Nicholas Kristof's "Democracy Is Messy": The Severed Ear of a Christian Copt Can Indeed Be Messy

Today, in his New York Times op-ed entitled "Democracy is Messy" (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/31/opinion/31kristof.html), Nicholas Kristof writes:

"A group of Salafis recently attacked a Coptic Christian, apparently accusing him of illicit sexual activity and cutting off his ear.

Order is breaking down somewhat."

I agree with Kristof. Order is breaking down "somewhat", and a severed ear can indeed be "messy".

Kristof also writes:

"Mohammed Alaiwa, a professor of literary criticism at Cairo University, told me that he was in a dean’s office recently when a Muslim Brotherhood student burst in, pulled out a pistol and threatened to shoot the dean unless he resigned then and there (the student eventually backed down). Professor Alaiwa said that he now fears the Muslim Brotherhood students."

Had the dean been shot in the head, this would have been even "messier", but I cannot help wondering why the learned professor would be fearful of this minor "mess".

Kristof further observes:

"With the police out of commission, the army uses thugs to intimidate its critics. And, when it really gets irritated, it arrests and tortures democracy activists. As I wrote in my previous column, it has even tried to humiliate female activists by subjecting them to forced 'virginity exams.'”

Yes, I suppose torture of critics and "virginity exams" performed by the Egyptian army might also be deemed "messy", but at the risk of being petty, I personally prefer to categorize such behavior as "nasty".

Notwithstanding this disagreement over semantics, I was encouraged by Mr. Kristof's reassurances:

"Moreover, the biggest losers of the revolution are likely to be violent Islamic extremist groups that lose steam when the more moderate Muslim Brotherhood joins the system."

However, Mr. Kristof forgets to mention that Yusuf Qaradawi, the Muslim Brotherhood's spiritual leader, claims that the Holocaust was divine punishment of the Jews, defends the Iranian fatwa demanding the death of Salman Rushdie, and promoted a “day of rage” against cartoons of Mohammed printed in Sweden and Denmark. Qaradawi has also defended female genital mutilation and supports the death penalty for those who abandon Islam.

Excuse me, but if this is "moderation", we can only wonder what the "violent Islamic extremist groups", referred to by Kristof, are seeking.

Thanks for the cheerful spin from Cairo, Nicholas. It made my morning.

[Lest I forget, in his last op-ed "Arabs Will Be Free" (see: http://jgcaesarea.blogspot.com/2011/03/roger-cohens-arabs-will-be-free.html), Roger Cohen also wrote: "Democracy is a messy all-or-nothing business." Frankly, I think it is the New York Times op-ed page that is a mess.]