[View the story "Confusion over Hosni Mubarak's Condition" on Storify]Confusion over Hosni Mubarak's Condition
Storified by · Wed, Jun 20 2012 20:35:01
Is Hosni Mubarak dead?
A quick search online will tell you he "was slipping in and out of a coma," "on life support and close to death," "clinically dead," and "not dead dead, just doing very badly."
In yet another example of Twitter declaring people dead before their time, the social network was buzzing with news on the life, or death, of the former dictator.
So, to address the confusion, IsMubarakDead.com answers the question in its URL with:
Staticflickr
The site captured the attention of the Twitterverse. Here are some of our favorite reactions:
A website that would have allowed me to go to bed earlier: http://ismubarakdead.com/Richard Spencer
Arguably the fastest web developer in history. Check http://www.ismubarakdead.com now #MubarakOmar Samra عمر سمره
#ThatAwkwardMoment when this flips from Yes to No. http://ismubarakdead.com/Craig Kanalley
But those who had apparently not seen such a black-and-white solution to their confusion were left wondering.
Yesterday, Mubarak was "clinically dead." Today, his "health worsens." He's worse than clinically dead? The BBC has confused me.Howard Marshall
Mubarak 'clinically dead' according to Reuters. Does this mean he's still physically alive? #confused #semantics #mubarakEdith Swan-Neck
Trying to keep up with news in #Egypt via twitter. It seems #Mubarak is both dead & alive and both parties have won the election. #confusedMichaela Manning
Others, including Marc Lynch, reacted to the reports on the health of the former dictator by reflecting, or refocusing attention, on the election and the revolution.
I care exactly zero about Mubarak's state of deathhood. Give me election results, a constitution and a Parliament, please. #EgyptMarc Lynch
Is #Egypt's revolution clinically dead as well? #MubarakAhmed Shihab-Eldin
#mubarak: dead, alive, dead, alive again... A bit like the revolution. God help you Egypt in these days of need!Sarah Joseph
Others dwelled on their frustration with what they called a #media #fail.
#Media #fail #Mubarak condition=mystery,roller coaster .Isn't there any official/Doctor who can sum it up & get it over with? #MubarakDeathShada Omar
RT @EgyIndependent: Wednesday's papers: Mubarak dead and alive, Morsy and Shafiq president http://ow.ly/bI4RR #EgyptDina Hazzan
Conflicting reports on both the death of #mubarak and the death of the #egypt revolution on world media.Ramez Elmofty
But as Steve Inskeep, one of the hosts of Morning Edition on National Public Radio, put it:
Every news bulletin of a person's death will eventually be true -- just not necessarily at the time it's sent.Steve Inskeep
Moroccan-American commentator, journalist, and analyst Issandr El Amrani wrote an article for Foreign Policy last year on how Egyptians have long made wise cracks about the former dictator, including by mocking his "imminent death."
Three Decades of a Joke That Just Won't Die - By Issandr El AmraniWhat would happen if you spent 30 years making fun of the same man? What if for the last decade, you had been mocking his imminent death ...
An excerpt from the story:
"One joke imagines a deathbed scene, the ailing Mubarak lamenting, 'What will the Egyptian people do without me?' His advisor tries to comfort him: 'Mr. President, don't worry about the Egyptians. They are a resilient people who could survive by eating stones!' Mubarak pauses to consider this and then tells the advisor to grant his son Alaa a monopoly on the trade in stones."
"One joke imagines a deathbed scene, the ailing Mubarak lamenting, 'What will the Egyptian people do without me?' His advisor tries to comfort him: 'Mr. President, don't worry about the Egyptians. They are a resilient people who could survive by eating stones!' Mubarak pauses to consider this and then tells the advisor to grant his son Alaa a monopoly on the trade in stones."
Conflicting reports suggest that Hosni Mubarak is undeadWarren Ellis
#Mubarak life status: it's complicated.Colby Brin
#Mubarak - verb - to die a lot. Example : My cat Mubaraked, she had seven soulsAbdullatif Mustafa
Some others we found, with the help of Storify:
1st round between Death and Mubarak to close to call; run-off to take place next week. #egypt #SCAFibnkafka
"Mubarak is worth the wait." -- SatanAndy Borowitz
I see #Mubarak with his sunglasses on, I wonder if he hasn't really been alive & this is Weekend At Bernie's in Cairo http://pic.twitter.com/kwuPVPuGLeslee ll
Beyond Bernie, another comparison trending on Twitter comes from an old SNL sketch that had Chevy Chase mocking the news coverage of the death of a Spanish dictator and announcing on Weekend Update: "Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead" and "Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still valiantly holding on in his fight to remain dead."
Re Mubarak, sounds like a bizarre update of "Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead" from SNL.Dani Rodrik
Hosni Mubarak, the new Generalissimo Francisco Franco. (Chevy Chase, anyone?): http://nyti.ms/LflWmwChuck Murphy
So it remains unclear whether Hosni Mubarak is dead. Generalissimo Francisco Franco, however, is still dead.Jonah V. Mansfield
