What else could she say? The administration has been behind the curve on this crisis from the beginning, always a beat too late so that they have found it impossible to get on top of the situation.

At least a little more realism is creeping into their public rhetoric. It appears that we've finally decided Mubarak must go. Politico:

Clinton, who appeared on all five morning talk shows Sunday, delivered an American message that has been refined in recent days to walk a careful line of demanding reform, and sympathizing with the masses of peaceful protesters , while falling short of outright condemnation of Mubarak - or demanding that he leave.

"It is not a question of who retains power -that should not be the issue," she told David Gregory on "Meet the Press." "It is how are we going to respond to the legitimate grievances expressed by the Egyptian people and chart a new path."

"We want to see free and fair elections and we expect that that will be one of the outcomes of what is going on in Egypt right now," Clinton said.

Clinton avoided a question from CNN's Candy Crowley on "State of the Union" on whether the United States is beginning to back away from Mubarak.

"We do not want to send any message about backing forward or backing back," she said. "What we're trying to do is to help clear the air so that those who remain in power, starting with President Mubarak, with his new vice president, with the new prime minister, will begin a process of reaching out, of creating a dialogue that will bring in peaceful activists and representatives of civil society to, you know, plan a way forward that will meet the legitimate grievances of the Egyptian people. "

Hardly a ringing endorsement. After all, the "grievances" of the people are pretty simple; get rid of Mubarak. There is a distinct possibility that we are working behind the scenes to facilitate the exit of the Egyptian president. We have other conduits into the government - especially the military - and it would make sense to at least plan for what appears to be an inevitability.