Egypt's ruling military forces, you could say, are wiping their collective brows free of sweat this morning. Not out of nervousness that the Muslim Brotherhood's Muhammad Morsi -- the winner of (what appears to be) the country's first real presidential contest -- will usurp the power which they took in the wake of last year's Egyptian Revolution. No, they might be cooling off today because all that power-grabbing has to be exhausting.
Details from the New York Times:
Egyptian news organizations declared Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood the winner of the country’s first competitive presidential race on Monday just hours after the ruling military council issued an interim constitution granting itself broad power over the future government, all but eliminating the president’s authority in an apparent effort to guard against just such a victory...Their charter gives them control of all laws and the national budget, immunity from any oversight and the power to veto a declaration of war. After dissolving the Brotherhood-led Parliament elected four months ago, and locking out its lawmakers, the generals on Sunday night also seized control of the process of writing a permanent constitution. State news media reported that the generals had picked a 100-member panel to draft it.
Melissa spoke to NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel on Saturday's show, explaining the elections and previewing what happened; you can take a look at that segment here. But the most fascinating interpretation of this I've come across about this today comes from Foreign Policy's Marc Lynch, and it involves the classic comic strip "Calvin and Hobbes."
Also in the news is our own Chris Hayes had a insightful take on the bootlicking JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon was subjected to in a Senate hearing last week. Click below the jump to see video, and be sure to let us know in the comments what stories have caught your eye today.