Mike Huckabee is Fine with Mubarak's Tenure

Amazing how quickly some people can almost sound like they are supporting dictators. It's a contradiction in rhetoric really when you can be unabashedly in favor of freedom and democracy in some circumstances, but finely nuanced in others. Egypt has been a handy, if limited partner for the United States to the extent it has been a handy and limited partner toward Israel. The hyper loyalty to Israel among conservatives who see them as an extension of God's intent on the earth reflects in the uniform support among Republicans of anything--and anyone-- perceived to be favorable to that nation. By all accounts a stable Egypt in treaty with Israel is infinitely more comforting than the unknown that revolution and the implementation of true democracy can bring.

We end up with future potential American presidential candidates showing the wrong type of love:

Huckabee, routinely showing up in national polls as one of the Republican presidential frontrunners, said the Obama administration should have acknowledged the positive accomplishments of Mubarak’s tenure, including his preservation of peace and security in Egypt over the past three decades, and that he kept the peace with Israel.

“This would not have required us to approve everything he did, or deny the rights of the people of Egypt to demand a change of government,” Huckabee said. “But I think it would have been an important symbol to send to the rest of the world, that we don’t just walk away from long-standing allies.”

(Jerusalem Post)

Given our own not entirely democratic instincts, we would suggest that everyone temper their enthusiasms. Let's do a mental exercise. You have a room of people. You take a vote and say, "The person we vote for will decide where we lunch, and what we have." Everyone agrees and votes for a seemingly sensible choice. Once out of the room, the elected guy says, "Okay, today I am making lunch for everyone and it will be a delicious beet and asparagus salad, accented with garlic smoked liver and onions." See how democracy works? Democracy is the keys to the kingdom and by virtue of its essence can be used to create bad stuff, including the lack of democracy.

Which is why we probably should not take the path of being democracy enthusiasts so much as human rights enthusiasts. To a certain degree human rights and respect for the individual can lead to democracy, but democracy will not always lead to more democracy, or better individual freedom. If we add a little nuance and deliberation to our thought patterns, we won't end up in the position of Mike Huckabee trying to balance support of freedom with support for stability.