Since I moved to US, I haven't seen other presidents other than George W. Bush. Just seeing Obama handling stuff makes me optimistic. Nobody can deny Obama's eloquence, the question about him was always his ability to lead.
The decisions he made so far are amazing, although he is not sworn in yet. His Lincoln-style of handling rivals is astonishing. Today he met with McCain, I'm pretty sure he gave him the task of closing Guantanamo Bay detention center. This is a brilliant move, no one can accuse him of being lenient with terrorists for closing it, if the person in charge of doing that is a war hero and the former Republican party's nominee for president. He also pressures the Democratic senators to keep Lieberman as the Home Land committee chair. This way Obama guaranteed the loyalty of Lieberman and one more senator in the Democratic caucus, which could give him the magic 60 filibuster majority in the Senate floor. His offer for Clinton to be his Secretary of State is smart as well. I don't think she will be appointed at the end of the day because of the conflict of interest with Bill's interactions. But it shows that Obama is a strong leader who is not afraid of very strong people in his cabinet. Also this way he is making up with Clinton loyalists who is still mad of him for not vetting or offering Hillary the V.P. position.
This Auto-industry bailout shows that he is in top of his game, he is not waiting for the big three to collapse and then try to bail them out. His preemptive strategy will save the market another choke wave if one of the big three automakers fail.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
The Modern Coptic Struggle (1) The State vs. the Church 1971-1981
Copts are the Christian Minority in Egypt. Historically they had their share of trouble as a subdued minority for two thousand years. This article focuses on their modern struggle since the military took control of Egypt in 1952.
Before 1952, Egypt was a kingdom, the king rules but he doesn't govern. The elected prime minister governs, similar to the British royal system. In liberal Egypt, 1919-1952, Copts enjoyed one of their most peaceful and prosperous eras. They led the peaceful liberation struggle against the Brits with Saad Zaghloul (most of El-Wafd party leaders were Copts) and two of them became prime ministers.
Since the military took power in 1952, things began to deteriorate fast. When the government nationalized everything, from companies and banks to land. Copts lost their position as one of the wealthiest sects in Egypt. Before that, Copts were able to send their kids to private school, which they owned. The educated Muslim kids went to Coptic schools, so they were tolerant by nature. When Copts lost their wealth, a lot of them left Egypt. This was the first wave of Coptic exodus in the 1960's. The great relation between Pope Kyrillos and President Nasser, saved the Copts from sectarian violence though. But losing their financial status affected them badly.
In 1971 President Sadat followed President Nasser and Pope Shenouda followed Pope Kyrillos. The relation between the two new leaders was not at its best as Sadat wanted to attract the Political Islamists to his camp against the communists. Sadat tried to appeal to Muslim as the "Believing President", as he liked people to call him. He tried to force Shari'a law on the country in return of ruling the country forever. That initiated the epic struggle between the Church and the State, between Pope Shenouda and President Sadat.
The Struggle between the Pope and the President reached its hight in 1981 when the President revoked the executive order approving Pope Shenouda as a Pope for the Copts, denoting the State doesn't recognize him as the head of the Church anymore and appointed a 5-bishop committee to run the Church affairs. Putting the Pope under house arrest in one of the remote desert monasteries. Sadat was killed by Islamists less than two months after this incident leaving the pope under house arrest.
That was the first episode from the modern Coptic struggle. The State Vs the Church.
In the following posts I will discuss the (2) The Islamist militant against Coptic people and (3) The tensions between everyday Muslim and everyday Copt.
Before 1952, Egypt was a kingdom, the king rules but he doesn't govern. The elected prime minister governs, similar to the British royal system. In liberal Egypt, 1919-1952, Copts enjoyed one of their most peaceful and prosperous eras. They led the peaceful liberation struggle against the Brits with Saad Zaghloul (most of El-Wafd party leaders were Copts) and two of them became prime ministers.
Since the military took power in 1952, things began to deteriorate fast. When the government nationalized everything, from companies and banks to land. Copts lost their position as one of the wealthiest sects in Egypt. Before that, Copts were able to send their kids to private school, which they owned. The educated Muslim kids went to Coptic schools, so they were tolerant by nature. When Copts lost their wealth, a lot of them left Egypt. This was the first wave of Coptic exodus in the 1960's. The great relation between Pope Kyrillos and President Nasser, saved the Copts from sectarian violence though. But losing their financial status affected them badly.
In 1971 President Sadat followed President Nasser and Pope Shenouda followed Pope Kyrillos. The relation between the two new leaders was not at its best as Sadat wanted to attract the Political Islamists to his camp against the communists. Sadat tried to appeal to Muslim as the "Believing President", as he liked people to call him. He tried to force Shari'a law on the country in return of ruling the country forever. That initiated the epic struggle between the Church and the State, between Pope Shenouda and President Sadat.
The Struggle between the Pope and the President reached its hight in 1981 when the President revoked the executive order approving Pope Shenouda as a Pope for the Copts, denoting the State doesn't recognize him as the head of the Church anymore and appointed a 5-bishop committee to run the Church affairs. Putting the Pope under house arrest in one of the remote desert monasteries. Sadat was killed by Islamists less than two months after this incident leaving the pope under house arrest.
That was the first episode from the modern Coptic struggle. The State Vs the Church.
In the following posts I will discuss the (2) The Islamist militant against Coptic people and (3) The tensions between everyday Muslim and everyday Copt.
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