I'm really getting sick of the extreme simplifications of the crisis in Egypt, with articles being written quickly and throwing potential ends to it, to the point where I haven't seen any in depth looks into what's going on, who's said what and why, and where the military and people are trying to take this. I'm aware that's endemic of the current news media and is something that needs to be addressed, but the point is that this is an extremely complex issue, even for a layman looking at it with basic knowledge of the situation. Clearly Mubarak had to be ousted. The far right's insistence that they're better off with a bloody dictator is laughable. Morsi was democratically elected, and then made constant moves very much against the will of the people to increase his own power that were in a pattern or recreating dictatorship. He constantly went against the people and refused to listen to what they said before, during, or after the election. The hand of the Muslim Brotherhood further complicated things.

So, what the fuck is there to do? Toppling a democratically elected government admits failure in their first chance, and makes racists say things about the violence of Arabs or something similar. You also have the fear of it becoming a coup, or military control, or free for all. Allowing him to stay is potentially more dangerous, because if the Arab Spring has taught us anything, toppling a dictator is incredibly difficult, and if he has power behind him from the Brotherhood? That's worse.

There's no clean answer. Personally I feel the military truly made the best choice by telling him that they would not tolerate another violent revolution and that they were asking him to step down with an ultimatum. His refusal was justifiable because in what way one can differentiate between the military telling him and the people telling him. What if it was a coup? It's far too muddy to make out as "democracy has failed in Egypt" or "The military is seizing control" or "the Brotherhood supporters want totalitarianism" or any other simple soundbite. This is a whole country, and there are complexities to creating a new government and there a ton of differing opinions within the country. Creating these narratives and saying it will lead to a regime similar to another without the necessary intermediate steps that constitute 80% of the process is a disservice to the people of Egypt.

I don't know the solution. I don't know what's right, but the media at least attempting to understand it and presenting all the facets to the debate would be a massive step towards learning what's happening and trying to make good out of it, instead of this useless cynical "it's going to all fail."

And a massive fuck you to whoever started the violence again. After all that's occurred and all that was fought for, there should be a respect for the process. And shame on all the news outlets for not giving me the information on that, instead just feeding me death tolls and narratives.

I was listening to NPR this morning in the shower when they cut to Obama's speech. You can watch it here: http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/314575-1

I've been slightly following everything via my daily shower + NPR but I am still flabbergasted by this speech.

I understand it is politics. I understand he has to play with his words. But wow. "It concerns us" .... "we strongly condemn"..."we deplore."

Really? Because you've been playing with your words since the day Morsi was overthrown in order to not have to pull the money. Once the U.S. government calls it a military coup, they have to pull the money. By law. Canceling a bi-annual joint military exercise is what... Do we value that? Does Egypt value that?

I don't think some elaborate bi-annual government military party is something anyone is too worried about. If we deplore the events in Egypt, why don't you back it up with real action. Not surprisingly, the real reason we don't want to pull the billions is extremely selfish

Surprise!

Every March for the past few years, Baron says, he and other small-business owners have gone to Capitol Hill at the invitation of General Dynamics, a big contractor. They visit their congressmen and "let them know of our support for these programs and also the impact that these programs have on employment," he says.

So we don't really care about Egypt. Well, on a more emotionally level we might. But the reason for the money has nothing to do with any of that. It has nothing to do with what is right or wrong or best for Egyptian people or even best for the majority of Americans. We want an ally. Selfish. We have a vocal group of people who want money. Selfish.

They're is no "best" answer for Egypt. Or anywhere for that matter. All you can do is put one foot in front of the other and then deal with taking the next step. Personally, I think that people not killing each other would be best.

This is why I am so apathetic towards politics. It's a giant fucking game. It's a game where nothing is as it seems and no one can win.

Sadly the egyptian people might end up being lucky to have someone like a Pinochet in power. Revolution is brutal and even terrible stability can be better than nothing. I hope they get something better but I really hope they don't get something worse.