He ought to be.
See: Jordan's King Losing His Grip
It's a hard thing to get back once you have lost it.
"Jordanian king dismisses Cabinet; protests possible in Syria" by Ranya Kadri and Ethan Bronner, New York Times / February 2, 2011
AMMAN, Jordan — King Abdullah II of Jordan fired his government yesterday after weeks of demonstrations challenging his regime, part of a wave of demands of public accountability sweeping the Arab world that has brought throngs of demonstrators into the streets of Egypt.
That's one of the things about crushing poverty: you have nothing else to do and nothing to lose.
The royal palace announced that the king had dismissed Prime Minister Samir Rifai and replaced him with Marouf al-Bakhit, who has served before in the post and is a former general and a onetime ambassador to Israel and Turkey widely viewed as clean of corruption.
Shuffling deck chairs and putting him in charge? Sigh.
Changing Cabinets is not new for Abdullah. In his 12 years on the throne, he has done so eight times.
Oh, so the Jordanians have seen this movie before?
But this was the first time the sweep was in reaction to public pressure, seeking to undermine a growing protest movement across a broad spectrum of society and to preempt further unrest. It came after four weeks of unusual public demonstrations....
I'd be keeping a grip on the old noggin', king.
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"Small turnouts reported in marches against Jordan government; Egyptian revolt echoed by protests in other nations" by Dale Gavlak, Associated Press / February 5, 2011
AMMAN, Jordan — Hundreds of Jordanians inspired by Egypt’s uprising staged a protest yesterday against Jordan’s prime minister, installed just days earlier in response to anti-government marches.
However, Jordan’s main Muslim opposition group said it wants to give the new leader a chance to carry out promised political reforms, and yesterday’s turnout was much smaller than in previous protests against rising prices.
The scenes of mass protests in Egypt have riveted the Arab world, and unrest has spread to other countries, most recently Yemen, where tens of thousands on Thursday called on their longtime president to step down.
However, expectations of large-scale protests in Arab countries after Friday’s noon prayers, the highlight of the Muslim religious week, did not materialize....
The march in the Jordanian capital of Amman yesterday was far smaller than previous antigovernment protests....
Yesterday’s protesters in Amman included Islamists and supporters of other opposition groups.
Small protests took place in three other towns in Jordan.
“We want jobs and an end to corruption, which is making government officials rich on the expense of poor people like me,’’ said unemployed Mahmoud Abu-Seif, 29, who joined some 150 marchers in the city of Karak.
Across the Muslim world, worshipers and leading clerics expressed support for the uprising in Egypt, where huge crowds of protesters have been pressing for President Hosni Mubarak’s ouster....
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