Coup, democracy, vs. revolt in Egypt

[BainsBane]

Anderson Cooper was lecturing an Egyptian activist on "democracy" on his show. CNN says the US government wants to call the events in Egypt a coup. Anyone who knows about prior coups around the world knows that they are typically events where the military has acted without the support of the people. These events in Egypt strike me as a popular uprising where the military has stepped in to oust an unpopular leader who refused to consider the demands of the Egyptian people. This may be the largest uprising in human history, and belittling this popular movement as nothing more than a coup strikes me as anything but democratic. What will follow Morsi is unclear, but the military is fulfilling the wishes of the Egyptian people, something the elected government refused to do.

[Warpy]

1. They were in too big a hurry to have that first election, IMO

The only party that was sufficiently organized was the Muslim Brotherhood and Egyptians understood very quickly that Morsi was more interested in consolidating his power and forcing Islamic law on a population used to more secular law than he was in actually governing.

I hope the military gives the country time to develop other political parties this go-round.

Remember, the US wasn't able to elect a president for 13 years after the Revolution. We had to try things that didn't work first and then write down what would become a constitutional representative democracy run by white, male property owners.

[BainsBane]

2. Exactly, institutions take time to form

I just wish the media would quit the finger wagging at Egyptians by calling this a coup. It's clearly a popular movement.

[Warpy]

3. Clearly, but it's AGAINST the RULES!

You'd be surprised about how many people have never matured beyond school age morality in which rules are inflexible and must be followed to the letter.

It's a coup because they didn't have another election, never mind they weren't nearly ready for one.

[BainsBane]

7. Evidently Anderson Cooper is among them

which disappoints me because I kind of like him.

[joshcryer]

5. It was a revolutionary coup.

There's nothing wrong with that.

[Gravitycollapse]

8. Very few military coups end well.

[joshcryer]

4. Yeah, the secularists were completely and utterly shaken by MB's presence.

The MB had a ground game like no other seen in history. The official MB twitter feed literally fed numbers in as the thing went down.

They fought for the right to democracy but then they didn't know where to go from there.

[Warpy]

14. Right, there needs to be time for socialists and social democrats

and various other flavor of secularist to build their own infrastructure.

It will probably take longer than six months. A couple of years sounds a bit more realistic.

I wish them luck.

[joshcryer]

15. They had the numbers, but they were exhausted with protest.

They didn't, basically, have a ground game set up, and now they know better.

I wish them luck as well.

[BainsBane]

16. I heard someone on MSNBC say the Muslim Brotherhood

is automatically going to get 1/3 of the vote in any election. I don't know if that's true or not.

[Gravitycollapse]

6. What's happening in Egypt is by definition a coup d'etat

Time and time again, we see "popular" military overthrow that ends up being just another oppressive regime. Regardless of the unpopularity of Morsi, this is not a shift of power through popular sentiment or democratic processes. The Constitution has been scrapped. Members of the now opposition are being arrested by the handful. It is a military dictatorship.

[BainsBane]

9. Let's review

Chile, 1973
Brazil, 1964
Guatemala, 1954
Iran, 1953
Argentina, 1976
Grenada, 1983
Nicaragua, 1944

How is this event comparable to those?

[Gravitycollapse]

11. It's less than 48 hours old. Give it time.

I could always be wrong. But history isn't on your side. I'm not trying to sound like I support the people ousted. I just don't think this is going to end well.

[BainsBane]

12. No one knows how it will end

That's the case with revolutions and popular uprisings as well. It's a separate issue from how the former government was deposed. The military appears to be acting at the behest of the people in ousting Morsi. Whether they will continue to do so, no one yet knows.

[Cleita]

10. Apparently, freedom of the press is not a priority with the new authority.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/07/2013740531685326.html

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2013/07/must-see-video-muslim-brotherhood-tv-station-taken-off-air-managers-arrested/

[moondust]

13. "Fledgling democracy"

This would all be much more objectionable if it happened in a stable, established democracy with a history of peaceful transfer of power through elections. That not being the case, perhaps it will ultimately be written off as, basically, a baby that was unable to walk the first time it got up on its feet.