I am in Miami (or more precisely Coral Gables) to teach in Kellogg’s Miami Executive Program.  Instead of flagging a cab and heading over to Gloria Estefan’s beach  restaurant for lunch, I am glued to the internet checking the NYT website every few minutes to see what’s going on in Egypt.

Like all dictators who manipulate elections to stay in power, Mubarak invoked the Constitution to justify delaying and limiting the transfer of power.  It seems laughable to invoke a constitution that has been ignored for decades to use it as an excuse for justifying anything.  But I guess it is important.

As far as I can tell from my Hyatt vantagepoint, Mubarak has stepped down and has headed to his home in Sharm el-Sheik.  He has handed over power to the army and his Vice President. Yesterday, Mubarak  did pretty much the same thing but stayed as President and devolved powers up to the limits allowed by the Constitution.  There was a danger than when the protestors calmed down, he would return to power.  But it seems he can to something very similar from Sharm al-Sheikh, returning to power once the protests have subsided.

There is a key difference: In the former case, he can invoke his constitutional authority to return to power and in the latter, his return would be extra-constitutional as he would have stepped down.  Even though the Constitution is cheap talk, it is a coördination device for the army.  The leader the guns support will return to power.  They are less likely to support Mubarak after he has formally stepped down.  So, all the constitutional garb was relevant after all.  It remains to be seen how the army will behave over the next few days.  I will not be going to Gloria’s restaurant at all on this trip I suspect.