Egypt's Obstructionist Generals

NEW YORK TIMES, EDITORIAL PAGE, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2011
Egypt's Obstructionist Generals

"Their determination to hang on to power is the biggest threat to stability Egypt's military council continues to demonstrate its utter contempt for the citizens who risked their lives to end President Hosni Mubarak's authoritarian rule. In the latest outrage, security forces on Thursday shut down three American-financed democracy-building groups in Cairo and as many as six other nonprofit organizations. Armed with automatic weapons, troops provided no war­rants and, in some cases, detained the groups' employees for hours. They confiscated computers and files and sealed the doors when they left.

The three American groups are all well known and re­spected. Two of them, the National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute, have ties to the main American political parties. They were authorized by the Egyptian government to monitor the country's first post-Mubarak parliamentary elections, set to resume next week. The third group] Freedom House, just finished its application for official recognition three days ago.
Egypt's Islamist parties, especially the Muslim Brotherhood, have honed their organizational skills over the years and won a majority in the first rounds of parlia­mentary voting. But the country's liberal and secular ac­

tivists, the heart of the revolution, still need a lot of help to learn the skills to develop political parties, train poll work­ers and get out the vote.

The raids go against the military council's promise to allow free and fair elections. They are part of a desperate attempt to intimidate the opposition and cover up the council's many failures by invoking the canard of "for­eign" meddling in Egypt's unrest.
Egyptians continue to protest because the army has made clear its determination to cling to political power in­definitely — and control lucrative chunks of the economy — no matter how many civilians it has to arrest or kill.
The Obama administration has spoken out firmly against the raids, and, on Friday, it said the Egyptian gov­ernment had agreed to stop harassing the democracy groups and return their property. The administration needs to keep pressing that message and make clear that if such abuses continue at least some of the $1.3 billion in annual American military aid will be withheld. The Euro­pean Union should also review its assistance.
Egypt's generals claim that they are protecting their country. The truth is they are only interested in protecting their own power and perks. Their continued repression is the real threat to Egypt's stability and its future."

Well, doesn’t this beat all? The New York Times still thinks this action by Egypt is justified enough to place the subject on their “editorial page”. When are folks like this going to grow up, face the honest facts, and let other Countries exercise their “Sovereignty” in a way that they see fit? Journalistically, there is absolutely no defense for this paper’s continued promotion of American Colonialism. Politically, there is absolutely no defense of our Nation subsidizing “civic” groups who’s only mission is to proffer the righteousness of Western Democracy. The New York Times ran their first article of reinforcement on Friday, December 30, 2011, in their “International” section. I commented on their article then, and I will comment on this subject whenever I see a major news outlet using their valuable space as a U.S. State Department booster section. This is an egregious use of our tax dollars, when we have plenty of projects to tend to inside our own borders. The U.S. State Department should know better, and our major news outlets should also know better. Please let me know when you all plan to stop this insane assault on Sovereign Nations.

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Overseas Civics Class

Dateline: Friday, December 30, 2011, the “International’ page (pg.A4), New York Times, David Kirkpatrick & Steven Myers (authors).

“Egyptian Forces Raid and Shut Civic Groups, Drawing Sharp U.S. Response”

Okay, now you folks really have my attention. You are trying to get me to believe that the United States is justified, once again, in openly complaining that another, sovereign Country, Egypt in this case, has absolute no leg to stand on when it exercises its right of self-determination.

Really? Please, not again. Didn’t you folks at the New York Times and you folks at the State Department get the memo?

 I can not believe that, in this day and time, our Nation still feels it is our God given right to spread our unique style of democracy all over the globe. My only conclusion is that our Government and some of our mainstream media still think that it is perfectly all right to smother other Societies with our “brand”. I think what really gets under the skin of other People is the clandestine, almost cloak and dagger, means by which we try to accomplish the goal of westernization. Oh, of course, I forgot they call these exercises “civic” involvement by “civic” groups. Do they really expect the American Public, the 99%, to buy into this type of behavior anymore?

The State Department, the New York Times, and these two Authors are going to have to explain to me, and the rest of “We The People”, why it is this Country keeps throwing money away by pursuing such ridiculous actions. We have plenty of “civic” programs right here at home to spend this money on. We do not need to be funding a program that has a proven record of failure, and one that other Societies simply reject. This article wants me to be sympathetic to those wonderful, democracy-spreading folks who just want to help the down trodden of the World. If the New York Times, our Government, and these two Authors are expecting my sympathy vote, they are all going to their graves without it. I sincerely hope that the rest of America is of like mind, and will not stand for this kind of international behavior anymore.

Never ceases to amaze

It never ceases to amaze me that our young’uns, largely, are not at all tuned into what’s going on around them. I have had the opportunity to broach the subject of the current state of our political system with some young folks. They are, by their own admission, totally disconnected from reality when it comes to our Nations economy, society, and crumbling political structure.

I can attribute this, in great part, to my “dumbing of America” theory. Well, I’ve been calling it a theory, but, now, I’m seeing and hearing first hand that it isn’t a theory; it’s reality. And, boy is it scary! These kids don’t have a clue; don’t want to have a clue; and their parents aren’t promoting their kids involvement in anything except working, making lots of money, and living in a sheltered community in the ‘burbs. The “social media” has taken them totally out of the loop.

Well, when the proverbial kaka hits the proverbial fan, these kids will no longer be kids. They may be married, with kids of their own, and wake up one day to a completely new “world” order around them. If they are not in the top 5% on the economic scale, they are going to be members of the working poor, at best. They will have no health insurance; they will have no retirement program; they will have no savings, or credit; and, they will be lucky to have a job at any earnings level.

I really do hope these young folks will wake up. I really hope they put down their “i”-things. Its going to be up to them to figure this all out; their parents are pretty much useless on this topic.

My message to them is threefold: get some education on current events; pay attention to what is happening all around you; and, get involved so as not to find yourselves in trouble when you reach our age. I will guaranty them that the slice of the pie available to them will be a very small one, and they need to know that now!

Topics I have brought up: the meaning of “Occupy Wall Street”; our Nations financial mess; the meaning of the “Arab Spring”; our Nations role in armed conflict and its affect on world judgment of our Nation; the actual role of the President of the United States; the actual role of the Congress of the United States (I’m not even going to ask them about our Judicial System). Okay I’ll stop here because continuing would only run me off the page and out of paper.