About to get real in Cairo

What is really horrid is the presence of children of the Brotherhood's pro-Morsi protesters at their sit-in encampments.

I guess child endangerment is part of their cause? I read that there have been 276 deaths attributed to the most recent political crisis.

The pro-Morsi protesters have expressed a willingness to become martyrs for their cause -- martyring their children too -- peaceful settlement doesn't seem a realistic possibility.

America is the evil that kept Mubarak in power or why America and/or the EU does not help to restore order -- it depends on who you ask.

Fighting and dying for your magical man-in-the-sky and his right Prophet is stupid.

The pro-Morsi protestors were warned for a week that their resistance protests would be brought to an end and their tent cities cleared out -- the Army brought out bulldozers and soldiers.

Egypt is a country of some 84 million, considering the last 2 years that many really haven't died as compared to a lot of other contested revolts, coup de ta, or whatever you want to call it.

Unfortunately, neither side calls it needless death.

How did (or if) the pro-Morsi demonstrators kill that many armed policemen? With rocks and wooden clubs?

What do you think would happen if demonstrators killed 43 policemen in the USA or in Russia in one day?

Interestingly, the Chinese haven't said anything

The question was tongue-in-cheek rhetorical ... But the police are wearing body armor ...

I IM'd with a friend in Alexandria, Egypt a few hours ago and she says she is scared -- you can't blame her it's a mess there.

Gunfire from demonstrators

Democracy is not 2 wolves and 1 sheep voting who is for supper ...

Probably read that in the media ...

The people tired of military rule that started when the Wafd ended with The Free Officers coup de ta. Most famous Presidents Nasser and Mubarak were little better than dictators installed by "fair elections" like they had in the old USSR. Like the USSR there were land reforms with a socialist label applied. The poor Egyptians still make mud brick on the banks of the Nile to build their crude dwellings in rural villages as they did in antiquity and much of the Muslim Brotherhood's majority support comes from that Rural environment -- their majorities do not come from more urbane and sophisticated Egypt.

Then comes the "Arab Spring" revolts and the military seizure of power from Mubarak, his resulting trial and imprisonment, and contentious election of Morsi (Mursi) the Presidential candidate of the Muslim Brotherhood. The same Muslim Brotherhood that helped Nasser come to power and whom he tossed out and made his political enemy after Nasser established the UAR with Syria. During Mubarak's reign the same Muslim Brotherhood attacked Egyptian government assets and tourists causing extreme damage to the Egyptian economy, much of Egypt's foreign earnings were from tourism. It was in act of sabotage to the economy -- with enough economic suffering the Muslim Brotherhood could seize political power -- which they did accomplish. However, the Muslim Brotherhood only knows religious hate with terrorism and how to destroy; e.g., their close alliance with Hamas and maybe, unproven their ties to other Islamic Fundamentalists. However, the Muslim Brotherhood has persecuted the few Shi'ite Muslims in Egypt as well as the Coptic Christians -- so they are not about sectarian tolerance at all and that was one promise that they made to gain power that failure being one of the main reasons that the Military took control to preserve the secular nature of the Egyptian government -- one of the foundations of the Wafd's overthrow in the 1950's by the The Free Officers.

This is why in Syria Assad and his father continuously to this day have fought and Massacred over 10K Muslim Brotherhood "insurgents (enemies of the ruling Ba'th)" and civillians in Hama, Syria. The Muslim Brotherhood are sworn enemies of the Shi'ite and Ba'athist party member.

In Egypt many of those that supported Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood found that after he took power that his promises were just a ploy to get elected and install a new constitution, by force without any meaningful parliamentary debate, and rejected his plans with civil resistance by peaceful protest -- then the Military ousted the "elected" leader to avoid what they saw as becoming a civil war.

Bottom line the pro-Morsi and Muslim Brotherhood supporters are a vocal and violent minority now -- armed and in open revolt.

The USA, Canadian and European governments are totally hypocritical and playing to the masses with their condemnations of the current military installed interim government in Egypt. If armed demonstrators shot and/or killed 43 policemen in their countries they would act very similarly -- meet deadly force with deadly force.