OBAMA SPEAKS – AT 3:39 P.M. ET:  President Obama has made his formal statement about the transition in Egypt.

Obama has been largely a bystander, his international influence fairly minimal.  His speech was pretty much what one would have expected – democracy is great, we're witnessing history, we congratulate the Egyptian people, and, oh, let's throw in a quote from Martin Luther King Jr.

There was, sadly, no request that the Egyptian-Israel peace treaty be completely honored.  That is one of the building blocks of American policy in the Mideast, and we are a guarantor of the treaty.  If it breaks down, it will be U.S. troops involved.

Other than that, one can't really complain about Obama's speech, which contained his usual soaring rhetoric.  The problem, though, is this:  When Obama speaks, you just don't feel he means it.  His speeches are constructed, not felt.  Contrast please with Ronald Reagan.  Because Reagan had a real, and substantial, political history, we knew where he stood.  When he spoke, he meant it, and we sensed it.  Today, we felt the hollowness.

Indeed, I wish Obama had spoken in such a soaring manner when Iranians were in the streets, their revolution crushed as Obama stood by, showing little interest.  Many commentators will, no doubt, point out the difference between Obama-Cairo and Obama-Tehran.

Now, in Egypt, the hard part begins.  The outcome, which we hope will be great, is quite uncertain.

February 11, 2011