Blogging Through the Gas Mask

Egyptian authorities quickly and neatly shut down all communications in an attempt to disrupt grass roots coordination of demonstrations and protests against President Mubarack.  What the government seems to miss is that frustration and anger with the government has gone way beyond posting one-liners on Facebook. The communication has gone super-personal… face to face… and texting for the moment anyway, is not relevant while you’re throwing rocks at policemen, ducking bullets and running from tear gas clouds.

The very neat and clean shut down of 21^st century communications is just another example of why the people have gone to the streets, and if nothing else, reinforces their resolve for democracy and fuels their anger to seek reforms in the face of real and personal danger to their lives.

We’re witnessing a modern day storming of the Bastille. Our Government is caught mumbling for restraint, calm, and talks with both sides because we’re “all-in” with Mubarack and have been for decades. Egypt receives the second largest amount of foreign aid from the US. And while we like the notion of democracy, we still prefer a dictator who will take our money and do our bidding in the interest of “stability”, rather than allow the people to choose a government that may not be a puppet of our economic empire.

Authoritarian dictators supported by the US rule most of the Arab countries. If they lose control, we lose control. When the chips are down, we’ll choose preserving our economic empire over human rights and liberties of any people. This is only the beginning of what may be a long and ugly moral dilemma for our Government in the Middle East as we struggle to maintain control of the regions oil resources.