The Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin wonders what President Obama gave America -- and the world -- nothing new when he came forward Tuesday night after speaking with Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak:

After days and days of dithering and an avalanche of criticism from a wide array of experts, the president came forth last night with a new statement on Egypt. But was it all that new? And, if not, why bother?

After a couple of introductory paragraphs assuring us he's been keeping up on events, he declared that "we oppose violence." Nothing new there. He and other senior officials have said it before.

Next up was a plain-wrap statement on human rights that omitted the word "democracy." He proclaimed: "[W]e stand for universal values, including the rights of the Egyptian people to freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, and the freedom to access information." We've also heard that before.


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