#Egypt #25Jan

In the future, all historic events will be identified by their hashtags. I think it's rather appropriate that we start here--the Twitter Revolution, the Facebook revolution, the Egyptian Revolution. There is a danger with all of this nomenclature, especially the reference to social media. It has several layers of meaning: (1) it is a people's movement, yes, and (2) someone relying to some extent on Twitter and Facebook means that technology, particularly American technology, deserves the credit. It doesn't. Do you think those hundreds of thousands of people in Tahrir Square wouldn't have found another way? They did after the internet and cell phones went down. There's also been a tendency to brand this as an American-esque uprising because, above all other technologies, isn't democracy our greatest export? Rachel Maddow did a great job of warning against Americanizing this revolution, so I'll leave that to her.

Visiting an embassy is a little like world travelling. So I kinda sorta visited Egypt today. It is, after all, a little bit of that country in a foreign land, which reminds me of a rather nationalistic poem by Rupert Brooke. It sounds a lot simpler than it actually is. Of course, it's still the place where crowds were expected to gather to celebrate the resignation of Mubarak. I say "expected" because several hours after the announcement was made, there was still no one gathered at the embassy except journalists, bloggers, and "twits."

Finally, I spotted these really nice guys. Even though they were the only ones there to celebrate, the media were still waiting for the crowds and largely ignored the first arrivals. Crowds get noticed; that's something we've all learned since January 25th. We chatted for a few minutes, and they answered my questions and agreed to pose for the crazy girl with absolutely no press credentials.

Another thing that's bugged me about the coverage of this entire situation is the constant reference to "Yes We Can." It is a phrase of empowerment, and it was used by protestors for just that reason. But this leads to a completely unbalanced comparison. I, like many people in DC, around the nation, and around the world, chanted "Yes We Can!" until our lungs were sore. But 8 years of a Republican president, even one so particularly despised, doesn't compare to 30 years of dictatorial rule and emergency law. Still, there is a familiar air of excitement and possibility, and these guys were clearly overjoyed. So, this video from outside the White House after Obama's victory was declared seems fitting.