Question one: does Hosni Mubarak really think there's a chance he can hold on to power? Is he that nuts? Or is he vamping for time while he looks for a sympathetic country to accept him and his millions when he flies into exile?

Question two: does the US really understand it would be a good thing, not just a not-the-worst-case thing, if Mohammed El Baradei and his crowd became a strong voice in the new Egyptian government, and that the only other choice -- because Mubarak and/or his new appointees are not a choice -- is the fundamentalists? I hope there's a lot of pro-El Baradei back channel work going on, and that the waffling we're seeing from the US government is not the real story.