And then the people shouted “Let my Egyptians go!!” And the ruler, not wanting to make the same mistake twice, stepped down and let it be so. I am so hoping I don’t have to eat more matzoh because of this.
–Ariel David
And then the people shouted “Let my Egyptians go!!” And the ruler, not wanting to make the same mistake twice, stepped down and let it be so. I am so hoping I don’t have to eat more matzoh because of this.
–Ariel David
• 
In the end, regardless of what ends up happening, this is how it should be: the people of Egypt stood up and spoke for themselves.
.
Mubarak is stepping down and handing over power to the military. In the end, he used the military to keep control, and those from his military will still be in control. So, it’s hard to say right now whether there will be real change in Egypt moving forward.
.
But the fact remains that Egyptians did this for Egyptians. It wasn’t forced upon them by a foreign power. It’s what the Tunisians did. It’s what the Iranians tried to do. And that is how it should be.
I agree with Ariel. I hope this doesn’t mean we have to eat more matzoh. And I hope the Egyptians know that we won’t be coming back to build anymore pyramids.
I loved Fred Armisen as Mubarak on SNL’s Weekend Update.
.
Seth Meyers: I’m feeling like you’re missing the signals.
.
Armisen/Mubarak: Egyptians have never been great with signals. Read the Bible. We needed ten plagues before we let the Israelites go. Ten! We had locusts, rivers turning into blood, we’re like, “Let’s see how this plays out.”
What bothers me about the story/passage of Moses and Pharaoh in Exodus is that every time Moses goes to Pharaoh, Pharaoh agrees to free the Egyptians — then we’re told that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart and Pharaoh changed his mind. It reads like God had the plagues on standby, and there was no way He was gonna let them go to waste.
In all seriousness though, although I’m glad he’s stepped down, they’re not out of the woods yet. There’s still a lot of obstacles to true democracy, including Mubarak’s remaining cronies, radicals, and even the military. I hope they continue protesting until they get free and fair elections, and a Constitution that guarantees individual rights. I think if they do this, the US and Israel have npthing to fear; a government that is truly accountable to its people is in no rush to sacrifice lives in war.
.
I also think this situation has turned a welcome spotlight on the horrible, horrible hypocrisy that our government has been engaged in for decades, in professing a love of democracy, but supporting the world’s most brutal dictators because it was “in our interest.” We are all complicit because it’s our tax dollars that are flowing into these dictators’ pockets.
Testify, Brother Matt!!!!
You mean there aren’t living mummies involved? I thought with Egypt it always had something to do with mummies rising from the dead (maybe I watch too many old movies).
THE MUMMY 3: The Fall Of Mubarak – coming soon to a theatre near you?
Well, they are going to need a new leader for the country. And an ancient pharoah does have the experience. Two problems, though. 1) His experience would be a few thousand years dated and 2) I don’t think a Muslim majority will vote for a candidate with ancient pagan beliefs.
Actually, there was a third “Mummy” film a couple years back.
Apparently, the revolution has already been televised.
Just be glad that no one’s discussing how Mubarik plans to leave Egypt. The last thing we need is someone making puns about “Pyramid Schemes”.
Pharoah, yes I did go there.
Old Gahan Wilson cartoon:
.
Helicopter taking off from airport, barely ahead of screaming mob, bodyguards firing machine guns at the crowds below…
.
Dictator looks worried: “I think I forgot the number of my Swiss account…”
I have four questions about this…
Apple. Tree. Proximity.
.
Whether you buy into the “nature” or “nurture” argument, she’s definitely your kid.
.
J.
Cut-and-pasted it on my Facebook page with appropriate attribution to Ariel.
She put the situation into a perspective that, being a Jewish woman and thinking “good or bad for the Jews” made me laugh.
It’s also interesting to see how pro-democracy sentiments are starting to ripple through the Middle East. I think a lot of the local autocrats are checking their aforementioned Swiss bank accounts just in case they have to beat a hasty retreat at some point in the not-too-distant future.
I like Matzoh.
So do I… occasionally.
Do you eat it for eight days? Because after that period of time my colon is in a state of rebellion.
That reminds me of an old joke: You can always tell who is not Jewish at the seder…it’s the person who likes the matzah.
This article…
.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/11/us-egypt-israel-mubarak-idUSTRE71A64V20110211
.
…and this passage in particular, enraged me:
.
“He gave me a lesson in democracy and said: ‘We see the democracy the United States spearheaded in Iran and with Hamas, in Gaza, and that’s the fate of the Middle East,'” Ben-Eliezer said.
.
“‘They may be talking about democracy but they don’t know what they’re talking about and the result will be extremism and radical Islam,'” he quoted Mubarak as saying.
.
U.S. support for pro-democracy elements in Iran has not led to regime change in the Islamic Republic, and Hamas, a group Washington considers to be a terrorist organization, won a 2006 Palestinian election promoted by the United States.
.
.
.
What a bunch of BS. As if US support for democracy strengthened the regime in Iran (the protests they just had against the regime were the biggest since the ones against the tyrant we backed) or the Palestinian elections were held in anything resembling a self-determined state. Sure, those situations PROVE democracy doesn’t work. Feh. I can understand that talk coming from a dictator, but that Israeli minister ought to be ashamed of himself.
.
The lesson to be learned in Iran is, lend support to democratic forces without coming across as trying to manipulate, and the lesson to be learned in Gaza is that feelings of powerlessness give rise to extremism. We can apply both these lessons across the Middle East by supporting both individual rights and the right of self-determination.
The biggest obstacle to true democracy in that part of the world is that the people must understand and accept the concept of the ‘loyal opposition’, which is neccessary for peaceful transitions from election to election. Without it, democracy cannot be sustained,
That’s a very wise observation. So many potential democracies stumble out of the gate when people in the majority use it to take revenge on minorities for real or perceived slights that may have previously occurred.
.
We are lucky to live in a place where the occasional idiot who wants to “deport Obama back to Kenya” or “String Clarence Thomas up” represents a tiny moron minority and are considered little more than an embarrassment even by those who share their dislike for the people they attack. I fear that too many Egyptian citizens will respond well to someone telling them it’s payback time.
.
This is also why a Nelson Mandela or Abraham Lincoln, for any other disagreements one might have with some of their politics, stand as great men of history. To resist the chance to enhance one’s power by appealing to the baser instincts of the mob is a quality that far too few leaders possess.
True democracy involves the presence of institutions that work as checks and balances against each other’s powers. Sadly, no country in the Middle East is there yet.
I’m sorry if this is an inappropriate place for this, but I poked around on your site and couldn’t find a place to write you directly.
I happened upon peterdavid.net while searching for a review on the Spiderman play. After a thoroughly enjoyable read, I began poking around your site, reading some of your comments and blogs.
I just wanted to say that you are one of the most brilliant writers I have ever experienced. Your style, eloquence, prose, intelligence are phenomenal. I’m not a huge Star Trek fan or much of a Sci-Fi kind of person, so I’m not sure how much of your previously published material will attract me, but this site alone makes me a fan for life! I have no idea how long it’s going to take me to read everything you wrote, but I’m going to thoroughly enjoy it!
Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.
Just for the record… I’m an MOT and I LOVE matzah! There’s no better way to have a PB&J. Or throw some cheese on top and put it under the broiler for a couple minutes… YUM!
.
PAD, you make your daughter eat matzah when she makes a clever observation? Wow, what a tough editor you must be!
.
ELS
x<]:o){
The Bad Clown…