Better the Devil You Know Than Democracy?
A Play
From Fox News:
Act One:OK, so I'm no playwright, but flash forward with me to the current the United States and witness how many Benedict Arnold-type arguments we hear in response to the protests in Egypt.
Mount Vernon, Virginia, Spring, 1776
George Washington receives Benedict Arnold at his home:
Arnold: You know, George, if you persist down this path, you're going to rupture the delicate stability the British army have brought to the colonies. Just think what might happen if they're not in control. The French might make a land grab from the North and South, the Indians might sneak in and try to regain territories, even the slaves might take advantage of the chaos and rise up against us.
More importantly, just think of what a conflict could do to your crops this fall! All those soldiers trampling through your fields. It will take you years to restore them and recover your investment.
It's just too risky.
From Fox News:
[M]any fear that if Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak goes, the real replacement will be either the Muslim Brotherhood itself, or an Islamic fundamentalist group. El Baradei insisted on Sunday talk shows that the fear was unwarranted.
“This is total bogus that the Muslim Brotherhood are religiously conservative,” El Baradei told ABC’s “This Week.” “They are no way extremists. They are no way using violence.”
But critics point out that the Brotherhood, which was established in Egypt in the 1920's, is synonymous with political Islam which supports the use of Islamic law known as Sharia.
“Right now the Arab Republic of Egypt does not impose Islamic law in its fullness,” Rob Spencer, the head of Jihad Watch told FOX News. “The Muslim Brotherhood wants to change that.”
Labels: politics
7 Comments:
I feel that Kristof frames it really well. I was just in Cairo two weeks ago with my father on a trip to see the pyramids. A 3 day trip does not qualify me as an expert on foreign policy in Egypt, but every News Reporter and TV talking head is going to frame it their own way. Two weeks ago there was no sense of this even possible. What happened is truly amazing! This is as true to a general population uprising as imaginable. The people no longer want Mubarak. 30 years of a relatively benevolent dictator is still 30 years of rule by a dictator. This was not started by the Muslim Brotherhood, they and other factions will of course try to steer the direction and try to take credit. I can understand a nervousness among Israeli supportive Jewish people. The extremists are few, most Egyptians simply want better jobs greater freedoms and a brighter future this uprising is not about Israel or the U.S.
I listened to Limbaugh (gag) yesterday and fear tactics are in full play. Egypt needs our hands-off but verbal support toward a more free more secular Government without Mubarak.
The Western media fear-mongering pulpit continues to out-do itself.
Watching Al-Jazeera, yo :-)
It annoys me to no end how everything lately here in America seems to boil down to Muslim vs. Christian.
It's all about US> here in the U.S.
How seriously unfortunate for us all!
Oh, just to clarify: I listen to Limbaugh occasionally to know what the crazy windbag right is saying. Yes, I have to swallow down the v#mit, but I want to "know thine enemy" in order to know how to confront the lies.
Not that I'm carrying water for any team, but I know right from wrong.
Totally agree. Even if a more democratic Egypt means a less secular one, that does not mean it will be a violent theocracy. The media seems to paint any anti-U.S policy speech or statements as the first step to suicide bombings.
Given how christian fundamentalists in this country have been operating/ influencing politics here the last few decades, how can we be critical of a similar element at work in a Muslim country? Does anyone think in our lifetime anyone but a professed christian will ever be elected president of the United States? Absolutely not.
Bernard: understood, and I totally agree. My stomach is weak though :)
It's interesting to compare TV news with Internet/social media offerings, I seem to have things on and open simultaneously on all gadgets and monitors. So far, my favorite 'media' seems to be twitter and youtube generated: lots of first-hand footage, great off the cuff stuff from protesters, and some professionally edited video by documentarians doing their own thing, on the ground. Just wow.
With the way things are unfolding, I don't think any amount of diplomacy is going to help anything. It looks like the people are pushing things in the direction of a civil war of sorts. I think more of this will be taking place around the world in the coming years. The real problem is going to be to figure out what our role or place is in all of this.
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