Ben Folds "Fred Jones Part 2"

I wonder if Hosni Mubarak listens to Ben Folds?

I've been watching the developments in Egypt, heard translations of some of the signs being carried and slogans being chanted, and I thought of "Fred Jones Part 2."

Let me lay down the disclaimer here that I don't know a thing about Egyptian politics and I won't act like I do (unlike so many of the talking heads I've been hearing jabber on the coverage). I don't know if Mubarak's exit from power would ultimately be a good thing, or a bad thing.

Here's what I do know: It is a rare person that truly knows when to exit the stage gracefully.

In this song, Fred Jones is a newspaper man of 25 years who is let go and escorted from the building. The world has changed and he has not changed with it, and the newspaper and the world have moved on without him.

A leader of 30 years clings to power, but has the world around him changed so irrevocably that he cannot possibly move forward with it? And is anyone in that position---Mubarak, the aging Rock Star, the bookstore owner who will not sell an eBook---ever willing to admit that their time is drawing to a close?

Or are they always surprised, angry and disappointed, when they hear:

"I'm sorry Mr. Jones, it's time."