by Jack
The duly elected Mohamed Morsi representing the Muslim Brotherhood didn’t understand the concept of checks and balances very well nor the freedoms associated with a true democracy.
His first mistake was to give himself more power than the new Constitution allowed in order to limit dissent and impose censorship. Then he tried to force his own brand of Islamic fundamentalism into government. Morsi was soon accused of being a puppet for Muhammad Badi who heads up the Muslim Brotherhood. Morsi’s religious ferver annoyed liberals and secularists who saw their first opportunity for a voice in government fading away. Despite the complaints, Morsi showed no signs of being open to building a consensus.
Egypt’s democracy got off to a bad start with Morsi, so the people’s demand for a do-over is understandable, although its not a decision to be taken lightly. This is a dangerous course that could lead to anarchy or civil war, but the majority of Egyptians were willing to risk it. Morsi was too steeped in Muslim fundamentalism and this got in the way of preserving those new freedoms from the last revolution two years ago.
Morsi’s cabinet of technocrats totally blew it with their economic policies. Morsi had imposed an austerity campaign and that didn’t go over well. Unemployment was high, incomes were down, commodities prices surged and tourism dropped to near zero. Tourism represents a major portion of Egypt’s economy and Morsi’s policies brought that industry to a halt. This is what spelled the end for the Morsi government. Even though he was legitimately elected, his policies proved too threatening to Egypt’s newly founded democracy. This is why millions of people took to the streets and demanded he leave office.
Currently a Supreme Court Justice is serving as the interim president pending a new election. Let’s hope this do-over leads to better results than the last one.
As a side note, President Obama backed Morsi and totally misinterpreted the popularity of the radical Muslim Brotherhood. It was an unwise choice, but our connections with the Egyptian military remains strong and that may well salvage our relationship and minimize Obama’s blunder.
PS It’s interesting to note that at the time of his ouster Morsi had a much higher approval rating than the legislators in Sacramento.
I have read that the military has taken over and a general is running things. I also read that he has suspended their constitution. I am glad you mention Obama being involved, I think the MSM/the Left are working hard to and that little fact to the his pile of things not talked about so never happened. Picture Roy Scheider yelling “I think we are going to need a bigger rug!”
Another Obama lie. This one got him THREE Pinocchio. His blunder just may not go unnoticed this time, except in the MSM of course.
Obama’s claim that aid to Egypt was based on adherence to ‘democratic procedures’:
“The way we make decisions about assistance to Egypt is based on: Are they in fact following rule of law and democratic procedures? And we don’t make those decisions just by counting the number of heads in a protest march, but we do make decisions based on whether or not a government is listening to the opposition, maintaining a free press, maintaining freedom of assembly, not using violence or intimidation, conducting fair and free elections.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/obamas-claim-that-aid-to-egypt-was-based-on-adherence-to-democratic-procedures/2013/07/03/5568586e-e430-11e2-a11e-c2ea876a8f30_blog.html?hpid=z3
Is the same fate in store for the Obama Brotherhood? One can hope.
USA Today
Sad to say…this may mean good news for Egypt.
I’m glad Obama’s getting protested in Egypt, he needs to wise up…deserves it. The American people should learn from the Egytians…where’s our Tahir Square? I would love to see a similar mob decend on Washington.