Mr. President, Madam Secretary of State, and Mr. Chairman of the Federal Reserve, did you get what you wanted?
In your rush to embrace the Arab Spring and throw Hosni Mubarak under the bus, did any of you consider the ultimate consequences?
This is certainly not an endorsement for the policies or programs of the Egyptian military or specifically Mubarak, but it is giving validity to the old phrase “better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.”
For decades, a degree of stability was maintained in the Middle East due to the geographic and political positioning of Egypt and its neighbor, Israel.
The unlikely peace and understanding formed between these two nations created a certain degree of calm. However, through the financial machinations of the Federal Reserve, commodity markets have become the playground for a select few which has led to the unintended (or perhaps intended) consequence of skyrocketing costs of living around the world.
From bread to gasoline, everyday necessities have become luxuries to millions because of these types of misguided Keynesian policies.
And much of the unrest in Egypt that began in early 2011 can be laid at the feet of higher food costs.
So indeed, worry turned to concern, which lead to fear, and then became panic and ultimately developed into outrage as fingers were pointed at the existing Egyptian regime.
Quickly, with no thought of the end result, Obama and Hillary Clinton jumped on the bandwagon: “Mubarak must go.”
In hindsight, it should have been “Bernanke must go, along with his policies.”
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Yet, at the time it felt good as Hillary and Barack applauded the people in the streets and encouraged them to embrace democracy.
Unfortunately, no one asked what comes next after Mubarak?
Well, now we know.
By obtaining approximately 25% of the recent Egyptian presidential election vote, Mubarak’s number two man, Ahmed Shafik, will be in the final run-off.
He will be opposed by Mohamed Morsi, one of the heads of the Muslim Brotherhood who also received 25% of the vote.
Thus, after all our blustering, arrests in the street, starvation, and even deaths, the Egyptian economy hangs by a thread and the Egyptian people are left with the choice to either return to the old ways of the military or the old ways of Islamic extremism.
So much for the Arab Spring.
I’m sure if the other 50% of the Egyptians could be queried they would all extend a big hearty thank you to our President, Secretary of State, and Federal Reserve Chairman for the way this thing has all worked out.
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