"If you're going to kill the king, kill the king"*

A friend just walked into my office and said that. He worries that if this is a half-revolution and the regime reasserts itself after the departure of Hosni Mubarak, the regime will have Facebook profiles, Twitter feeds, and hundreds of hours of video evidence to use in fueling a crackdown on the activists who have organized and led the uprising. Shoot the moon, my Egyptian friends. And khali balak.

*This same friend walked back into my office a few minutes later and said, "Maybe I should have said 'pharaoh' instead of 'king.' And, uh, considering your readership, make sure they know I mean 'kill' metaphorically."