celebratory honking in front of my home in Zamalek

Now I’m hearing the honking with my own ears. It’s not universal, but quite a number of cars are doing it– honking in (very shortsighted) celebration of the Army’s threat to pull a coup d’état in 48 hours.

All kinds of nasty things happened during SCAF’s 1 year+ in power, from “virginity tests” for female protestors to the massacre of Coptic marchers in Maspero. Besides which, it’s not fun to see tanks on the streets every day.

One interesting thing here, however, is that it’s pretty clear that whatever “understanding” once existed between the Army and the Brotherhood is now completely in tatters (not such a surprise; this has been happening in slow motion for many months).

It’s not even easy to see what the better alternative would be. I suppose it would be Morsi agreeing to step down for the good of the nation and allow for snap elections. But that seems highly unlikely.

I’m also inclined to think that a military takeover could lead the lunatic fringe of Morsi’s base into a prolonged period of urban terrorism. There are many more weapons in circulation now than pre-2011. It was just over a year ago that my wife and I personally saw a “road rage” driver fire and miss at a taxi driver on the Ring Road.