Jan. 14 Updates

As predicted, Ben Ali's promises last night were:     
     a.) Empty, and,
     b.) Nowhere near enough to assuage the pent-up anger and frustration of the Tunisian people

I'm starting to back away from belittling the assertion made last week in The Guardian that this is reminiscent of December 1989 in Romania. It is now conceivable that, by the beginning of next week, Ben Ali and the Trabelsis could be  - dare we say? - gone.

One of the beautiful things about freedom is that it's intoxicating. A little isn't enough. Ben Ali sent the message that some freedoms would be granted. What people heard was that they could protest more, to gain more freedoms.

Today has seen not a diminishing, but a ramping-up, of the protests. As our sources reported last night, a general strike was on for today, with a massive demonstration at 11 a.m. local time. The government response was predictably violent, and the situation is deteriorating. Here's what media are reporting:

* Ben Ali has dissolved the government. Is this in preparation for the opposition's demands for a national unity government, or is he consolidating power for a final stand? Also called for early elections. Probably not going to be enough.
* Almost all of our sources are confirming that last nights pro-Ben Ali celebrations were a sham. The protestors were allegedly all carrying exactly the same portrait of Ben Ali, with conveniently similar printed signs in support of him.
* Guardian's live blog is really excellent. Confirms overnight minimum death toll at 12. So much for not firing live rounds.
* The chant of the protests outside the IM: "Pain et eau et Ben Ali non"; or in the less lyrical English, "Bread, water, Ben Ali out!"
* Sarkozy's feckless government is, once again, blowing with the wind, and now advising Ben Ali to back down. Amazing.
* More resignations from the Ben Ali government over the crackdown.
* Once again, Lynch hits it on the head: Where are all of the conservatives who preached so piously about supporting democracy efforts in the Mideast?