2026
MOTHER- MAY I? [My last Texas post]
Over the weekend I read as many news stories as I could on
the Egyptian Coup.
Now- there is much debate over whether it was a coup or not.
Why?
The Egyptian election of Morsi- after the overthrow of
Mubarak- was seen as a major step for Democracy in the Arab world.
And of course- some in the media tried to spin the story
[Arab Spring] as it being a result of president Obama’s speech that he gave
about a year before the overthrow.
Obama spoke about a new sense of freedom and co-operation-
the overall ‘we can’ attitude that swept him into office.
So- as the first ‘revolution’ unfolded- Nic Robertson [CNN]
was in the famous Tahrir square- and was searching for some young protestor- to
give Obama credit for the ‘new day’ dawning in the Arab world.
Nic went to his first protestor and asked the kid if he
credited Obama for this great new day.
The kid said- in so many words- no.
Huh?
Nic went to number 2.
Got the same response.
He then went to his 3rd protestor- and this kid
finally said ‘NO’- he replied that Obama was non committal at first- did not
back the protestors- and that he only jumped on the bandwagon after he saw the writing
on the wall [that Mubarak was on the verge of being kicked out].
So- after hearing the protestors basically say Obama was not
even part of their thinking- good old Nic then turned to the camera- and
reported something to the effect of;
‘There you have it- the protestors are vey happy that the
president is with them’.
Yeah- that’s how the media have ‘reported’ this stuff for
the past 6 years.
So- what really happened with the whole Egyptian revolution?
When Egypt did indeed kick out their Autocrat- they did it
with the U.S. working behind the scenes with the Egyptian military.
Egypt- the most populous Arab nation- had its military
generals trained in the U.S.
Because of this- we have connections with the generals- in a
way that we do not have with other nations in the region.
So- we kind of gave the Green Light to topple Mubarak- and
went with what we felt was the popular trend at the time.
There was indeed a legitimate feeling of a need for a change
in Egypt.
Lots of the new generation of kids- because of their connection
to the world in a new way- thru Face Book and other internet venues- they began
seeing what the rest of the free world was like- in a new way.
So yeah- they did want change- and Mubarak was oppressive-
he used his police to abuse the people- and they were rightfully tired of it.
So- Egypt had its first Democratic election- and Morsi- the
candidate from the Muslim Brotherhood- won.
Now- at the time- there was a fear that Morsi might try and
‘rule’ as a Muslim- who would institute a sort of Theocracy [religious rule]
and trample on the rights of the other groups [Christians and Secularists] who
wanted Mubarak out- but did not want an islamist to rule in this way.
So- over the past year- Morsi showed himself to be stubborn-
and when Egypt was writing her constitution- Morsi did not compromise- but
pushed thru a sort of Muslim constitution- and put hard line Islamists in key positions
of govt.
He also butted heads with Egypt’s Judiciary- which were known
to be independent- and Morsi consolidated more power- some say more than
Mubarak- to his own position as the head of Egypt.
Ok- this worried the other groups in the nation- and Morsi
made the power grab- thinking that the military would not move against him.
He thought wrong.
Now- here’s where it gets tricky.
During the final days of the Morsi rule- the military was
having behind the scenes talks with Morsi.
With the U.S. [referred to as MOTHER] having a hand in it
all.
There are some reports that at the last minute- Morsi was
going to take a deal- brokered by MOTHER- to share power with the other groups-
and prevent a military take over [we were dong behind the scenes negotiations
thru an Arab emissary- and when word got back that the U.S. gave the go ahead
for the coup- one of Morsi’s guys reported back ‘Mother says we can stop
playing in one hour’].
Some reports say that Mori accepted the deal from the top
general- but the general reported back that he rejected it.
That the general lied- because he wanted Morsi out too.
How much of this is true- I don’t know [I read this in the New
York Times].
But if it is true- this would mean that the military basically
did what they wanted- even though the U.S. ‘told’ them to get a deal.
Either way- they arrested Morsi- have been in flux since-
and the situation might spin out of control.
And at the end of the day- leave one of the so-called great foreign
policy moves of the administration- in a complete mess.
Now- as most things go- there were not a lot of clear- easy
choices- to make at the time [or now].
The hard right critics of Obama are saying ‘see- he backed a
militant Muslim- and we told you this would happen’.
The left- well they don’t have much to say now- but they are
doing their darndest to explain all of these ins and outs- to show you that
Obama tried- really hard- and it just didn’t work.
What’s wrong with that John?
Nothing- but they could have gone into these same long explanations
for Gitmo- and a million other stories- but when there’s a Repub pres- well
they just report how much he blew it.
So- as of now- Egypt is in real trouble.
As a defense of Obama- the Muslim Brotherhood was [is]
indeed a political Muslim group- who believed that you should gain power- not
by terrorism- but by the ballot box.
Was this a good thing?
OF COURSE!
So- you can’t fault Obama for supporting Morsi at the start.
And he did work behind the scenes to try and convince Morsi
to be more open minded- and to share power.
Morsi did not take this advice.
The danger now is- that the Muslims who rejected the Muslim Brotherhoods
idea- that you could gain power thru Democratic means- are saying ‘see- we told
you so’.
This leaves a huge gap- which the militants will use to
their advantage.
So- it does seem like Obama had no real choice- but to have
backed Morsi at the time.
But the real question is- are the majority of Muslims in
this part of the world ready for true Democracy- in the way we understand it.
Probably not.
Now- when I say ‘the way we [the West] understand it’ I mean
in a secular sort of way.
Most in the Western world accept the reality that whoever we
elect into office- most of the time a Christian of some sort- that he [she]
will not use that position to simply expand their idea of religion.
But in most Islamic nations- this distinction does not
exist.
There are some in the Muslim community- who are trying- real
hard- to Reform radical Islam- and bring her into the 21st century-
they believe in a more moderate approach.
But how much success they are having is questionable.
So- under Morsi you had a legitimately elected President
[like what happened in Palestine when they elected Hamas] and he used his ‘legitimacy’
to basically enact a sort of Islamic rule.
Did the majority of Egyptians want this?
No.
Did he have the right to do this?
Yes- and no.
It depends on your view of ‘Democracy’.
He and his supporters felt ‘we won- we get to do what we
want’.
And they pushed thru an Islamic constitution- and that
angered- and scared- the other groups who wanted Mubarak out- but did not want this.
Our dilemma [That is us- you know- MOTHER] we did not really
want a coup- because it would then justify- in the minds of some- radical
Islam.
The younger generation would say ‘see- we tried Democracy-
and it didn’t work’.
At the same time- we also did not want to simply be backing
a hard line Islamist which is not what the majority of Egyptians wanted.
So- after reading/watching as much as I could- that seems to
be the jist of it.
A few things;
When the U.S. - does behind the scenes deals- with any group
[ In this case we used our influence with the generals].
It might work the first time around [kicking out Mubarak].
But maybe not the 2nd time [accepting the Morsi
deal- like we wanted].
The generals realize that we- if it’s in our interest- will
be sneaky- and stab leaders in the back- leaders we were behind just a few days
before.
Yes- the U.S. had strong ties- and deals- with Mubarak.
The generals saw what we did to a so called partner- and
that didn’t leave a whole lot of respect for us.
When we in the west are seen as MOTHER [this term was coined
by the insiders- Morsi and his men saw us this way- that we were trying to
micro manage the outcome].
Then there develops a built in resentment to whatever
happens.
The people will ultimately blame us if stuff goes bad
[Libya- Iraq- Afghanistan- etc.]
We have to come to a place where we simply do our best- we
advocate for the rights of all people- but leave the outcome up to them.
That’s the only way the world will function [or not] in the
end.
We have to be realistic about what Democracy means to these
Arab states.
It does not mean the same thing to them- as us.
Now- I know that can sound demeaning- but it’s just the
truth.
Many in the Arab world do not see a distinction between
being an elected official- and at the same time promoting the religious values
of those who backed you- even if the majority of citizens in the country don’t
want it.
That’s the way it is- we can’t change that.
If that mindset is to change- then it has to come from
within Islam itself.
But- if every time a more moderate Muslim is found- like
some in the West who do advocate for this more moderate view.
And the hard right goes after them- just as much as they go
after the radicals- then we are shooting ourselves in the foot.
So- its hard to see any real progress- with all these
obstacles in the way.
As of now- Egypt is in real trouble.
They were a stable nation just a few years ago- not any
more.
They had a stable economy- no more.
The last ting they needed- was to lose any funding they
have- and the money we have been giving them [the military] might go away.
The U.S. has a policy- if your nation has a coup- then we
stop funding you until you elect a leader.
Now- as you can see- that’s not as easy as it sounds.
NOTE- The western view- that Democracy trumps just about
every thing else- is simply a moral ‘judgment’- the same argument that those
who support a Theocracy would say.
That is- some in the Muslim world sincerely believe that the
final arbiter of right and wrong is indeed God.
Now- in the West- we are schizophrenic in a way.
We- for the most part- reject religious rule.
But at the same time we too have certain moral standards- judgments-
that we impose- even on people who not like those ‘morals’.
The Supreme Court recently ruled in a favorable way for gay
marriage.
You also have those in the more ‘liberal’ sector of society-
that advocate for ‘Man/Boy’ love.
Now- most of us [including me!] reject that.
We say ‘No way- it’s just not right’ [NAMBLA- North American
Man Boy Love Association believes we should legalize sex with minors].
So- the majority rule in our country does indeed impose
certain standards- and others need to abide by them- or else.
The argument that men like Morsi make- is they too believe
that society needs to abide by laws- but in their mind- they choose the ‘laws
of God’ [as they see it].
This argument is not totally defenseless- the problem is
once again- whose interpretation do you use?
In Egypt- you did not have a ‘real democracy’ as we in the
West would define it.
In ‘our world’ Democracy is not simply majority rule- we
have a form of Representative Democracy- we elect leaders and they make the
laws [in keeping with the constitution- that’s why some call us a
Constitutional Republic].
Where did this idea come from?
Well- you can go back around 500 years before Christ and see
the city/state of Athens giving this kind of govt. a shot.
But our founding fathers were really a product of the
European Enlightenment.
They were influenced by men like John Locke- for the most
part that’s where our constitution came from.
Jefferson- Franklin- etc. put into practice the Democratic ideals
that were written about by these men.
So- when we in the Western world say ‘oh well- if they
elected so and so- then that’s it- we must respect the will of the people’.
That’s simply a judgment call- the bible does not exalt this
‘will of the people’ to the same degree as we do.
That might sound strange- but it’s true.
What is the type of govt. spoken about most in the bible?
Believe it or not- it’s a Monarchy.
That’s right- we read books like ‘Kings’- yeah- that’s what it’s
about- kings.
In the time of Jesus we did have a Roman Senate and stuff-
but you do not find a Democracy in the bible- not like we know of today.
So- when we in the West hold to an idea that whoever gets elected
must be respected- that’s not always so.
Hitler was elected too.
I don’t say this to demean our form of govt.
I do indeed think we have the best thing going on the planet
as of now.
But how long we can sustain it- well nobody knows.
There are cracks- serious ones- that are forming in our
system.
And I’m not talking about what you might hear on
conservative radio- or in our ‘world’ of anti Obama media [or pro!].
But there are indeed serious issues- that men like Alex
DeTocqueville talked about.
A Democracy can last so long- but when people realize that
they can vote in others- who will start giving them free stuff- then at that point
the writings on the wall.
I heard a recording the other day- it was covering the conversation
of people who were getting the free phones that Obama has started giving out-
sort of an extension of the Welfare state.
Now- I have friends who get the phones- so don’t get mad if
your one of them.
But- in the recording- the people were asking if it’s okay
if ‘I get as many as I can and try and sell them for stuff’.
It was an undercover set up- to see what the people- who
were giving the phones out- would say.
And sure enough- the people- working for the govt. said
‘yeah- just don’t get caught’.
That’s the problem- when we as a society begin electing-
supporting people because he might give me something for free- then at that
stage Democracy is in trouble.
The whole point is when we have a mindset- that what the
majority of the people want is right- well- that’s just not so.
And we- even in our Democracy- have morals- standards that
we impose on others.
Where do these standards come from?
Well- that’s a very long debate about Moral law- one that in
the end does prove the existence of God.
But what Morsi was doing in Egypt was not a Democracy like
we know of.
As of now- the Morsi supporters have been fighting back- and
the military has killed about 50 protestors.
We had our hand in this thing from day one- and when things
spin out of control- both sides are going to blame us.
That’s what’s happening right now- and once again- we find ourselves
between a rock and a hard place.
Pray for Egypt- no matter what your view is- we want peace
for the people of Egypt.
For Muslims- Christians- Sectarians- for all.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [FaceBook] -
I have posted lots.
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