And Speaking of Witless...

P. David Hornik examines Thomas L. Friedman's cluelessness in gushing over Tahrir Square "democracy" and excoriating Israel for its failure to get with the "freedom" program:

It began on Sunday with a stern lecture by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman that got considerable play in the Israeli media. “For anyone who spent time in Tahrir Square these last three weeks,” he wrote, “one thing was very obvious: Israel was not part of this story at all. This was about Egypt and about the longing of Egyptians for the most basic human rights….”

And because Israel, in Friedman’s view, failed to enthuse over nascent Egyptian democracy and instead feared the fall of the nonbelligerent Mubarak government, Friedman found himself “more worried today about Israel’s future than I have ever been, because I think that at time of great change in this region—and we have just seen the beginnings of it—Israel today has the most out-of-touch, in-bred, unimaginative and cliché-driven cabinet it has ever had.”

Friedman, for his part, continued to enthuse in his Tuesday dispatch, writing that “Egypt has now been awakened by its youth in a unique way—not to fight Israel, or America, but in a quest for personal empowerment, dignity and freedom.”...

A quest that is furthered, apparently, by crazed mobs shouting "Jew, Jew" as they set upon a new victim.

In his utter obliviousness and useful idiocy (please, spare us the feigned concern about "Israel's future," Tom), Friedman hearkens back to a revered New York Times scribbler of another era--Walter "People are Chubby in the Ukraine" Duranty.

Update: Ayaan Ali Hirsi writes re Tarek Ramadan and other apologists for the Muslim Brotherhood:

...Rather than running op-eds by the likes of Mr. Ramadan, the Western press would better serve Egyptians by exposing the Brotherhood's hidden agenda. Due to the limits on press freedom in Egypt, many educated Egyptians and other Arabs depend on the Western media for news and analysis. To deny them close scrutiny of the Brotherhood's past and future plans is unforgivable.

Instead of simply pushing for elections at the earliest opportunity, Western commentators should be pushing for more time—above all, to allow the drafting of a new Egyptian constitution. Such a constitution would introduce checks and balances, eliminate the one-party system, and guarantee the protection of human rights. In particular, it would safeguard Egypt against the imposition of Shariah law.

True, constitutions can be discarded by tyrants or religious fanatics if they assume power. But the introduction of a well-designed constitution would make it harder for them to do so. It would also make it easier for the U.S. and other foreign observers to ensure that any future elections are free and fair.

Anyone who believes that a truly democratic outcome in Egypt is the real goal of the Muslim Brotherhood has failed to understand—or purposefully ignored—the group's motto.

That motto, quoted by Hirsi Ali at the outset of her comments:

Allah is our objective; the Prophet is our leader; the Quran is our law; Jihad is our way; dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope.

As mission statements go, it doesn't get any clearer than that.