Is anyone in D.C. paying any bit of attention to Egypt as they slash and burn domestic spending?

[glowing]

Do these idiots not connect the dots of Egypt and their 9% unemployment, lack of jobs and resources for their youth, overly connected political class, and the price of bread and milk?

I see that the House Republicans and even President Obama seem to be saying "eat some cake" all the while wondering what is happening in the Middle East. Did they happen to see the uptick in Al Jezeera previewing and twitter following in regards to the Egyptians stand? Do they hear their words of praise for history making events and demands of a voice in lands far away; and yet ignore their own shores.

Or is it their plan to freeze the poor to death before their voices can rise to level of dissent?

[cutlassmama]

1. The first line says it all..."idiots"

[BzaDem]

2. Why do certain people think the revolution in Egypt is exactly about their political grievances?

Rather than about the inability to act on them in free and fair elections?

I don't think the protests would be what they are if they were simply complaining about their inability to convince their countrymen and win free elections. They are protesting because such elections don't happen.

[Ken Burch]

3. Still, it does tie in to the neoliberal thing

As long as the people are persecuted by the globalist demands for "austerity" for the majority(and of course, the "incentivization" of the elite minority)there will BE protest, under whatever system.

And, with the Citizens United decision likely being clamped down on us for all eternity, we don't have much of an ability to "convince our countrymen" because Citizens United makes OUR elections meaningless, since the rich can just keep buying them and we can do nothing to fight the domination of money.

If this party is to retain ANY relevance at all, our leaders MUST be all-out opponents of austerity and of any further transfers of wealth from the people to the rich. Being a "pro-business Democrat" is just the same as surrendering.

[BzaDem]

6. ... the protests in Egypt do not have to do with austerity/domestic spending cuts.

I would have thought much that was obvious.

[Ken Burch]

7. That's part of it too.

It's a protest against the whole Mubarak thing...including privatization and austerity. It all ties in together. The whole WORLD is rising against all of it.

We need to be on the world's side.

[BzaDem]

8. I guess I think you are objectively wrong about the reasons they are actually protesting

but whatever.

[Hannah Bell]

14. egyptians disagree with you.

one of the most poignant comments i heard was some peasant who said something more or less to this effect:

"I'm just an uneducated peasant, i don't know if mubarak should stay or go, i don't know who should rule the country, i just know that people like me and my family should be able to live."

[glowing]

19. In the Global world, our lives are intertwined. When people cannot

provide the basic necessities in life to their families and cannot see hope for their future let alone their children's future, then there is a breaking point.

We do not have a "dictatorship", but we do have coporations. It seems that politicians are ruled by these mega-corporations and wallstreet. We see them crash the economy, ruin lives, and yet they receive bonuses... The poor, starve and go cold as domestic spending is frozen. Perhaps Obama is giving what he's being asked for in the hopes that decent people will rise up to demand changes in our own democracy that will help the most of us and not the fewest of us.

[Matariki]

11. Or as one Egyptian "tweet" put it - do it like the Americans with 51% of the vote

- referring to stealing elections in a less obvious way.

[Hannah Bell]

13. If people's lives are otherwise ok, elections don't loom that large.

when people's lives seem to be getting worse, or seem worse in comparison with other, it's then they start looking around to figure out why and seize on elections if they don't have them -- or in the case of the us, which has elections that seem increasingly meaningless....

[sendero]

18. They could put up[ with repressive government..

.... and they and many others have,right up to the point where they can no longer feed themselves. People who are worried about where their next meal will come from have little to lose. The soaring food prices world wide had plenty to do with this.

[ixion]

4. No, just like they weren't paying attention when they passed the unPATRIOTic Act,, etc, either

[Bluebear]

5. They're turning the War on Poverty to the War on Poor People.

[quaker bill]

9. No, they aren't

and have good reason to believe they don't need to.

[Hannah Bell]

10. I'm beginning to think the global ruling class is actually trying to foment global unrest.

In preparation for "The New World Order" -- i.e. some international federation officially ruled by the IMF or something.

[Matariki]

12. Meh. They aren't in control.

They think they are - hence all the 'negotiating' for what should happen in Egypt. But the people will decide what happens there, not the world's power elite. At least for now.

[Hannah Bell]

15. i think you're a romantic.

there's not a revolution in history that didn't have a lot of hidden hands working away behind the scenes.

[Matariki]

16. Possibly. Probably.

But there are some different factors that have never existed before. Instant communication between people. It's the part about it lasting that I'm pragmatic about.

[Hannah Bell]

17. A global austerity programme is being put into effect; the effect of austerity programmes is known:

typically suffering & conflict.

So you have to ask why.