Most of us (I hope) have watched with intrigue and fascination the mass and, mostly, peaceful demonstrations taking place in Egypt over the past several days. While the mass political push to remove their "President" from office is based on numerous issues, the primary rationale appears to be the call for a more democratic government. Interesting for an Arab nation, as most are authoritarian (Syria), a monarchy (Saudi Arabia, Jordan), or Religious authoritarianism (Iran); a few boast "democratic" rule (Lebanon, Iraq, and Egypt), but even in these countries, there are factions that run the government with minimal contribution from the masses.
Back to Egypt ... calls have gone out for the immediate resignation of President Mubarak. Even the US President, Obama, has called for the Egyptian leader to "do what is right" ... and yet, I find this deliberate attempt to, once again, push on American ideals to another culture to be a bit hypocritical. To think that, if we didn't like how our President and/or government was leading the nation, we could simply remove the President with mass demonstrations ... such conduct goes against the very morals our Founding Fathers envisioned more than 200 years ago. There are many in the US who dislike the current Administration's focus and agenda. These dissenters, if you will, have the ability to rise up and, after a single 4 year term, vote out the President, and elect someone else.
However, the US does not allow dissenters the opportunity to remove a leader early, except through processes codified by law ... ie, impeachment. No US President has ever been removed from office early via this process. And, only two Presidents have ever been impeached - Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton. Neither was removed from office, however. Only one President has ever resigned from office - Richard Nixon, and Nixon did so on his own, rather than face the public humiliation of the impeachment process. Whether Nixon would have been impeached is up for debate, as is whether there would have been enough time to remove Nixon before the end of his 2nd term.
Importantly, however, Presidents are impeached only when their conduct warrants such action; such action is not authorized simply because the President's leadership agenda is not how the population believes it should be. In such cases, the only method for removing an unpopular president, is to elect someone else 4 years down the road.
It amazed me to see our President suggesting that Egypt's President, "Do the right thing." What did that mean? To some degree, President Mubarak did ... he agreed not to seek another term in the fall of 2011. This gives notice that there will be a new leader, and that anyone who seeks such position should gear up for the political process ahead. But, "do the right thing?" Did President Obama suggest that the Egyptian leader step down? And, hasn't President Mubarak been one of stronger allies in the region, with a mostly peaceful legacy and better ties with Israel? For more than 3 decades, Israel has not been required to defend against a southern enemy (other than Hamas/Palestinian uprisings).
The US is, indeed, a great nation! We, I believe, have the best governmental system in the world, allowing great freedoms (sometimes, too much, perhaps). Yet, to call for the removal of a leader in a different culture, one that has seen authoritarian rule for hundreds of years, when such leadership has borne such peaceful results in an otherwise agitated arena in the World, is uncalled for.
What are your thoughts? Would love to hear them!
Have a great Monday!
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