Sean Hannity Was Right!

Back when the turmoil first began in Egypt, Sean Hannity did little but harp on the possibility of the Muslim Brotherhood taking over the government should Mubarak fall.

Never having thought Hannity is much more than a parrot for conservative causes, I listened to the "experts" who assured us that the Muslim Brotherhood had a miniscule presence in Egypt and the chances of their gaining a foothold was basically nil.

So much for self-proclaimed experts!  The Egyptians have now elected a member of the Brotherhood to the presidency. I harken back to the thought we had best be careful of what we wish.

He was elected democratically.  That brings me to a Dogwalk theorem. A democratic election doesn't necessarily bring democracy nor  do democratic elections necessarily mean a change in culture.  Consider that an Egyptian plumber beat his pregnant wife to death because she didn't vote for the Brotherhood candidate, Mohammed Mursi.

That aspect of Islamic culture isn't going to change.  We're now stuck with keeping our fingers crossed that the military will keep him in check.  This will be no bed of roses since the military are no fans of democracy in the first place and you have an Islamist to lead what had been a secular country.

As is usual the rest of the world will be expecting the United States to take the lead in how relationships are handled.  There may be a lull until after our election since the world, though wanting it, has come not to expect such leadership from this administration.

To make matters even more sticky, the mother of Hillary Clinton's chief of staff has served in the women's division of the Brotherhood, the Sisterhood, and is a close associate of President Mursi's wife.  She alledgedly represented a charity known to have spawned at least one terror group designated by our government as an official al Qaeda front as well as other activities with terrorist ties.

Secretary of State Clinton has spoken at the university where Saleha Mahmood Abedin teaches and praised her work.  It brings back memories of when than Hillary, then wife of President  Clinton, spoke at a Palestinian function and exchanged a kiss of affection with Yasser Arafat's wife.

Oh the intrigue of international relations!  I can't help but wonder if blood runs thicker than water in this instance. Will we find out?  It's a concern to me when someone with the power of the Secretary of State has a person related to another with known terrorist ties on staff - especially chief of staff.

It's one thing to have no foreign policy.  It's so much easier to turn a blind eye to the atrocities in other countries but to have people with known terrorist ties in top positions in the most sensitive areas of government seems to be recklessly putting the country at risk.

It bears watching and is one more reason I keep harping on our lack of direction in foreign policy.  Keeping our back turned to what we'd rather not deal with doesn't mean it isn't there.  The adage 'the best defense is a good offense' should be heeded, not ignored.