great reference in the Egypt debate

Someone in the Egypt Referendum email exchange just cited CARL SCHURZ, the German 1848 Revolutionary and later high-ranking U.S. general and then politician. Good stuff.

There’s also a very likable tone to the debate: basically, the Egyptians aren’t being jerks. They’re being quite passionate, but they are listening to each other and making actual arguments. Amazing how well the country is handling this, given the complete lack of a democratic political culture for 5,500 years of its history. They’ve certainly earned and deserved their chance.