Headsplit January 31, 2011
Posted by Cory Franklin in Uncategorized.add a comment
From VDH:
The Obama administration’s deer-in-the headlights policy toward Egypt will probably change if and when Mubarak & Co. leave and thereby introduce the risk of a Czar–Kerensky–Lenin or Estates-General–Paris Commune–Committee of Public Safety scenario — i.e., the better organized and militantly non-democratic forces coming to the fore amid loosely organized protest against prior oppression.
Any “unity” government with the anti-democratic Muslim Brotherhood as a member is de facto a route to an Islamic Republic and a hostile Egypt for years to come — a veritable Libya, Syria, or Iran on steroids. We should remember just how much Nasser and, later, a pro-Soviet early Sadat stymied U.S. interests. Certainly Mubarak’s Egypt is no more Western or modern than was the Shah’s Iran, where the unlikely return to the pre-modern world soon became accepted. The thing that stopped Iraq from going the way of Iran (e.g., Saddam–Allawi–Zarqawi, like Shah–Banisadr–Khomeini) was, in large part, constant and vocal support for constitutional government and nothing but — and the skill of the U.S. military.
I suppose the West currently feels like someone watching a train approaching an abyss without much insight into how to prevent the train from going over the cliff. Our daily-evolving strategy apparently hinges on proper triangulation, shifting from prodding Mubarak to reform to calling on protesters to form a democratic government as Mubarak appears to weaken, all while allowing some leeway should he make a remarkable recovery.
I hope we are saving our condemnation and diplomatic powder for even the hint of an Islamic manipulation of the chaos. However, after the president’s Al Arabiya interview, his silence over Tehran in spring 2009, and the Cairo speech — the constant themes being U.S. culpability for Iraq, generic apologies for purported past sins, and America’s under-appreciation of past Islamic brilliance — I fear that far too many in and outside the Middle East are unsure how America would react to an Islamist absorption of the currently popular protest. ‘Oh well, America probably sees these guys as the inheritors of Cordoba, once again doing their part to create another Western Renaissance or Enlightenment.’
In short, at some point soon, we are going to have to come out and express our support for a non-Islamist constitutional state, period — without any Carter-esque talk of “moderate” Islamists.
American Newspapers On The Weekends January 31, 2011
Posted by Cory Franklin in Uncategorized.add a comment
take away the sports and you’ve got nothing.
Why FOX News Viewers Are The Least Informed January 31, 2011
Posted by Benjamin Wendell in Entertainment, World Events.add a comment
Umm…wrong country, wrong continent. In geography, close really doesn’t count. [Thanks to friend-of-the-blog, Marcey, for this gem.]
BW
Probably Not A Good Week To Schedule A Visit To The Pyramids January 31, 2011
Posted by Benjamin Wendell in World Events.add a comment
Watching the video from the streets of Cairo is surreal. In 2010 we have the opportunity to see a revolution in realtime. What might it have looked like if there had been cameras in Philadelphia in 1776? Would it have changed the outcome?
What strikes me is that the people of Egypt aren’t, for once, demanding a more piously proper Muslim government, like in so many Middle Eastern countries. They’re asking for the same things that the protesters filling the streets in Greece last year were asking for…decent jobs, decent pay, food on the table and roofs over their heads…and not being dragged to some prison dungeon by secret police in the middle of the night.
I’m also struck by the fact that while we’re expending uncountable dollars and precious blood in Iraq and Afghanistan, and deluding ourselves that we’re somehow making the world a safer place because of it, there are a dozen other trigger points in the same region that could explode at any moment. Egypt didn’t seem like the most likely, but it might not be the last. Yemen, Syria, Jordan, and Israel all come to mind, and what about Saudi Arabia? When you’re talking about tyrants and despots, it’s really not fair to leave the Saudi king and princes out of the discussion. Mubarek may have held power for 30 years, but how long has it been since the citizenry of Saudi Arabia had any voice in their own governance?
It’s going to be interesting and not a little bit frightening to see how this situation finally resolves itself. Mubarek has called out the army, and there are tanks and armored personnel carriers in the streets. There have been a few reported civilian casualties, but so far it isn’t Tiananmen Square. It gives one pause. The question is whether the guys in those tank turrets and the infantry in those personnel carriers will actually open fire on their fellow citizens if ordered to do so. What would happen if a similar situation developed in our own country? Lord knows there are whole compounds up there in Idaho and Montana dedicated to the proposition that at some point there will be armed conflict between the federal government and the civilian population. The last time Americans killed Americans on a massive scale was in the Civil War. Could such a thing ever happen again? Will it happen in Egypt now? Scary stuff.
BW
Monday Re-Entry January 31, 2011
Posted by Benjamin Wendell in reader interaction.add a comment
Have reviewed my blogmate’s postings from the weekend, a diverse and eclectic array of information, but I think he really ought to start reading some American newspapers. I’m most impressed by the video of the monk hurling a needle cleanly through a sheet of glass. I’d have been more impressed if he’d thrown it through a cinder block, but there’s probably some guy on an even higher peak in the Himalayas who can do that trick. Not sure what to make of the fellow and the horse…if I’d have written the piece, I’d have titled it “Wilburrrrrrr”.
More on issues of note later in the morning.
BW
Dennis The Menace January 30, 2011
Posted by Cory Franklin in Uncategorized.add a comment
From THe NY Post:
The amazing thing about Rep. Dennis Kucinich’s lawsuit against the Capitol cafeteria isn’t his demand for $150,000 for a cracked tooth he claims was caused by a wayward olive pit.
What’s amazing is that the incident happened three years ago. That means the wacky Dem soldiered on through his 2008 presidential campaign despite “significant pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment.”
Why, that olive pit probably cost him the presidency. He should sue for that, too.
This Week’s Mandatory Reading January 30, 2011
Posted by Cory Franklin in Uncategorized.add a comment
