Travelling Expenses

Editor’s Note:  Artistic types, I’ve found, tend to become both more enraptured and/or disgruntled with the world than most.  And, they watch TV too.

“Never trust a General wearing lots of fake medals and a silly hat.”

 

"Everybody Knows That."

“Egypt

I am an outside observer of political news. I listen to NPR; watch Lehrer and occasionally King 5 if I have a hankering for local news over dinner. I guess it is easy to have an opinion on the latest viral video, but I am not sure if I have an opinion or a new mindset over the Egyptian Army’s hatred of women.  What I saw running on a news station last night so angered me that I just had to rush into generalizations.

If these rioting rabid men in uniform are the people supposedly responsible for protecting the fragile new society of Egypt then I think this Era may be called the Arab Winter.  The savagery shown against defenseless citizens and particularly the women involved made me want to implement my Middle East tactical nuclear arms strategy. Now where did I put those nukes?

To think that this is the ancient civilization that built pyramids, created magnificent art and architecture, a civilization steeped in myth and history.  I don’t live there so I guess my opinion is not valid, except I have one now anywaNow we can see why the army was so supportive of the movement to free Egypt from its despotic leadership. The Army didn’t need to stage a coup; it just let the people do it for them, knowing there would be a vacuum it could fill with a new military dictatorship. 

There is something so terribly sick about the beating of defenseless women and the mentality displayed by the perpetrators, that it leads me to believe we were watching the underlying zeitgeist of the rulers of Egypt. Even worse is the thought that this could be a tenet of a patriarchal society that is Egypt today.  It says we hate women.

To me it seems that the people of Egypt will once again have to rise up against its unelected rulers. Hopefully those leaders responsible for promoting this war against the people will be brushed aside into the pages of ignominy where they belong. Hopefully they will build a fair, equal and just society, not a Western Style Democracy like ours which is based upon how much money and power you wield, but one that is in keeping with Egypt’s history. I pray for you Egypt, to the God of Peace, the God of Justice and the God of Equality.

P.S. Never trust General wearing lots of fake medals and a silly hat.  Everyone knows that.  – Paul

Photo by Carl Nelson

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Tags: actor, columnist, criticism, Egypt, independent film, memoir, military, Paul Eenhoorn, The Divine Marigolds, tv pilot, women, world news