Egypt and the Bird in the Snowstorm

As I write this, what many are calling a ‘revolution’ has occurred in Egypt. President Hosni Mubarak has stepped down after three weeks of pressure from the local populace and the non-committal support of the Egyptian military.  Many of the talking heads on TV today are calling this the “democratization” of Egypt. These people seem to forget that Egypt has been run by the military in some form or fashion since 1952.

Today, the Egyptian military runs the Government the same way as they did yesterday. The military has simply changed the head of state. What I found most striking in these events  is that the Egyptian crowds literally pleaded for the military to take over, which they were happy to do.

This whole scene made me recall a story an old Marine Corps Captain told me many years ago:

“During one of the winter’s worst snow storms in recent memory, a little bird who got a late start on flying south for the winter couldn’t fight the biting cold and wind anymore. The bird fell to the ground on an old farm and in despair called out to his creator to  save him. A cow nearby wandered up to the shivering bird, shook his head, turned around, dropped a load of crap on the bird and walked away.  The bird screamed in anguish as the warm poop covered his body. He lamented that his creator thought nothing of him if he allowed this brainless cow to do this to him. A few moments later, a cat walked by and after examining the bird covered in the warming dung, started to lick the bird clean. The bird was grateful that his creator had finally taken pity on his plight and sent the cat to liberate him from the warm mess he was in. You can not imagine the bird’s surprise when the cat ate him after he’d licked him clean. The moral of the story is that not everyone who puts you in crap is your enemy and not everyone who takes you out of it is your friend.”

One thing we can all be certain of is that in the next 60 days, Egypt will know whether it got the cow or the cat out of this ‘revolution.’ But which ever one it is, it will be exactly what they asked for.