If you’ve been paying any attention to Egypt, you have just witnessed one of the monumental moments in modern history. You saw a people, fed up with decades of poverty and indignity, peaceably assemble to demand the democratic means to reclaim their future.

You saw an authoritarian government crack down, sending out violent thugs in hopes of bloodying the hands and sullying the hearts of the protesters. Finally, you saw the protesters redouble their efforts and oust their iron-fisted Pharaoh, rejoicing that their dreams of a democratic future might soon be realized.

That is, unless you were watching Fox News. The folks over at Fox didn’t quite know what to do with Egypt for the first few days. On the one hand, it was Arab unrest that threatened the government of a U.S ally-a scary story that was right in their wheelhouse.

On the other hand, these were protests aimed at overthrowing a dictator and creating democratic reforms, and Fox spent most of the past 10 years telling its viewers that such a cause was worthy enough to justify the war in Iraq. And top Republicans were keeping mum on the issue, so there weren’t even any talking points to repeat.

Not sure what to make of the story, Fox devoted relatively little coverage to the Egyptian protests. But then, about a week in, they finally found their angle: the ominous-sounding, freedom-hating Muslim Brotherhood.

Suddenly, Fox was all over the Egyptian revolt, and invited every guest it could find to paint the peaceful protests as the Brotherhood’s perfect path to power.

The truth is the Muslim Brotherhood was not a significant force in organizing the protests and held remarkably little sway among the protesters.

They were the only real political party in Egypt other than Mubarak’s, not because they represented the major political ideology, but because the constitution banned other parties from organizing. Compared to other Islamic political parties in the region, the Brotherhood is quite tame.

Regardless, the revolt and the political awakening has largely been shaped by Egypt’s youth, and they don’t seem to have much affection for the Brotherhood’s ideology. Now that the Egyptian constitution has been dissolved and political parties will be allowed to organize, things don’t look very good for the Brotherhood.

But Fox never let facts get in the way of a good narrative. In presenting the movement as radically Islamic, Fox was able to root for Mubarak without appearing to be siding against basic democratic principles.

With their inveterate boogie man, the radical Islamist, so defined, Fox was the only large, Western news outlet regularly defending Mubarak to the very end. Soon, politicians showed up in their studios admonishing President Obama for abandoning “our friend and ally” Hosni Mubarak.

The Republicans are missing an opportunity to solve one of their biggest problems. The Republican primaries are only months away, and the party still has yet to produce a viable candidate with enough name recognition, experience and intelligence to beat Obama in 2012.

I think I know just the guy for the job. He just went into a forced retirement, but he still longs to be a leader. He spent most of his life in politics, but he’s no Washington insider. He loves his constitution (or did, before it recently disappeared). And he has become disillusioned with Obama’s brand of “change.”

I think the nation would love to see a Mubarak/Palin 2012 campaign. He has a lot in common with her previous running mate, John McCain, who was also an elderly veteran who can’t tell when he has overstayed his welcome. Mubarak is also likely to win just about as much of the youth vote as McCain.

Whether or not the Mubarak/Palin campaign is the best chance for the GOP to reclaim the White House, I cannot say. I can, however, promise that it would be Palin’s best reality show yet.

Dave Balson is a junior journalism major. He can be reached at 581-2812 or

DENopinions@gmail.com