Democracy in Egypt: A Mission in Qena for the Men of The New York Times

I didn't trouble myself to count the number of columns written by New York Times pundits Thomas Friedman, Nicholas Kristof and Roger Cohen while covering recent events in Cairo's Tahrir Square. Busy interviewing English speaking professionals with higher educations who had come to demonstrate, while demonstrably ignoring the primitive sorts from the Muslim Brotherhood (I am surprised Friedman, Kristof and Cohen didn't interview themselves), the Men of The Times had us believing that with the demise of Egyptian strongman Mubarak, we were witnessing the birth of Egyptian democracy, which would be ushered in by the upper echelons of the army.

Well, JG Caesarea has a mission for Friedman, Kristof and Cohen, if they choose to accept it: Fly to Cairo, take a train to the southern Egyptian city of Qena, and report back your findings. The only problem they might discover in reaching Qena is that the railroad tracks are now being blocked by demonstrators demanding the removal of the city's new Christian Copt governor and the imposition of Islamic law.

As reported in an Associated Press article appearing in Ha'aretz (http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/southern-egypt-demonstrators-demand-islamic-law-1.356717):

"Protesters led by hardline Islamists in southern Egypt held their ground Monday, saying they won't end their campaign of civil disobedience until the government removes a newly appointed Coptic Christian governor.

The protesters, many from the ultraconservative Salafi trend of Islam, have been sitting on train tracks, taken over government buildings and blocked main roads in the southern city of Qena, insisting the new governor won't properly implement Islamic law.

. . . .

They started out by camping at the local government's office. Then they set up a tent on the railroad tracks, said local resident Wafy Nasr. They also tried to block the road and stopped buses to separate men and women passengers.

He said tensions were so high that the local Christian residents had to stay inside and couldn't go to church to celebrate Palm Sunday.

. . . .

A senior group leader caused an uproar after he was quoted in local papers as saying his group seeks to establish an Islamic state, imposing Islamic punishments - including amputating hands for theft."

So, what say you, Men of The Times? Are you prepared to journey down to Qena and report back with your findings? I await a profusion of op-eds describing the sweet fruit of nascent democracy in Egypt.