In the main I think most Americans are glad to see the people of Egypt (and Tunisia, Yemen, Algeria, Jordan, and Iran) stand up for their rights and demand greater freedoms.
The only folks I can imagine who do not are those who hate Muslims (though not everyone in those nations ARE, not that i should matter) and those who hate all brown people (the same folks presumably). Oh, and all those who get rich from the suffering of others.
As Bob Herbert reminds us, while we champion freedom in other nations, we are letting our democracy slip away.
We already have one political party - the Republicans - who actively advertise that the United States is NOT a democracy. Granted, they do this to childishly avoid anything tying our liberty to the Democratic Party (which gave you civil rights, Social Security, the weekend, etc.) but there is a much more evil lesson there. The party mostly known for bombing brown countries, bombing black churches, and torturing people they don't agree with, not to mention taking their votes, health care, etc. away is actively working to kill democracy. Corporations are now people. You can't run one over with a car, but they have "rights", maybe more than you or me.
Yes, some of this is dogmatic. It smells of scare tactics. But it exists and this nation is growing less free because of it.
Comments