Our close ally, Egypt, continues to lay waste to free speech this month with the absurd sentencing of a Facebook user to three years in jail for simply putting Mickey Mouse ears on a picture of president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. Amr Nohan was charged with an “attempt to overthrow the regime” for the comical Facebook posting and tried in a military court.
Everyone has a obligation to post this picture as widely as possible in response to the latest attack on free speech. If Sisi was not a bad joke before the sentencing, he is now.
Egypt has long fought to curtail free speech not only inside the country but internationally. For many years, I have been writing about the threat of an international blasphemy standard and the continuing rollback on free speech in the West. For recent columns, click here and here and here.
Much of this writing has focused on the effort of the Obama Administration to reach an accommodation with allies like Egypt to develop a standard for criminalizing anti-religious speech. We have been following the rise of anti-blasphemy laws around the world, including the increase in prosecutions in the West and the support of the Obama Administration for the prosecution of some anti-religious speech under the controversial Brandenburg standard.
The crackdowns in Saudi Arabia and Egypt show again how unwise this effort by the Obama Administration was from the start. Indeed, Egypt appears particularly keen on prosecuting satirists and comedians as a threat to the nation. What is most telling is that such prosecution reflect not just an inherent insecurity but an inherent instability. If the government is threatened by a photoshopped image of Sisi with Micky Mouse ears, the government is truly standing on clay feet.
Besides, no one would confuse Sisi with Mickey Mouse. Mickey Mouse is actually tolerant and leads by example in the Happiness Place on Earth.
He lost billions of dollars in cash that were loaded onto pallets, shrink wrapped and dropped into a war zone.
He relied on the testimony of a bogus informant for intel on Iraq.
DavidM,
Bush allowed the most catastrophic terrorist attack to occur despite repeated warnings from the security apparatus. How’s that for incompetence…for starters.
All of which led to the Arab spring initiative?
Just for starters.
The 7 worst moments of George W. Bush’s presidency
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2013/04/25/the-7-worst-moments-of-george-w-bushs-presidency/
Ellen, that is just an anti-Bush propaganda piece. It makes points that are easily refutable with facts and a different perspective. It doesn’t really address the word you used, which was incompetence.
Using your own mind, and not the mind of someone else, what made George Bush appear incompetent to you, and how are we paying for that over the last decade?
One measure of success of the Arab Spring initiative was the welcome Sec. Hillary Clinton received in Egypts.
The crowd shouted “Monica, Monica” as they threw tomatoes at her convoy.
Another measure of that success is the choatic aftermath of the “Gaddafi must go”, U.S. led bombings of Gaddafi’s military.
“Ending the war in Iraq” in 2011, a politically popular move in 2011, has proved less popular with Isis now controlling about a third of that country.
At some point, people may come to the conclusion that the Obama administration, and subsequent administraions, take ownership of, and responsibility for, their policies.
After nearly seven years, it becomes more difficult to keep trying to get mileage out of “it’s all Bush 43’s fault”.
Ellen,
Yep.
It was meant to be said…twice!
If only FFS didn’t implode, he lamented.
Now that’s synchronicity…
Yep, T. Hall. We’ll be paying forever for the incompetence of the little Bush.
We’ve been paying for GWB’s incompetency for a decade already.
Ellen wrote: “We’ve been paying for GWB’s incompetency for a decade already.”
How was GWB incompetent?
George W. Bush responded to a terrorist attack exactly how the majority of the country wanted him to respond: with retribution. He kept our country safe, and his prediction about what would happen to Iraq if we pulled out too soon proved to be very accurate.
I disagree with many of Bush’s policies, but the label of incompetence is a red herring and illogical. So I ask you again: How was GWB incompetent, and how are we paying for that incompetence?
At least Hillary’s policies didn’t drag us into a pointless, costly, never-ending war.
If you’re referring to George W. Bush, you’re right.
David, I have said many times, this country will be paying for the utter incompetence of this narcissistic President for generations.
So much for all the accolades Hillary Clinton made over the Arab Spring. Something is very wrong with our administration’s foreign policy.
We elected a law school professor as President who hates the 1st and 2nd Amendments. There is irony for you.
We need Mickey Mouse ears for all the dork politicians in America who shave their heads bald, like that governor in Florida.
I agree a government which takes such offence at something like this must be very unsure of itself
The science geek
http://www.thesciencegeek.org
[music]
Come along and sing our song and join our jamboree!
M-I-C K-E-Why M-O-U-S- Eee.
Mickey Mouse! Donald Duck!
Forever let us hold your banner high! High! High! High!
Look guys. Do not be naive. Pirate Territories need to be “governed” by dictators or very forceful but somewhat democratic governments. Try driving across the Sinai and see what kind of people are out there. The Assisi government needs some assistance in driving out the Muslim Guard created by Arab Spring. One must Spring Forward in this world not go back. So the Mickey Mouse ears offended some people who are trying to keep the Pirates down. This is not some Pirates/Cubs sort of thing. And screw the Mets, I am rooting for the American League winner. Hopefully it will be KC.