What is occuring in Egypt is nothing short of a template for all future revolutions against the ruling elites in the region

Protesters have accomplished a quantum leap in thinking and perception that has put the staid ideas on state repression and political stability of the think tanks and Western intelligence analyses to shame

See Live Stream Video Feed of Events in Egypt from Al Jazeera [the Al Jazeera web-cast is under constant attack from what remains of the Egyptian government.] See also Live video and audio messages.

As players like the Muslim Brotherhood promote the power of the grassroots, different opposition groups are savvy enough not to claim leadership of the protest. All realize getting rid of the elite regime is the number one goal, something they could/should have done years ago, no matter the force of the Israeli-U.S. axis.

There is a lesson here in what can accelerate the political trajectory of a broad-based opposition when the usual divide-and-conquer tactics are employed: Get together and stop playing the losing game.

This unity and determination cannot be overstated.

From Al Jazeera: Mona Eltahawy, an Egyptian journalist, said: “What has happened in Egypt is a turning point in our history … the more [President Mubarak] insists on clinging to power, the more Egyptians will go out into the street and say ‘we want you to go.'”

From Anthony Shadid in the NYT no less:

Opposition Rallies to ElBaradei as Military Reinforces in Cairo

CAIRO — Egypt’s powerful Muslim Brotherhood and the secular opposition banded together Sunday around a prominent government critic to negotiate for forces seeking the fall of President Hosni Mubarak, as the army struggled to hold a capital seized by fears of chaos and buoyed by euphoria that three decades of Mr. Mubarak’s rule may be coming to an end.

The announcement that the critic, Mohamed ElBaradei, would represent a loosely unified opposition reconfigured the struggle between Mr. Mubarak’s government and a six-day-old uprising bent on driving him and his party from power.

Though lacking deep support on his own, Mr. ElBaradei, a Nobel laureate and diplomat, could serve as a consensus figure for a movement that has struggled to articulate a program for a potential transition. It suggested, too, that the opposition was sensitive to the uprising’s image abroad, putting forth a candidate who might be more acceptable to the West than beloved in Egypt.

In scenes as tumultuous as any since the uprising began, Mr. ElBaradei defied a government curfew and joined thousands of protesters in Liberation Square, a downtown landmark that has become the epicenter of the uprising and a platform, writ small, for the frustrations, ambitions and resurgent pride of a generation claiming the country’s mantle.

“Today we are proud of Egyptians,” Mr. ElBaradei told throngs who surged toward him in a square festooned with banners calling for Mr. Mubarak’s fall. “We have restored our rights, restored our freedom, and what we have begun cannot be reversed.”

Mr. ElBaradei declared it a “new era,” and as night fell there were few in Egypt who seemed to disagree.

Earlier, he criticized the Obama administration, which has expressed support for the rights of the protesters but pointedly refrained from calling on Mr. Mubarak to step down. In an interview with CNN, Mr. ElBaradei called that approach “a failed policy” that was eroding American credibility.

“It’s better for President Obama not to appear that he is the last one to say to President Mubarak, it’s time for you to go,” Mr. ElBaradei said.