Egyptians, you've been wonderful. Got rid of the despot relatively bloodlessly. Made Cairo's streets glisten with happiness. Now, of course, comes the hard part.
You'll need a leader, of course. That was pretty easy for us when we got rid of British rule a couple of centuries ago. One man--George Washington--really dominated our landscape--military leader during the war, well-known politically, and so on. We really couldn't imagine anyone else in charge. In reading about your fine revolution, I haven't seen one name that stands out like that but I may simply have missed it.
You'll need a constitution. That's harder. I know you had one, of course, but I read today the generals have suspended it. No matter. We brag about our Constitution a lot. Our original had lot of things wrong with it. Worst of all, probably, it tolerated slavery. A slave, it said, would count as three-fifths of a person when states were determining their populations. Men could vote in our original document; women could not. I know you'll avoid dumb mistakes like that, but you may make others. It's important, I think, to have a document that's amendable. We've improved ours a lot over the years.
Anyway, good luck with all that. And many thanks--I haven't enjoyed watching the news this much in years—nor missed reporting it more.
No comments:
Post a Comment