Being A Community Organizer Isn’t As Great As You Might Think

Community Organizing is a tough job, I threw my hat into the political ring as a young man. I ran as the Community Organizer of our little local ranching Community. No one ran against me and I won handily. I was quite impressed with my early success in politics and figured I was on the way up the political ladder. The position of Community Organizer had several responsibilities and people expected a lot from me in this unpaid political position. I rented out the community hall and made sure that all the burnt out light bulbs were replaced, I made sure there was toilet paper in the outhouse and that there were no drunks or animals sleeping in it, I attended the community pasture meetings and listened to the ranchers yell at each other, and I was in charge of the community grave yard.

Egyptian Democracy or Fanatic Islam taking over the Middle East?

Victor Davis Hanson reminds us about the last time we saw this kind of “revolutionary” fever…not in Egypt but in Iran:

So let us reflect for a moment on the revolutionary era in Iran to remind us that the end of freedom there was not instantaneous, but insidious. Massive demonstrations broke out against the Shah of Iran in January 1978 — similarly characterized by the prominent role of the middle and upper urbanized and Westernized classes. He was forced to flee Iran almost a year later, on January 16, 1979. The Ayatollah Khomeini arrived in Tehran shortly afterward, on February 1, 1979, disavowing any political ambitions other than “spiritual guidance” — as he was showered with positive appraisals from academics and other “Middle East” experts.

Freedom Marches On In The Middle East, All Thanks To President George W. Bush

Interesting to watch the changes coming in the middle east and to think….President Bush was behind much of this.

“We have seen our vulnerability – and we have seen its deepest source. For as long as whole regions of the world simmer in resentment and tyranny – prone to ideologies that feed hatred and excuse murder – violence will gather, and multiply in destructive power, and cross the most defended borders, and raise a mortal threat. There is only one force of history that can break the reign of hatred and resentment, and expose the pretensions of tyrants, and reward the hopes of the decent and tolerant, and that is the force of human freedom.”

North African Leaders Are Just A Little Nervous

Tunisia’s former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali found a safe haven in Saudi Arabia on Friday, he was prevented from landing in Paris by President Sarkozy, while Tunisia has devolved into near chaos. Ben Ali, the 74 year old president, took power after a bloodless coup in ’87 as a Social Democrat. In an all too typical scenario of Marxist leaders, he established an authoritarian police state: while the country was mired in poverty, he and the Elites established a system of government based on nepotism and corruption, while living in opulent luxury.