Friday, January 24, 2014

Doing the Same, Expecting a different Result

It is said that doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome would be one of the ways by which madness can be defined. Well, once again Michelle Dunne is trying to pull an old stunt, and expecting that a different outcome will result. But there is a caveat in what she did this time because we could continue these remarks with “unless of course,” and add something to them.

As to why we can continue; it is that she has shown us the way. She does so in the article she wrote with Thomas Carothers under the title: “Egypt's evolving governance is no 'democratic transition'” and published in the Washington Post on January 23, 2014. She says towards the end of the article that “Washington must not pretend that some empty imitations of democratic processes constitute a return to the path that Egyptians rightfully demanded in 2011.”

Having attributed pretense to someone in Washington, forces us to see if she is not the one pretending something. And it does not take long to find the evidence because she speaks of what the Egyptians “rightfully” demanded in 2011. However, the Egyptians did not stop there, having gone on to demand more things after that. To ignore this part of history, and stick with only what they demanded in 2011 makes it sound like she says the Egyptian people had no right to ask for anything more.

So, here we have little snort Michelle Dunne telling the people of Egypt what rights they have in their own country, and what rights they do not have. Well, I have something to tell this lady: Listen to me Michelle; dictatorship is bad enough when practiced locally; it is worse when practiced across the oceans. As much as the people of the world – including the Egyptians – get disgusted seeing Israeli dictatorship practiced in America, they will get disgusted seeing you practice dictatorship in Egypt if you ever manage to pull this thing off. Don't hold your breath.

As if this were not enough, the big word bouncing off the walls of punditry in America these days is “spiral.” And so you have the healthcare death spiral, the downward spiral, and now the “downward political spiral” which she uses to describe the situation in Egypt. Another thing that is big in America these days is the idea of protecting “U.S. security interests” which she is using in association with the imposition on Egypt of the political system she envisages for the country.” And this too is more evidence that Michelle Dunne is going in cycles, repeating the same thing over and over again in search of a result that keeps eluding her. The lady has accurately defined herself, and done so beyond redemption.

A hint as to where she gets her ideas is encapsulated in this sentence: “Getting the words right on Egypt has become all the more important.” When stated outside the context in which it is usually used, the sentence sounds reasonable. But when used in the context it is often used, turns it into a comical absurdity. To see how that works, first imagine a fictitious situation that may go as follows:

A police officer is called to a school where a robbery was committed. He grabs the first student he encounters and says: “Tell me who did this or I'll throw you in jail.” But the principal cuts him off and says: “You can't throw someone in jail that did nothing wrong.” And in front of the student, the officer responds: “I know that, but I'm only trying to scare the kid.” He turns to the student and repeats: “Tell me who did this or I'll throw you in jail.” Laughter please? Or is it too absurd to extract a laugh?

Who does this sort of thing in real life? Four types do it. They are the Israelis, the self-appointed Jewish leaders, the Jewish organizations and their non-Jewish running dogs. They put words in the mouth of American officials when they can, but when they cannot, they tell them to say this or that so as to scare this one or that one. And they do so in full view and full auditory range of this one and that one. So you ask: What kind of running does Michelle Dunne practice?

I have no idea, and I could not care less. I can also assure her that no one in Egypt cares about what she says or what she thinks of them.