St_Francis_P: Whether they wanted this or not, history shows us that revolutions do not always turn out for the best.

Especially when they follow years of domination by a US backed dictator.

what_now: This country voted for Bush twice.

Democracy can be messy, but it's still a hell of a lot better than the alternatives.

Once - we voted for Bush once.

Which dictator did they vote in. Submitter retard much?

Tatsuma: That's not good news for anyone, including the Egyptians.

They'll figure that out soon enough. One of the keys to democracy is having an educated and enlightened populace who is not beset by fear and ignorance. Unfortunately, Egypt has not been a very enlightened place for awhile, so I'm not exactly surprised by this outcome. It'll be okay though, because we'll make sure whoever comes to power is our guy, or we'll find a way to put our guy in eventually. At least that is how we've been doing things historically in the region.

Funny thing that they would openly vote against their own interests and freedom. There is another region of the world that has a democracy that is being eroded due to fear, ignorance and the resulting hate. Big, successful country too, but their 2012 elections seem to involve some guy who is willing to ignore laws and branches of government that he doesn't agree with. He also seems to be interested in a theocracy of some sort and came in first in a recent primary. Well, I'm sure education and enlightenment will win the day and he won't get very far since it is one of the more technologically advanced countries.

All the parties involved want to establish constitutional law and get rid of the military government. Where is the dictator again? The government that eventually gets to work will be very cautious. The sentiments stirred up by the uprising are still alive and well and it wouldn't take much to set it off again.

My biggest fear is that the Eygpt/Isreal treaty is invalidated and the US gets involved in the process on Isreal's behalf.

Where's the obvious tag?

This Libya will be either in civil war or controlled by a military dictator in a couple of years as well.

It's only democracy if they vote for who we like huh? Otherwise it's "dictatorship." And people wonder why they don't like us.

Like Mubarak said, they can have democracy, or they can have freedom.

GAT_00: Tatsuma: They just voted in two parties who openly want to do away with Democracy and turn Egypt into an Iranian-style Sunni theocracy, as the head of a new caliphate.

They also voted them in. I see nothing in there to suggest it was not a free vote. They have that right if they want it, and I can only assume they knew what they were going to get.

So it is it only brown or muslim people who have the "right" to set up a system that removes them of rights the west thinks everyone should have?

GAT_00: Furthermore, you have absolutely ZERO grounds to complain about a religious "democracy" so STFU with your concern trolling.

I don't recall him saying anything like that, may want to re-read his comment. Or are you trying to pretend that Iran isn't a theocracy?

Uh, how does subby know that the islamist victory is going to produce a new dictator? Maybe they will, but until they do:

"The group's Freedom and Justice Party has vowed that all political factions will play a major role in parliament, which is tasked with appointing a body to write the new constitution."

As for a new egyptian dictator, I think the army is more likely to install one than the islamists.

Marmanukem: what_now: This country voted for Bush twice.

Democracy can be messy, but it's still a hell of a lot better than the alternatives.

Once - we voted for Bush once.

Which one? The one that decided by the supreme court or the one where the vote was intentionally sabotaged in Ohio? You should really watch the Greatest vote ever stolen it's on youtube. C'mon it's free.

what_now: Stop. You can complain all you want about the results in Florida, but there's no reason they should have been that close.

I know people desperately want elections to produce nice clean clear-cut outcomes, but the reality is that processes that involve people are messy, whether it's slightly foxed ballot papers, confusing ballot instructions, damn I pulled the wrong lever, or counting (look at how two recounts never come out the same, even ignoring challenged ballots). There will be errors, most times not enough to affect the outcome.

The best you can say about Florida is that the result was within the margin of error. In a rational world, there would have been a rerun in that state; but our election processes are built around the faulty assumption that elections are perfect processes.

This headline is not snarky or funny, it's just water-carrying propaganda for neoconservatives.

Good job libs. This is what you were so fervently applauding last year. We all told you what was going to happen.

It's not good, but it's not as good for the Islamists as most people are assuming. The MB is going to be competing vigorously with the salafists, since neither got a majority.

This is pretty much going to be the high water mark for the MB - as an organization they're getting hollowed out, with the youth moving in one direction and the conservatives in the other. They'll be able to mobilize voters in good numbers for a few more elections, but their credibility is evaporating steadily. Good article here: Link

The salafists are getting major funding from the Saudis, which has already made them unpopular among the general population (as has their general assholery) - we'll see them alienate the younger and urban population even more over the next few years.

The military is still in control, and they're basically playing everyone against each other. Good (albeit depressing) short film here illustrating the mood among some of the youth: Link

Tatsuma: Tenebreux: I mean, there's no chance that this is what they wanted, as a whole, from the get go. I mean, democracy, in how the words mean, only should work like we want it, yeah?

The beauty of democracy is that it can be abused and used by those who want to destroy it.

They just voted in two parties who openly want to do away with Democracy and turn Egypt into an Iranian-style Sunni theocracy, as the head of a new caliphate.

That's not good news for anyone, including the Egyptians.

Ah yes, the Muslim Brotherhood and its focused, homogenous membership.

So they're Islamists. That doesn't mean they want to set up a dictatorship - heck, from what I've heard the Brotherhood moved so far to the center that a good chunk of their base defected to the Salafists.

Having just gotten back from Egypt and discussing this very issue with a few Egyptians (both Muslim and Christian), here's the general feeling I got from them:

1. The Egyptians are incredibly optimistic people. They're willing to give these religious-based parties a shot and, if things don't work out, vote them out of office at the next election. If there's not a next election, they know that they are able to get people out of office, much like they did with Mubarak.

2. The hyper-conservative religious parties exploit the fact that a large amount of the Egyptian population is poorly educated by telling them "If you don't vote for $PARTY, you'll go to hell." If people are better educated, this will be less of a problem. Even the Muslim Brotherhood wants better education; only the crazy religious parties don't.

3. Several of the religious parties, including the Muslim Brotherhood, have done a fair bit of social good in the country (helping the poor, etc.). Egyptians aren't really scared of them.

4. Egypt is a remarkably tolerant place. Most Egyptians aren't religious nuts, and they're not really worried about religious nuts taking over.

/personally, the Egyptians can do what they will. It's their country.

birdboy2000: So they're Islamists. That doesn't mean they want to set up a dictatorship - heck, from what I've heard the Brotherhood moved so far to the center that a good chunk of their base defected to the Salafists.

No it means they want to set up a theocracy.

Their country, their problem.

You mean a Muslim nation voted for the Muslim party that seemed the most organized and structured? OMG! Democratization, how does it work?

Meet the new leader, same as the old.

liam76: No it means they want to set up a theocracy.

How do you know? Because they are muslims? Even if they do, what'll stop the egyptians from getting rid of them the way they got rid of Mubarak?

GAT_00: liam76: I don't recall him saying anything like that, may want to re-read his comment. Or are you trying to pretend that Iran isn't a theocracy?

I wasn't referring to Iran there.

Then you are even more ignorant than I thought.

For Egypt being a "democracy" it already has far more restrictive rules than Israel does wrt religion. Go look up apostasy and how it is punished in Egypt. What do you think the MB is going to do for women's rights?

Well i would think the Muslim party would be fairly anti-american so thats a smart move on their part.

Women will make up only 1% of the new ruling body. Anyone want to take a guess how long before that 1% becomes 0%? Question is how will that 1% die? Car bomb? Murder by gun? Beaten to death? Or what's behind curtain number three?

Seriously, women helped greatly during the revolution. And now it's back to, "Thanks for your help, sisters. But cover yourself up from head to toe again and go back to the kitchen. And don't come out until a male family member takes you out." In short, same old, same old. Should women give up on ever getting even a chance to level the playing field in that part of the world?

I don't know what you're talking about, they're called the "Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party" and therefore it will be a Free and Just society - at least for Muslims or Brothers or people whose brothers are Muslims.

/Hitler was a Socialist
//Best Korea is a Democracy
///The Republican Party stands for small government, family values and the sanctity of marriage