Where I'm Smarter than Hillary Clinton

About Egypt, Hillary said, at the end of January this past year:

"Real stability only comes from the kind of democratic participation that allows people to feel that they are being heard. It is not a question of who retains power - that should not be the issue. It is how are we going to respond to the legitimate grievances expressed by the Egyptian people and chart a new path. We want to see free and fair elections and we expect that that will be one of the outcomes of what is going on in Egypt right now."

"If the government there actually turns out to be a democracy and run by its own people, odds are that Egypt will no longer be an ally and won't believe in individual freedom.

"While I support self-rule by people, the basis of that support is a desire for individuals to be free to choose their own direction in life. Tyranny by a majority that results in restricted freedom for the minority is not a government based in freedom. While it might be democracy, its underlying principle is not liberty.

"Pushing for democratic change in a region where the people do not embrace freedom is far more likely to turn out badly than it is to turn out well - for that nation's people and for the US."

Oh... and the problem now surfacing?

The party formed by the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's mainstream Islamist group, appeared to have taken about 40 percent of the vote, as expected. But a big surprise was the strong showing of ultraconservative Islamists, called Salafis, many of whom see most popular entertainment as sinful and reject women’s participation in voting or public life.

Analysts in the state-run news media said early returns indicated that Salafi groups could take as much as a quarter of the vote, giving the two groups of Islamists combined control of nearly 65 percent of the parliamentary seats.

by Brett Rogers, 12/1/2011 7:04:00 AM
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