on the Dope. Soon you will fall! 😃 Watching CNN. Mubarak is about to step down and hand power to the military. (The mob in the square is chanting “Civil, not military!”) 😃 **Yes! We did it!** OK, the Egyptian people might have loosened the jar a little. The Straight Dope topples another tyrant! Glory to the Teeming Millions of the Dope! Oh, and to those other teeming millions in Tuni- sorry, Egypt, right? ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-hosni-mubarak/569970/72 "2011-02-10T18:21:46Z")
> [@An\_Arky](#): > > As much of a dick Mubarak is, I just can’t shake the feeling that a lot of the protesters are really just protesting the lack of freedom to subjugate their women as they see fit. I doubt this. If Egypt were to become an Islamic State[sup]TM[/sup], tourism would dry up. I think more Egyptians want to be able to feed their children than want the Wahhabiists running things. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-hosni-mubarak/569970/73 "2011-02-10T19:29:58Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > I doubt this. If Egypt were to become an Islamic State[sup]TM[/sup], tourism would dry up. I think more Egyptians want to be able to feed their children than want the Wahhabiists running things. I read somewhere (maybe on this board) that people only tend to revolt when food becomes a problem. And that this was caused by MubarAk trying to shut down the subsidies. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-hosni-mubarak/569970/74 "2011-02-10T20:45:08Z")
Fucker better get to the TV studio already. What a fucking diva. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-hosni-mubarak/569970/75 "2011-02-10T21:06:03Z")
Bastard has a harder time walking away than Brett Favre. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-hosni-mubarak/569970/76 "2011-02-10T21:19:40Z")
I really hope that’s going to mean Mubarak texting photos of his genitals to some hot young reporter. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-hosni-mubarak/569970/77 "2011-02-10T22:16:34Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > editing the graffiti I know I really shouldn’t be laughing at this but I kind of am because of this: Centurion: What’s this, then? “Romanes eunt domus”? People called Romanes, they go, the house? Brian: It says, "Romans go home. " Centurion: No it doesn’t ! What’s the latin for “Roman”? Come on, come on ! Brian: Er, “Romanus” ! Centurion: Vocative plural of “Romanus” is? Brian: Er, er, “Romani” ! Centurion: [Writes “Romani” over Brian’s graffiti] “Eunt”? What is “eunt”? Conjugate the verb, “to go” ! Brian: Er, “Ire”. Er, “eo”, “is”, “it”, “imus”, “itis”, “eunt”. Centurion: So, “eunt” is…? Brian: Third person plural present indicative, “they go”. Centurion: But, “Romans, go home” is an order. So you must use…? [He twists Brian’s ear] Brian: Aaagh ! The imperative ! Centurion: Which is…? Brian: Aaaagh ! Er, er, “i” ! Centurion: How many Romans? Brian: Aaaaagh ! Plural, plural, er, “ite” ! Centurion: [Writes “ite”] “Domus”? Nominative? “Go home” is motion towards, isn’t it? Brian: Dative ! [the Centurion holds a sword to his throat] Brian: Aaagh ! Not the dative, not the dative ! Er, er, accusative, “Domum” ! Centurion: But “Domus” takes the locative, which is…? Brian: Er, “Domum” ! Centurion: [Writes “Domum”] Understand? Now, write it out a hundred times. Brian: Yes sir. Thank you, sir. Hail Caesar, sir. Centurion: Hail Caesar ! And if it’s not done by sunrise, I’ll cut your balls off. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-hosni-mubarak/569970/78 "2011-02-10T22:23:57Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > Hail Caesar ! And if it’s not done by sunrise, I’ll cut your balls off. Speaking of balls, that Hosni has a great, brass pair. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-hosni-mubarak/569970/79 "2011-02-10T22:53:47Z")
Well, CNN is reporting that Mubarak is not quite out the door yet: > **[Mubarak's refusal to step down enrages protesters](https://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/02/10/egypt.protests/index.html)** > > Protesters in Egypt, rowdy with revolutionary fervor, dug in for an 18th day of demonstrations Friday, one day after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak refused to step down. > [@](#): > > Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stubbornly clung to the presidency late Thursday night, refusing in a highly anticipated speech to step down by saying he does not take orders from anyone outside Egypt. > > However, Mubarak said he would “delegate powers” to Vice President Omar Suleiman, according to the constitution – a major concession from the man who has ruled Egypt with an iron fist for 30 years. How is the VP viewed by the man-on-the-street in Cairo? ---
**Author:** ![Champion-of-Truth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecccb3/32.png) [@Champion-of-Truth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Champion-of-Truth)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-hosni-mubarak/569970/80 "2011-02-10T23:35:17Z")
It amazes me that in the age of communication and instant information we still have so many willfully ignorant people willing to believe this is about “democracy” or that democracy in the Middle East is a good thing. First, these riots are being instigated by the Muslim Brotherhood, as they were in Tunisia and Jordan. This is simply one more step on the road to an Islamic caliphate, as the Muslims see it. Second, democracy in the Middle East is generally not a good thing. The Palestinians were given a vote and they voted in an avowed terrorist group, Hamas. The Lebanese got to vote and the terrorist group Hezbollah took over. The Muslim Brotherhood has essentially taken over Turkey. When Muslims get to vote, they vote in terror groups. Islam is the religion of violence. More terror is committed in the name of Islam than in the name of all other religions and belief systems combined. Yes, even Satanists are less evil than Muslims. One need only look back on that pathetic excuse for a president, Jimmy Carter, in 1979 for a blueprint of what could come to Egypt. Carter betrayed our ally the Shah of Iran and we got the Ayatollah and an Iran that has become the leading sponsor of terrorism on the planet. The situation in Egypt will likely move more slowly than it did in Iran because Muslims are sneaky and have learned how to be more subtle. So I for one prefer a jackbooted dictator controlling Egypt, and every other Muslim country as well, whenever possible. Islam is the greatest threat to freedom on earth and must be either contained and segregated, or destroyed. According to a Pew Research Poll, 52% of Egyptians condone suicide bombings sometimes or often. Fully 84% of them believe in killing anyone who leaves the Muslim faith. Half of them look favorably on Hamas, and another 20% endorse al-Qaeda. Eighty-two percent of them view America unfavorably, with 48% viewing America as “very unfavorably”. Over 90% of Egyptians view America as a threat and 86% of them believe Iran has a right to develop nuclear weapons, despite it being a terrorist state that routinely calls for the annihilation of all Jews and Israel. And people want monsters like that to have voting rights? People need to wake up to reality, and soon. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-hosni-mubarak/569970.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-hosni-mubarak/569970.md?page=5)