If there is anything that the current situation in Egypt teaches, it is how hard it is to create a functioning liberal democracy after decades of oppression. It is, in fact, a lot harder than simply having an election. Because after the voting, it is imperative for the winners to show respect for the losers and not simply try to consolidate all power in their own hands while trying to crush the opposition.
By that standard, Mohamed Morsi is failing as Egypt’s new president. In recent weeks he has tried to claim for himself powers that are above even judicial review, and now he is trying to ram through a new constitution, which is to be voted on mere weeks after being drafted in a secretive process declared invalid by the opposition. When Egyptians opposed to this power grab have taken to the streets they have been met by thuggish Muslim Brotherhood supporters and violence has broken out.
Today, speaking from an office ringed by tanks, Morsi sounded a lot like his predecessor, Hosni Mubarak. In fact the only difference between the two appeared to be the backdrop they used for their televised addresses—red for Morsi, blue for Mubarak. Morsi was positively Mubarak-like in blaming the protests on “infiltrators” funded by unnamed third parties—it must be counted as considerable restraint on his part not to come right out and blame the perfidious Zionists. When he vowed that those guilty of violence “will not escape punishment” it sounded like a veiled threat against the opposition; certainly it is hard to imagine him jailing Muslim Brothers who have attacked secular opposition activists or Coptic Christians.
Indeed the menacing tone of his remarks did much to undermine the message of unity that was contained in his call for a dialogue with the opposition. For such talks to be fruitful, Morsi will have to acknowledge that the opposition is not motivated by a desire to undermine Egypt or bring back the old regime—but rather that the opposition is as concerned about the country’s welfare as he is. That, however, would require a monumental intellectual and moral leap that only a few heroes, such as Nelson Mandela and Vaclav Havel and Aung San Suu Kyi, have been able to make. Most of those who have spent long periods of time in underground organizations plotting against the state emerge bitter and ruthless and determined not to allow anyone else to oust them from power as they ousted the previous incumbent. Josef Stalin and Mao Zedong are the ultimate 20th-century examples. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Iraq is a much lesser and less malign example: he is not a mass murderer but he has a conspiratorial, winner-take-all outlook which leads him to persecute political opponents such as the Sunni Vice President Tariq al Hashemi. Unfortunately for Egypt’s future, Morsi, alas, fits more closely into the Maliki mindset than in the Mandela-Havel-Suu Kyi mold.
It is not really a sign of "how hard it is to create a functioning liberal democracy after decades of oppression." Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic made the transition quickly and smoothly. Rather, it's a sign of the impossibility of creating any sort of liberal democracy among a bunch of crazy Arabs.
Funny and over the top but true anyways!
jeburke, I was going to write the same thing! this article makes the fundamental mistake of assuming that Egypt, or Morsi, ever really wanted "democracy." there's a lot of talk about freedom, but every recent survey I've ever seen say that Egyptians overwhelmingly want a sharia-based political system. n nit's kind of the same thing as people who say that peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis is hard. no, it isn't. it only takes one thing: the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state by Palestine and its enablers around the world. until and unless that happens, the rest is window dressing, and there will be no peace, as poor Mitt Romney so correctly pointed out during the campaign.
Morsi isn't doing anything he didn't say he'd do. It's the idiots here in the west who imagine they saw something that's not there. Just because our Moron in Chief tells us Morsi is secretly a gay friendly pot smoking Sesame St watching limousine liberal doesn't make it true. Someone in White House needs to actually read thing one about or by the Muslim Brotherhood. Or they need to simply shut up forever. Sorry, but this is the real world.
The real question for me is why did Obama feel a MB Egypt is a good thing. n nStupidity or sympathy with the MB?
Just look at Clinton’s top adviser, dare I mention her name and roots.
Then take a look at those advising the FBI, Cia (pun intended), etc.
Obviously many Americans look favourably on the MB.
When have Moslems ever created a functioning, liberal, democracy? A benign autocracy, perhaps, but never a democracy. That is an oxymoron in an Islamic culture, which believes only Moslems deserve equal justice under the law, and then only if you are male, and that infidels, or non Moslems, must be made to feel conquered. Islam, after all, means submission, not equal participation. That is what Sharia is all about.
Quote, "It is, in fact, a lot harder than simply having an election. Because after the voting, it is imperative for the winners to show respect for the losers and not simply try to consolidate all power in their own hands while trying to crush the opposition." nThey are MUSLIMS dude!! With Islam=Sharia-Hadiths-Koran it is ingrained in their entire ideology-grow up! Face facts! nThe only way to get muslims even close is to "defeat them" completely and absolutely; even if you do it one country at a time. That was Boooosh's major strategic blunder. He believed the P.C. political crowd, and not the scholars-simple stuff really.
Islam and liberal democracy are mutually exclusive. So let 's not pretend and get real please. Is Pr. O showing any respect for the loser in the US? "Islam", "Islam", "Islam" is the guiding force. Of course. Stop the BS.
He has clearly stated that he was an Islamophil by his words and actions!