Change is Gonna Come

The dramatic events in Tunisia and Egypt are perfect examples of what Ted Rall describes as the real turning point: when things get bad enough you won't care that the post-change may not turn out better or that you may die in the process of making that change. You just know that change must come and take the risk. Tunisians and Egyptians have come to that point and seized an opportunity for change. I wish them well. Their task will be as difficult and uncertain as it is courageous and bold.

Regarding Egypt, a link to this very fine photo blog came my way this morning. The photographs of Friday's demonstration and clashes with the riot police capture the chaos, the human cost and determination of the protesters. Looking at the riot police I wonder what it must feel like to attack your own citizens. As of this writing, it looks like the Army is unwilling to do that.

Appropriately, the link came with this comment:

This last picture of the woman kissing the cop tells the deep truth. When the police realize that they are the defenders of the people, not of the government or propertied interests, and the people welcome the police to their side as brothers, the tyrants are through. Same with the military. Don't be violent with the people and they won't be violent with you. The human impulse is always toward freedom. Be on the right side of history, soldiers and cops, in Egypt and around the world. Join the popular will to freedom. Anything else makes you a puppet instead of a human being. It makes you a bully, and possibly a murderer. What will you tell your children and grandchildren then? What will you tell God?