Egypt and the Presidency

I don’t pretend to know what the situation in Egypt is like. I’ve tried to keep up with the news that is coming out of there, and it’s really quite mixed. 

From my understanding if President Mubarak ever steps aside the Muslim Brotherhood, seems to be the next group to be likely to step into power. Their policies would be drastic change in Egypt’s policies, particularly the long standing peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. 

We’ve seen anti-American sentiments more now with the reports that are coming out of the region. We see chants demanding Mubarak’s resignation, chants against America, and even American reporters being assaulted on camera. This isn’t exactly new though. I remember visiting Cairo when I was younger and living in Bulgaria on a vacation with my family. Two weeks after we returned there was a news report about how the hotel we’d stayed at in Cairo had been attacked by terrorists. They were targeting the hotel because they knew Americans were staying there.

When the revolts started in Egypt, the United States was put in a very precarious position. On the one hand we do try to stand for democracy across the world, but on the other we have to consider America’s relationship with Egypt. That relationship between our governments is one of the best that we have in an already highly unstable region. We don’t know how that relationship would change with the change of power.

We’ve since then changed our message, now asking President Mubarak to step down and let an interim government into power until new “free and fair” elections have taken place. Mubarak has tried to appease the masses by a complete reshuffling of his cabinet, the appointment of a new Vice-President, and the promise that he will not seek another term at the end of his 32nd year. This isn’t enough in the opinion of Egyptians though, and they’ve continued to protest, most recently with labor strikes and worker protests across the country.

I don’t remember the exact quote, but I do remember hearing during one of the past few presidential campaigns that people wanted to have a President who was just like them. I’ve always thought about this in a different way. I don’t want a President like me. I want a President who is better than I am. I want a President who is smarter than I am. I couldn’t deal with the pressures of the Presidency. I don’t know how to balance the needs of our country, and the needs of the entire region.

Some people say we should be backing Mubarak because it’s in America’s best interests to have him in power, and our needs are what we should be looking out for. By that same thought though shouldn’t we be promoting the same ideals that our country was founded on, mainly the idea of democracy and an elected government. 

I know Obama, just like every President before him, has surrounded himself with smart people who are informed and can give him the advice he needs to make the right choice. I admire him for knowing his weaknesses and finding the right people to fit those positions. If the President is smarter than I am, I want his advisors to be smarter in those areas than he is. As much as I disagreed with his policies, and thought that a lot of the decisions that he made were not ones I liked, President George W. Bush did make sure that his advisors were smarter than he was. We won’t know how the decisions that the two very different men will play out in the long run, but I am satisfied knowing that they tried to make the best decision they could with the information they were given.

In the end, it’s not the advisors that make the decisions. It’s not the political pundits. It’s not the general masses. The decisions are made by the person in the chair. I’m just glad it’s not me.