DON'T FEEL BAD, HE DOESN'T KNOW EITHER:

Egypt's Protesters Puzzle Over Obama's Response: A dispatch from Cairo's Tahrir Square. (Sarah A. Topol, Feb. 4, 2011, Slate)

Many ask me about America, puzzling over the Obama administration's comments about the protests. There's a lot of frustration, but most say they want the United States to butt out.

"This revolution is an Egyptian revolution against Mubarak and his policies—we don't want another client regime. We are capable of doing things without America. I don't need America to teach me about democracy or human rights," Amira Howeidy, a journalist, told me. A fluent English speaker, Amira got worked up, and then apologized. "I'm not trying to be combative," she said as I tried to redirect the conversation.

Others just can't figure it out. "Does Obama really want democracy in Egypt?" one woman wearing a niqab asked me.