Mohammed ElBaradei to Form Government of National Unity?

It's a possibility I raised previously. And I think his comments constitute among the most important developments of the day. The guys over at Hot Air pretty much hit all the bases, "ElBaradei: Hit the road, Mubarak."

ElBaradei makes three main points: (1) Mubarak has to go; (2) there must be a transition from dictatorship to democracy, with the subordination of the military to civilian rule; and (3) the Muslim Brotherhood is not an extremist conservative religious organization. He also tells CNN's Fareed Zakaria that he'll serve as interim president if that's what the public wants. But clearly, his views on the Muslim Brotherhood are extremely controversial and deeply problematic. There's certainly been some discussion of this around the sphere. Andrew McCarthy is emphatic in pointing out that, frankly, the Muslim Brotherhood is Hamas, despite media spin and progressive propaganda to the contrary: "Hamas Is the Muslim Brotherhood." And Frank Gaffney points out the larger security threat: "The Muslim Brotherhood is the Enemy."

At any rate, check the mainstream press reporting for background, at LAT, "EGYPT: Opposition leader urges U.S. to stop backing Mubarak," and NYT, "Jubilant Protesters Hail ElBaradei." And while I'd like to see some movement here, and I don't personally oppose ElBaradei in the interim, it's going to tremendous effort to cultivate secularism and civil society over extremism and Islamist jihad. And to close on a less optimist note than I've been taking, here's Nonie Darwish, "Egypt Between Dictatorships And Revolutions: A Choice Between Bad and Worse":

The choice in Egypt is not between good and bad, it is between bad and worse. The Muslim world lacks the understanding of what is hindering them and lacks the moral and legal foundation for forming a stable democratic political system. They will continue to rise and fall, stumble from one revolution to another and living from one tyrant to another looking for the ideal Islamic state that never was. The 1400 year old Islamic history of tyranny will continue unless Sharia Law is rejected as the basis of the legal and political systems in Muslim countries.

BONUS: At The Other McCain, "Egyptian Uprising: Latest Updates," and the commentary at Memeorandum.