"Livin' In Interesting Times"

There is an old Chinese saying, (some say a curse); "May you live in interesting times". To me it looks like things are getting "Veeeery interesting" as Artie Johnson used to say on the classic show "Laugh-In". The situation in Egypt will be very interesting indeed to see how it "plays out" over time.

There is a saying that "Nature abhors a vacuum" and this also applies to the political realm. Apparently President Mubarek has resigned and at the age of 82 has decided to retire and live off of his estimated 70 BILLION dollars. I hope that he gets a good pension as well as these days 70 billion doesn't go as far as it used to. The Egyptian military is currently in charge but who knows for sure what the future will bring?

I saw on TV last night that US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said that the "Muslim Brotherhood" is largely a secular organization with peaceful intentions. Hmmm, the Muslim Brotherhood has goals for the extinction of Israel and the establishment of a world wide Sharia law Islamic Caliphate. Doesn't sound too peaceful to me especially when Hamas and other non-peaceful groups had their origin with the Muslim Brotherhood. Maybe Mr. Clapper should have stuck with his invention "The Clapper" which can turn lights on and off with a hand clap. Now, I don't know if he really invented "The Clapper" but if he is the shining example of our "National Intelligence" and the director at that; then it doesn't bode well for us as a nation. I would think the "Muslim" part of the "Muslim Brotherhood" name would have been a pretty good clue that maybe the "Muslim Brotherhood" has something to do with the Islamic faith; but what do I know?

Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Leon Panetta as well as President Obama both seem to be somewhat confused as to the current Egyptian situation as Director Panetta said something like that he received his latest update from television reports. President Obama is trying to compare the mob demonstrations in the streets of Cairo to his "Hope and Change" jingle that got him elected without seemingly considering the potential consequences of a "Muslim Brotherhood" takeover of the Egyptian government further on down the road if they try to fill the current "political power vacuum" in Egypt.

During the Vietnam War (conflict) era one of the prevailing thoughts of the time was that we had to stop the spreading of the Communist philosophy and the "domino theory" that if Vietnam was controlled by a communist government then soon Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, etc. would all tumble like "dominoes" into the communist totalitarian camp. Egypt, some people think may become a "domino" to fall in the spread of radical Islam with other countries in the region to fall in the near future. If the "Muslim Brotherhood" ends up in control of Egypt then this is surely a possibility.

Maybe the future of Egypt will evolve into some sort of democracy with expanded personal and economic freedoms. But maybe Egypt will be known as the country President Obama lost to the side of radical Islam like President Carter is known for losing Iran which started this whole radical Islam theocratic movement. Time will tell and the times will be interesting.