Egypt: A Revolution, Not A Reform Movement

Image via WikipediaI am so glad Hillary Clinton lost the 2008 primary. I am so glad Joe Biden lost the 2008 primary. These white folks are acting unreal. Hillary thinks the street action in Cairo is chaos that might bring forth the Islamists on stage. Biden went on record to say "Mubarak is not a dictator." That is what happens to you when you spend too many long years on the US Senate's Foreign Relations Committee.

This reminds me of the American ambassador in Nepal in 2005. The dude was hellbent on suggesting there was only a military solution to the Maoist insurgency, and that the democrats should forge an alliance with the monarch who had just pulled a coup and taken over. Made no sense.

This revolution in Egypt is not the US State Department's doing, but the US State Department is hellbent on undoing it. Why? Assange gets more credit that Hillary on the "chaos" in the streets of Cairo. The exposure showed that the governments of the world are incapable of the rapid change that the world is asking for. The message in Cairo is democracy now, not democracy after Mubarak dies in the presidential palace, peacefully in sleep two decades from now.

Mubarak was always a dictator. The only legitimate way to conclude this revolution is by a total ouster of Mubarak and the taking over of power by an interim government led by that Nobel Prize winning dude. His mandate would be to hold elections to a constituent assembly within a year. Then that assembly takes over power.

Time: Egypt Opposition Defiant over VP Warning: a warning from Vice President Omar Suleiman that if their movement doesn't enter negotiations, a "coup" could take place causing greater chaos, as a mass demonstration in a central Cairo square entered its 16th day...... Many have been sleeping underneath the tanks of soldiers surrounding the square to prevent them from moving or trying to clear the area for traffic....... a coalition of the five main youth groups behind the protests in Tahrir Square ...... U.S. Vice President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Suleiman, saying Washington wants Egypt to immediately rescind emergency laws that give broad powers to security forces — a key demand of the protesters..... "We won't give up," Wael Ghonim promised at one of the biggest protests yet in Cairo's Tahrir Square...... Many protesters fear he aims to fragment the movement with partial concessions and gestures.

If this revolution does not see complete success through a total, unceremonial ouster of Mubarak, the tide will stop. The tide will not spread to the other Arab countries like Saudi Arabia. And maybe it is Saudi Arabia that the US State Department is thinking about. It should not. The Saudi king also has to go.

The next phase of the revolution would be to march on the presidential palace itself. You can not wait forever. You have to take it up one notch.

Connect the dots. Unless all Arab countries have been turned into full fledged democracies, there can be no genuine peace in the Middle East. All those high profile summits organized by the US State Department are sham as long as there is no democracy. And street protests are the best way to bring democracy about. Fan the flames. Don't try to douse them. Saudi Arabia next. Iran all over again.

A democracy movement concludes with an utter, total collapse of the autocratic regime and the taking over of power by an interim government led by the leading democratic activist. And then in a year you hold elections to a constituent assembly.

How Many People Could Mubarak Kill?
Arab Dictators Will Fall Like A House Of Cards

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How Many People Could Mubarak Kill?

The point is it is a finite number. There are only so many people Mubarak could kill. We did this in Nepal in 2006. The king of Nepal issued a shoot at sight order, and the people braved the bullets. About two dozen people were shot down before the regime collapsed.

There are only so many people Mubarak can kill. The brave people of Egypt have to not stop. This can be done. Democracy is not an American export. Liberty is an export of the human heart. It comes from inside. This is nothing to do with America.

You don't need no internet. You don't need no mobile phones. You don't need Twitter. All you need is air. You pack the energy into the air. All you have to do is be able to feel the ring of freedom. This is not about technology. This is about that which rings from every human heart. It comes from within.

We did this in Nepal in 2006. One third of the country poured out into the streets. The entire country was flat out shut down. It happened in the big cities, it happened in the remote villages. Women in some remote villages spontaneously came out into the streets banging pots and pans. No more cooking, no more cooking, they chanted. Nobody sent them a tweet. What happened was they breathed in the air. The revolution was in the air. They had always known deep inside their hearts that it is not true only women are supposed to cook. But they had not had the chance to bring that voice out. Finally they felt like they could, because freedom was ringing through the air.

Those women proved you don't need no technology, all you need is air. You have to pack the revolution into the air.

Next stop: Saudi Arabia.

Let Mubarak shoot and kill. How many will he kill? 100? 200? 500? It is a finite number. My guess is it will not cross the 100 mark. Let him kill. If he kills, he dies a Caecescu death himself. I will save my compassion for the tsunami victims.

All the rest of the world has to do is not betray the brave people of Egypt. The brave people of Egypt will do the hard work themselves.

Arab dictators are what stand in the way of genuine Middle East peace. No democracy, no peace.

Third World Guy
Arab Dictators Will Fall Like A House Of Cards
Hitting The Road
Iran Democracy
The First Major Revolution Of The 21st Century Happened In Nepal

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Arab Dictators Will Fall Like A House Of Cards

Image via Wikipedia

New York Times: Violent Clashes Mark Protests Against Mubarak’s Rule: Tens of thousands of people demanding an end to the nearly 30-year rule of President Hosni Mubarak filled the streets of several Egyptian cities on Tuesday, in an unusually large and sometimes violent burst of civil unrest .... Protests also flared in Alexandria, Suez, Mansura and Beni Suef. ..... the protests represented the largest display of popular dissatisfaction in recent memory, perhaps since 1977 ..... opposition to Mr. Mubarak’s rule spreads across ideological lines and includes average people angered by corruption and economic hardship as well as secular and Islamist opponents. ..... a spreading unease with Mr. Mubarak on issues from extension of an emergency law that allows arrests without charge, to his presiding over a stagnant bureaucracy that citizens say is incapable of handling even basic responsibilities. Their size seemed to represent a breakthrough for opposition groups ..... Twitter, the social networking tool that helped spread news of the protests. .... The organizers framed the protest as a stand against torture, poverty, corruption and unemployment....... Asked about their political affiliation, Ms. Khalil’s mother, Mona, said, “We’re just Egyptians.”

When the Soviet Union collapsed, it collapsed like a house of cards. Something similar is going to happen across the Arab world, and the world owes it to the Arab people to not betray. This is not the time to side with Arab dictators, be they in Egypt or Saudi Arabia. The masses deserve nothing less than liberation.

I thought it might start in Iran, but started in Tunisia. But once one house collapses, the domino effect takes over. Every successive collapse gets easier. The masses will rise. The world has to not betray. People and governments across the world have to stand shoulder to shoulder with the rising masses. That is the only way to genuine peace in the Middle East. Only liberated peoples are capable of governments that are capable of peace.

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Barack Obama, My President

Image by jmtimages via FlickrAmerica is not my country - I am not evil but sure stateless like Bin Laden - but Barack is my president. I love the guy as much as ever. The only thing he ever needed to do for me was win in 2008, and win he did. All the good stuff he has done has been pure bonus.

I look forward to his State Of The Union speech. My mental machinations for his re-election bid have already begun.

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Inciting Violence: Beyond Wrong, It Is Criminal

Barack Obama just had his Oklahoma City moment. A Congresswoman got shot at in Arizona. It is good for him politically. Now the political pendulum will swing. His re-election begins now. That is the political reality. The political pendulum started swinging the way of Bill Clinton after the act of terror in Oklahoma City.

But is the violence worth the price?

There is a political responsibility to be taken. This act of violence was Palin inspired. When you talk in terms of "reloaded" from the podiums of the world, am I supposed to give you a pass just because you are white and not brown like a certain guy by the name of Osama Bin Laden? If you incite violence, you are no different from Osama Bin Laden. Bin Laden does not command an army. He inspires people to engage in acts of violence. He is a sought after man. He is on the wanted lists of the world.

A politician in a democracy speaking from public podiums whose language can be construed as inciting violence is no different from Osama Bin Laden. There is a direct connection between the language the Palins of the world used over the past two years and what ended up happening in Arizona.

The Tea Party Is Getting America Talibanized

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Hitting The Road

I hit the road.

I hit the road a long time ago.

I hit the road and saw all of America. When I see a map of the US I see what you see when you look at a NYC subway map if you have been everywhere in New York City like I have been, on foot.

I have seen more of America than anyone who ever ran for President Of The United States.

I hit the road because it is a good idea to survey a country before you take it over.

I did take over.

Barack did it on my behalf.

Image via Wikipedia

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Iran Re-Revolution: Victory In 2011

I think victory is possible. But victory is not going to come on its own. The world has to get involved. The democracy movement in Iran is the global netroots/grassroots' best opportunity to make a fundamental difference in the world today. Because a successful democracy movement in Iran has repurcussions for the Arab world at large.

Do you disagree with the Bush invasion of Iraq? Then pour your energies into Iran. Do you wish there were a better way in Afghanistan? Then pour your energies into Iran. Are you offended by the non democracies of Saudi Arabia and Egypt? Then pour your energies into Iran.

Anyone anywhere has the option to get involved. All you have to do is come online and express solidarity. But it goes beyond that. A democracy movement is science. There are logistics involved. There are tactics and strategies involved.

The revolution in Iran is coming back slowly but surely. And the first step is to protest from the rooftops at night. Only when you hear shouts from most rooftops in every city and town in Iran do you come out into the streets, and not before. The time to come out into the streets is not now. That is strategy.

The logistics part is that every atrocity has to be documented. When this regime is toppled, the new regime is going to put in place a Justice Commission, and those guilty of unleashing violence upon peaceful demonstrators are to be brought to justice.

And there is the part about medical services. Those who get injured during the course of protests need to be provided with immediate medical relief by the democracy movement. You can not do this unless you have great organization and great communication within the democracy movement. And so you do this as much for the few injured as you do it for the larger movement itself.

A democracy movement is not crowd chaos, although it can appear that way. A democracy movement is organized to the hilt. You have to plan every step of the way. You have to imagine all scenarios. You have to be able to see the regime's moves before the regime makes them.

An interim government has to be decided on beforehand.

The most important thing is we can no longer be asking for the regime to hold the presidential election all over again. It is not about that. It is about regime change. The democracy movement only stops when this regime has stepped down to make way for an interim government and an interim constitution with the mandate to hold elections to a constituent assembly within a year of the interim government taking power. If Iran is to be an Islamic republic instead of a secular republic, it would be for that elected constituent assembly to decide. That would be the only legitimate body to decide such a thing.

Summary: protest from the rooftops at night for now.

Michael Singh: Foreign Affairs: Iranian Re-Revolution: On June 10, when the Iranian opposition movement cancelled its planned commemoration of the anniversary of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s disputed reelection, commentators assumed that the Green Movement was finally finished. For months, it had been criticized as lacking strong leadership and for being unable to seriously challenge Iran’s entrenched regime. ...... the Constitutional Revolution of 1905–11, which for a time curbed royal power and led to the development of Iran’s constitution; the Muhammed Mossadeq era of 1951–3, which temporarily ousted Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi; and the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which replaced the monarchy with clerical rule ..... Khomeini, who, in the 1960s and 1970s, brought together an extensive coalition, including secularists, clerics, youth, and others ..... The coalition was galvanized by Mohammad Reza’s land reforms, which threatened the financial base of clerics and other wealthy elites. ...... The Islamic Revolution of 1979, moreover, had roots going back to 1960–4, when riots against the shah swept the country and Ayatollah Khomeini and many other activists were exiled. ...... elites in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps -- have benefited from Iran’s resource wealth while average citizens have struggled ..... the growing number of clergy who refrain from political activism on behalf of the regime ..... some of the citizenry have even accused the regime of being “un-Islamic” for its policies of repression and torture. ........ former conservative stalwarts, such as Mir Hussein Moussavi, the movement’s leader ....... All seek to curtail corruption, restore a greater measure of civil rights to Iranians, and establish a less dangerous, more productive relationship with the outside world. ...... The mass protests following Ahmedinejad’s election have shown that regime has lost the affection of the majority of Iranians. So even as questions persist about the Green Movement’s viability, the regime’s viability is no clearer. ...... The international community should not worry that the Green Movement is doomed, but it should harbor no illusions that its success would inevitably lead to peace and democracy in the long term. Indeed, the United States and its allies should be considering not only how best to support the democratic aspirations of Iranians but also how to prepare for the real possibility of instability in Iran should the opposition prevail.

Power to the people.

Iran will pave the way for the Arab world at large.

Iran Democracy

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