Long time fan of democracy, first time protester:
For most of the day, black-clad riot police in phalanx formations fired near-constant barrages of tear gas, plugged the cities bridges and central thoroughfares and successfully held disparate groups of protesters at bay on the periphery of central Cairo. But they were overwhelmed as numbers steadily grew and as ordinary Egyptians continued to flood into the streets.
Some families marched with young children. On the west bank of the Nile River, Hisham Sherif, a biomedical engineer protesting for the first time in his life, together with wife, Faher, dabbed at the tear-gas filled eyes of their eight-, nine- and 11-year old children. “We’re a little afraid,” said Mr. Sherif, “but we need freedom for the children.”
Here’s a professional, a guy with a stake, out with his family. Facing a state security apparatus all too willing to fire on its own citizens, faced with a deployed military whose intentions are still opaque, this is the kind of courage most of us will never have to display.
For which we should be humbly thankful.
Cap, you may be too optimistic.
It could happen here also.
Not likely to happen here…..life there is much worse than anyone here has it….average Egyptian earns 450 pounds monthly…..about $100 US. Life is good here…..There, not so much.
Not to mention to feeling of entitlement among the Hoi Polloi here. As long as Bread and Circuses are readily available then the masses will be docile. It will take a while after the loss of freedom here before there is an equivalent uprising.
The uprising is much less public, so far, but there is an uprising to speak of. Since 9/11 too many American freedoms have been skewered in the name of public safety, hence the protracted delays in travel and junk groping. California continues in its march toward Socialism and further abrogation of 2nd Amendment rights, but not much is made of it…yet.
Elsewhere we seek government encroachment in baby steps, but the result is that we are a society with more restrictive living conditions than we had even twenty years ago. That we as a people have tolerated it does not speak well of us, nor of how we will fare in the future. Give a person a large enough dose of strychnine, and you kill the body in one fell swoop. Feed it to them in small enough doses, and it may take a cumulative buildup years before it becomes fatal. We’re just not there yet, although it’s not for lack of effort on the part of some.
QM, I would change “Hoi Polloi” to “Nomenklatura” and be in 100% agreement.
BHO, Pelosi, Reid certainly do not give a damn as long as they remain among the royalty and are able to make themselves and their extended families (BHO? -who really knows who his family is).
Primarily on the Socialist side of the aisle, though not entirely.
The Nomenklatura are a different group than Hoi Polloi. The Hoi Polli are the masses and the Nomenklatura are the party hacks an faceless bureaucrats.
It could happen here. There would be no Oathkeepers if some serious, patriotic folks didn’t think it happenning here was possible. Imagine for a moment, 8 or 10 million newly registered and pardoned progressive voters from South of our border. A couple more progressive Supreme Court appointments of those who believe the Constitution is merely a guideline, rather than the supreme law of the land. An extreme activist Federal Judiciary. A corrupt and politicized Justice Department. A citizenry tapped out financially from re-distributionist policies, and discouraged from the ideals of exceptionalism and achievement. A bankrupt national economic policy. A reactionary, inept foreign policy. The majority of daily activity controlled by burueacratic, executive fiat. Serious attacks on our 1st and 2nd amendment rights. I could go on.
That grim scenario is exactly where we were headed before the November elections. A national trajectory, that caused many of us who call ourselves patriotic Americans, to examine the question of how far we will be pushed, before pushing back. The failure of each of us to give thoughtful consideration to our own lines in the sand, and establishing parameters of tolerance, and making them known, is bowing to the insidious incrementalism of those who I consider to be enemies of what has made this country great. The rise of the Tea Party is evidence of many of us giving this issue serious consideration. Think Gadsen flag in reality, rather than metaphoric icon.
I have made preparations based on my own reasoned consideration. Things like extra stores laid in. What are your limits?
One man is drawing the line at… tater tots.
http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/2011/01/when-spuds-are-outlawed-only-outlaws-will-have-spuds.html
Eh, what the heck — “they’ve gone a casserole too far” is a better rallying cry than anything I could have come up with.
– Max
Tuna or Green Bean?
If it’s Green Bean count me in. GBC is the only item the family expects me bring at all family get-togethers.
BHO The Lessor should have talked about Adult Obscenity, in which she may have some intimate expertise, instead of Childhood Obesity.
Stephen,
My bright lines are postponing elections, confiscation of 401Ks / IRAs, shutting down the internet, and abandoning our troops in Afghanistan once their supply lines are cut.
Trend lines are not our friend. It can and is happening here. When have conservative values been extolled in the arts, media, science, news, law, or politics? What victories have conservatives won? The checks and balances set up in our Constitution are silent. Today, Inspector Generals are reigned in as a direct result of the Left’s corruption.
In liberal areas conservatives are marginalized, and everyone’s money is being used to preferentially support inefficient Leftist dogma. Government power is bring used to target Republican donors and supporters. If you don’t believe me, ask a post-takeover former Chrysler dealer or senior GM bondholder. This and many other examples are Soviet-era salami slicing tactics taken to make our Constitution null and void. Parts of the Left on TV or in blogs make agitprop from отдел агитации и пропаганды seem tame.
I like to think and hope an awakened populous will save the US. We will have to push harder, IMHO.
+1
Threadkilla’….that’s me. But I AM wondering if that …killa’ slang is offensive in light of the recent joos discussion. Hello???
Nah. Everyone knows the world situation is the fault of BusHitler and the Joooos.
Sorry, I forgot.
Classical for Hamas, Hezbollah, the Islamic Republic of Iran military, al Qaeda, and those other nice guys out there to use children as human shields.
And the regime you will get if the Muslim Brotherhood/Al Qaeda succeeds will be just like them as well.
You speak too soon. It could happen here. Removal of the rule of law on the middle class, through cronyism, and favoritism of the Dhimmicrat led govt, has brought more corruption to business than I have ever seen before. It is not as bad as Afghanistan, and the P.I. under Marcos and Aquino. But it could get there is only political connections can help your business grow. If the deck is stacked against us, we will play the game, cheat on taxes, cheat on the rule of law, and cheat on the govt. We will lie and become the Soviet Union, or Saddam’s Iraq, the Ayatollahs Iran, where what we say in public bears no relation to what we feel.
If you think it can’t happen here, Lex, then it is you who has the smaller imagination, sir. Sorry. I’ve seen it happen before, all over the world. We aren’t that different when the tyrannous govt prevents your success.
Subsunk
There is another aspect to this discussion. My assumptions are that it will be constitutional conservatives taking to the streets. However, look at Greece. The anarchy was fueled by those on the government teet fearing loss of liberal benefits. An intriguing possibility. It makes me think of Korean shopkeepers vigorously defending their property from mobs. Thats a whole different kind of “taking it to the streets.” Hmmm.