Egypt and President Mohammed Morsi: A Democracy in its Infancy

We all know that infants aren’t born walking. First, they learn to crawl. And eventually, they’ll learn to walk. During this time, they’ll fall down. And get back up again. All of this is part of the process. It might be a little frustrating to watch, but you know in the end, they’ll be fine. When I think about Egyptians and what they’re going through right now, I think about those babies learning to walk.

The recent events show their progress through this struggle. They are protesting in Tahrir Square again. This time, it’s against their new president, Mohammed Morsi. President Morsi seems to be pulling a “Mubarak” with a power grab. Last week, he issued an edict to dissolve their judiciary. It happens to be the branch of government that he doesn’t control. Man, that takes some balls.

They’re are fighting this with everything they have as the crowds are just as big as when they protested Mubarak last year. I love what one protester said:

“It’s like a wife whose husband was beating her and then she divorces him and becomes free. If she remarries she’ll never accept another day of abuse.”

I hope they are able to kick him out or at least stop his dictatorial power grab.

I’ve heard from Conservative pundits that the Arab Spring was not a positive thing. They were afraid that radical Islamists would take over the governments of these countries. When Mohammed Morsi was elected, the pundits were quick to point out that he is a part of the Muslim Brotherhood.

My response to that was, “So?” The Arab Spring was about citizens finding their voices and striving for democracy in a region that is conducive to neither. Egyptians could vote for whoever they wanted, and they voted for Mohammed Morsi. Was that a mistake? Maybe. The point is that they finally had a say in who was to lead them. That’s huge considering a dictator ruled over them for so long. They might be regretting their choice, but because they have found their voices, they are fighting back.

I will always see the Arab Spring as a good thing. Egyptians have been crawling since last year, and are slowly trying to walk. They will learn a lot as they fall down and get up again – over and over. The first thing they’re learning is that democracy is messy. They might not see it now, but a lot of already know. It will take time, but they will be fine.

Semi-Presidential Republic

Is that what they call dictatorships nowadays? Is Egypt’s president, Hosni Mubarak, really a dictator?

1. Face plastered all over the country…………….
2. Rigged elections……………………………………..
3. Water cannons for “troublemakers”…………..
4. Cutting off outside communication…………..

Looks like Mubarak has all of the qualifications. And like most dictators, he just doesn’t get it. In response to the riots, he fires his cabinet. Sorry, Mr. Dictator, they don’t care about the rest of your government. It’s you they want gone. These are your average citizens: young and old, rich and poor, Coptic and Muslim – united in their hate for you.

The Obama administration is being extra careful with this one. Per VP Biden:

“Mubarak has been an ally of ours in a number of things. And he’s been very responsible on, relative to geopolitical interest in the region, the Middle East peace efforts; the actions Egypt has taken relative to normalizing relationship with — with Israel. … I would not refer to him as a dictator.”

Of course he isn’t, silly. We wouldn’t send $1.5B in aid every year to a dictator, right? Money we desperately need here, but I digress.

Mubarak isn’t giving up. Flipping the internet “kill switch,” arresting leaders of The Muslim Brotherhood, imposing curfews. I think the people will have to take that power from his cold, dead hands.

Looks like our meddling is blowing up in our face again. We have threatened to cut off the aid if he escalates the violence against the protesters. But, if he is overthrown, who are we going to aid pay off to play nice with Israel? The Muslim Brotherhood?

The United States government is pulling for Mubarak. We are also asking him to go easy on the protesters and start listening to what the people want. After all, we love democracy and freedom. Maybe not as much as we love Israel, but pretty dang close.