Mubarak Resigned Down Today

[trish]

http://english.aljazeera.net/video/m...020759495.html

[Ben]

Great news for the Egyptian people....

[Ben]

As Ron Paul stated in the previous clip: "We're all for democracy as long as they pick the right person." Otherwise, well, we aren't in favor of it. Yep! Democracy is about selecting the "right" person -- like Donald Trump -- ha! ha! ha!

[onmyknees]

"To Clarify"

[Stavros]

We seen it so many times with these decrepit dictators at the end of their reign -completely out of touch with ordinary people, convince that everything will collapse if they are not in power. It won't be an easy transition when the majority of the people have never had the opportunity to try it and there are plenty of examples in Europe and elsewhere of governments coming and going, but they have seen an alternative to political atrophy, and we must hope that the patience the people have shown over 18 days will not run out control, and that they get the government they deserve.

Anyone want to nominate the next place to erupt?

[onmyknees]

We seen it so many times with these decrepit dictators at the end of their reign -completely out of touch with ordinary people, convince that everything will collapse if they are not in power. It won't be an easy transition when the majority of the people have never had the opportunity to try it and there are plenty of examples in Europe and elsewhere of governments coming and going, but they have seen an alternative to political atrophy, and we must hope that the patience the people have shown over 18 days will not run out control, and that they get the government they deserve.

Anyone want to nominate the next place to erupt?

Agreed. The 18 days in the street was the liberation...now comes the difficult, if not impossible tasks of governing from people who have little or no experience in self governance . There seems to be little or no authority outside the military who can maintain stability while the everyday functions of government are formed. Fortunately the military is well respected, and not seen as an enemy of the citizens. You need only to look at Iraq and the years it's taken to set up governmental agencies that actually work.True much of the infrastructure was destroyed there, and took years to rebuild, and Egypt has many more citizens who were educated in the west, but it's still going to be a struggle in a part of the world where there's some pretty dark forces at play. While it's my hope they can find their patriots, I'm not optimistic.
The next place to exhibit unrest? Iran. Again...and let's hope our government this time provides the same encouragement we bestowed on the Egyptians.

[trish]

A demonstration was just put down in Algeria this morning:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/wo...13algeria.html

[Ben]

Again, either we want democracy. Or we don't. I mean, we can prop up another Egyptian dictator for another 30 years. (And we can continue to send billions and billions of taxpayer money to Egypt. Ya know, have American working stiffs line the pockets of another monster like Mubarak.) Or let the Egyptian people run their own affairs. Let them have democracy. Meaningful democracy.
We can't continue to promote "freedom" and "democracy" and then deny them freedom and democracy. Well, the fact is we don't like democracy. I mean, the U.S. backs the theocratic state of Saudi Arabia. (A monstrous place... where women can't even drive. Charming, eh?)
We continue to back anti-democratic regimes in Yemen, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar -- and ALGERIA.
Again, we don't like democracy. So we should stop talking about how we embrace freedom and democracy. Because we don't. Actions speak louder than words.
And, lastly, I think, people in the Middle East will be less hostile to America if we actually permitted them to have democracy. (I mean, it'd be like Egypt protecting an American dictator by funnelling billions and billions into his perverse pockets and propping him -- or her -- up and denying the American people democracy. Would we want that? No. And if Egypt were doing that to America, well, we'd be pretty upset about it.)

[russtafa]

I have always thought democracy was a failed idea.I believe a combination of socalisim and big business is the answer .With a strong one party state working for the good of the people

[hippifried]

I have always thought democracy was a failed idea.I believe a combination of socalisim and big business is the answer .With a strong one party state working for the good of the people

So call it what it is. Fascism.

Of course the problem with such high minded ideals is the same problem with all such high minded ideals. They don't work. You can't hamd all the power & money over to an elite few & expect largesse back, let alone expect everybody else to go along with it for any length of time. Gotta figure there's a whole new generation looking for oportunities every 2 decades. If such opportunities are non-existent, they're going to be wondering why. There's only been 1 successful fascist government, & that government kept Spain the most backward country in Europe. There's good reason that your's is a minority opinion.