Three sided to every coin ...

In Middle Eastern countries, the three sides are:

1. The masses (who want true democracy, and are largely secular in that they do not want to see strict enforcement of Sharia Law)
2. Secular dictators (who are secular not out of any sense of fairness, or because they believe in separation of mosque and state, but only because they want all power to themselves, and so do not want anyone to wield religious power)
3. Religious dictators (the worst of the worst)

And so in Egypt, we saw 1) overthrow 2), but now 3) is making a move for power. No doubt 1) and 2) will be at war soon.

In Libya, 1) is attempting to overthrow 2), but now 3) is beginning to intimidate 1) even before the overthrow has happened.

In Tunisia, 1) overthrew 2), and, as in Egypt, there are rumblings from the 3) camp. Stay tuned.

Hilarious!

I posted (tried to, that is) this in response to an article in The Rolling Stone:

By the time the 2012 elections roll around, public acceptance of gay marriage will most likely be even greater than it is today. Anyone who has painted him/herself into the opposition corner will have even less of a chance of winning.

Bachmann and Perry are being politically savvy. Gay marriage is here to stay, and they don't want that to be an albatross in '12.

Unfortunately, it would not post, and I got the following message:

Your comment includes inappropriate words. Please edit.

Pretty hilarious. What did they object to? Gay? In an article about gay marriage?

Meanwhile, over at RedState ...

I have to hand it to Erick Erickson - he's an honest guy. While FOX news tries to talk around the Mitch McConnell proposal to let Obama raise the debt limit while giving Congress the option of washing their hands of the whole affair, Erick calls it what it is - a complete capitulation. And several other RedState denizens are on to the truth of what just happened.

But nobody seems willing to state plainly what is really happening, not even my bud Lawrence O'Donnell. He has been doing some gloating, somewhat justified, that Obama is now getting everything he wants. Over at The Last Word, we see that "Lawrence explains how President Obama continues to outsmart, out-strategize and out-talk the Republicans, in the debt ceiling standoff."

Both Erick and Lawrence have to admit that this is a child's play scenario. Republicans can't agree to raise any taxes, ever, because the Tea Party has a gun to the head of every Republican who wants to have a political future. The "never raise taxes" position (which, by the way, is not synonymous with the "be fiscally responsible" position or the "balance the budget" position, but, rather, with the "we don't want to pay for poor people's stuff" position) is simply untenable. All Obama has had to do is be a reasonable person and wait. This capitulation had to happen.

I have to say, watching the effect of the Tea Party on the Republican party, while scary at times, is really fun. And things are only going to get better as election season moves along. I don't envy rational Republicans. They are like moderate Muslims - unable to say what they really want or think for fear of drastic reprisal.