Egypt

For the last couple of days I have this nugget of pure happiness that a country I love has managed to pull it off! I was, of course, glued to the media as the demonstrations unfolded in Egypt. This global world belongs to the young people. There in Egypt and Tunisia, maybe Algeria, Yemen and beyond we'll see the democratization of the Middle East. I was thrilled to see so many women participating, so many people connected via the internet. Those Egyptians, so strong for centuries, never trashed their treasures and infrastructure. There were so many wonderful moments and stories. This is a historical point in time. Egypt has been a model for the world.
Revolution can happen peacefully as we all saw. It makes the wars we have made in Iraq and Afghanistan look like a pile of garbage in our backyard. Of course, it remains to be seen how this will all play out. But for now, there is such optimism!
The Arabs who are making this revolutionary sweep in the Middle East are our future, our youth. They are Muslim, Christian, and whatever. I think that this amazing happening in the Arab world goes far beyond anything the diplomats could foresee. I think this push forward by the people can make much more difference than any diplomatic initiatives. The chips will fall where they may. Israel will have to react on a realistic basis, women will be able to connect on the internet, and Afghanistan may have to be left in the dust for now as a place that stones women to death, where corruption is rampant and they kill each other with some regularity. Let's put our treasure into helping those countries that are ready for democratic rule.
America does not know it all! We cannot be smug. Once we were in the same place and we were fortunate to have people who spent hours and weeks and months to construct a constitution that (with some amendments) lasts to this day and that all of us revere.
I devoutly hope that we Americans can all applaud the changes happening in the Middle East, and remember our own values. We are no longer needed to be the policemen of the globe, but we can be a model. We need to show these emerging democracies that we are not mean spirited but count on our government that has been charged in our constitution to promote the common good. We can show the world that government at the least is meant to take care of us. This is known as the civilized way of life. We all work for the common good, and we take care of the less fortunate among us.
And, also, the red bud trees are blooming.