The leaders of the Egyptian revolution are thanking FaceBook for networking protestors out into the streets in a show of force and determination that basically ousted a thirty-year oppressive regime in just fourteen days with almost no bloodshed. Just when you were thinking that Canadian Viagra, directions from any place to anywhere, cheep flat screens, YouTube, Hulu and unlimited free porn were reasons enough to love the World Wide Web, along comes www.takebackegypt.com and trumps them all. It was certainly a Berlin Wall-like moment and we can only watch and hope that the aftermath will be as meaningful for Egyptians as it was for the citizenry of East Germany; or can we?

Mubarak was a bad guy, but he was our bad guy. Not unlike the Shah of Iran, Pinochet, Botha, Mubutu, Hussein, (originally), and other totalitarian, American-backed leaders, Hosni was one on a long list of the devils we know and abide. The official State Department position has always claimed regional stability and security as our decision for playing nice, (arms supply, trade agreements, etc.), with these bullies, while denying the truth of a purely economic basis in almost every case. We have a lousy track record of standing up for freedom, democracy and basic human rights in countries, (China?), where such demands could be detrimental to profit. We were not bold enough in our support of the will of the Egyptian people. Sure, Obama gave a nice speech after the fact, ‘freedom, equality, blah, blah, blah’, but only the comedy news people like Jon Stewart and Bill Maher were fearless enough to remind us that Mubarak’s Egypt, (and Omar Soliman in particular), was our prime partner in the shameful practices of rendition and torture. As I become more and more resigned to the reality that our system of governance is way too broken to solve any of the big problems eating away at the fabric of our cushy American lives, I’m ready to FaceBook or Tweet a new revolution, (just like the old one), to stand up for the freedom and human dignity of all men. It’s who we’re supposed to, (and claim to), be…without compromise.

Unless, as my brother Gary has suggested, the Hokey Pokey is what it’s all about!