Here's the thing, as Jay Leno (!) pointed out in his monologue the other night--despite the rioting and unrest in Egypt, no one's blaming the Jews this time. This is progress.
I think people are tired of Mubarak playing Pharaoh and keeping them at heel. Half the population of Egypt lives on less than $2 a day and there is *no* opportunity for those with an education to get ahead and improve their lives over there. They know there's a better way and are fighting for it. Whether they choose another autocrat or try to hash out some sort of democracy remains to be seen.
Monkman: as they used to say, 'He may be a son of a bitch, but he's OUR son of a bitch.' The US propped up a lot of dictators during the Cold War as buffers against the USSR--never mind that they were despots to their own people. At least they weren't allied with Russia, and that's all we cared about at that time. :/ Now it's all about terrorism. :/ Things don't really change much--only the names do.
Lichdar: very true. Machiavellian, but very true. And when those felons are no longer necessary, we throw them under the bus.
Petrus: the nation in the modern sense is also pretty alien to a lot of people around the world. It's a European construct that we've exported/forced upon a lot of people. Some have taken to it better than others.
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This post has been edited by Darkmage: Feb 2 2011, 06:43 AM