It started with Leon Panetta notifying the Administration and Security Officials that Mubarak was going to step down. Which led to this lead story (Thursday Morning).…..
WASHINGTON – CIA Director Leon Panetta says U.S. intelligence indicates that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is on his way out. (full article) 
Followed closely by the Director of the Office Of National Intelligence James Clapper appearing before a congressional committee,….
(ABC News) – The director of the Office of National Intelligence James Clapper today told a House Intelligence Committee hearing that the Egyptian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood – which seeks Egypt to become an Islamic state ruled by sharia law – is “a very heterogeneous group, largely secular, which has eschewed violence and has decried Al Qaeda as a perversion of Islam.” (full story)

Both statements were recognized as absurd and detached from reality.  Along with  a speech President Obama gave in Michigan leaving much egg on his face. 
 (National Review) This is a huge lesson in political culture. It also shows just how bad the media coverage has been. Mubarak is not resigning. He’s managing the “reform” process. He is appointing a committee to study constitutional changes. He will decide when there are elections. He is going to “consider” changing the emergency law. He basically said: I am an Arab warrior, not a community organizer. That speech should be required reading for anyone who wants to understand the Middle East.
This is not over yet. There has been no revolution so far, but the protesters are going to freak out. If Obama has been interpreted as applauding real and major change, either he didn’t know what Mubarak was going to say or he is going to look like a total fool.
When Mubarak said he won’t accept outside advice, that was a direct slap at Obama. Can you imagine the expression on Obama’s face as he watched the speech after being told by his intelligence that Mubarak resigned? After he made a speech about how the youth had forced change? If I had to summarize it, tabloid-style, I’d say: “Mubarak to Obama: Drop Dead!“  The regime is not giving in — Mubarak will leave office, perhaps in September, but the regime will fight on. The speech was the equivalent of Charles Bronson or Clint Eastwood saying: Come and get me!
Of course, we should not forget that this is a dictator refusing to step down. Mubarak and the army knew that this would inflame the crowd. The army would not have agreed to this unless it was willing to deal with the consequences.  (full article)
So now comes the national and international backlash to reflect the incompetence of the Administration: 
First Glenn Beck:

Then John Bolton:

WASHINGTON (AP) — CIA Director Leon Panetta incorrectly predicted Thursday that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak could step down by day’s end, even as he and other top U.S. intelligence officials defended their work interpreting swift-moving political upheaval in the Middle East.
Panetta said that although U.S. intelligence agencies did not know that the U.S.-backed leader of Tunisia would quit when he did, they had sharpened their analysis as a political revolt threatened to topple the hardline Egyptian regime.  “Those are the kinds of things that are obviously very tough for intelligence to predict, but I think our job is to collect as much as we can, to know those triggers,” Panetta told the House Intelligence Committee. (full story)
Which leads to the administration telling the American Media that they were “taken by surprise”…. yet again.
(MSNBC)- U.S. sources closely involved in the government’s handling of the Egyptian crisis told NBC News that they were “taken by surprise” by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s announcement and that it appears “Mubarak is going nowhere.”
The officials told NBCs Jim Miklaszewski that they were especially concerned about Mubarak’s apparent declaration that he would “federalize the streets.” They said, however, that their reaction was based on an initial translation of Mubarak’s remarks.
“We have assurances, both private and public that the military would not fire on the people,” one of the officials stressed.  (More ugh, ugh, ugh)
In short the world today got an up close and personal view of Obam’s incompetence on full display.   Earlier in the week this quote was made by an Israeli official.  In hindsight and perspective it is indeed accurate…..  

“There is no doubt that something fundamental about the American Administration has changed. The US conduct in the Middle East attests to inexperience and lack of familiarity with the region. It appears as though the world is being led by a rookie.”  -Sima Kadmon