"Egyptian Satirist Returns to TV With Careful Barbs"

"As his popular television show returned to Egypt’s airwaves on Friday after a long hiatus, Bassem Youssef, an Egyptian satirist, took a swipe at the country’s new military leadership in perhaps the only manner such criticism remains possible: with great care.*"

"After playing a recently leaked video clip of Egypt’s defense minister, Gen. Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi, talking to colleagues about influencing the news media, Mr. Youssef responded with mock indignation. “Nobody can tell us what to say or not to say,” he said, as a disembodied arm appeared from beneath his desk, stole his script and replaced it with a new text."

“We want freedom,” Mr. Youssef added, as the arm, a stand-in for Egypt’s powerful security agencies, slapped him in the face."

NY Times , *Althouse link