Cairo cabbies still for Obama

I’ve been reading a few articles in the press lately about Egypt already souring on Obama for not doing enough yet.

I suppose it’s possible, but that’s certainly not the sense I get. Whenever Cairo taxi drivers ask me where in America I’m from, I always says Chicago– the most accurate answer they would be likely to understand. And the word “Chicago” always leads to genuine delight on their part about Barack Obama.

So, as far as I can tell, and as far as Egypt can be taken to represent mainstream public opinion in the Middle East (Gaza is a different story, of course) then I think Obama still has a time cushion to work with. I hope he can make good use of it.

For instance, both of my cab drivers today staged fist-pumping Obama victory celebrations. One of them followed it up with a frown and, in English: “Bush, shoes.” (Shoes are often the locus of insults here.)