The Morsi lesson for Republicans by way of The Guardian: [1]
President Mohamed Morsi has scrapped a controversial decree granting himself near-absolute powers, but insisted that a referendum on a new constitution would go ahead as planned next Saturday. The concession is unlikely to placate Morsi’s opponents. It came after Egypt’s military warned that failure to resolve a crisis over the drafting of the constitution would result in “disastrous consequences” that c
[2]ould drag the country into a “dark tunnel”.
– The opposition called for more protests and accused Morsi of continuing to ignore the will of the people. “We call on Egyptian youth to hold peaceful demonstrations and sit-ins in all of Egypt’s squares until our demands are met,” the National Salvation Front said in a statement. Speaking to the BBC World Service, Ahmed Said leader of Free Egyptians Party and a member of the front, said: “This constitution does not represent Egyptians. We need to take time. He wants the constitution, because they want the parliament, they want the Shura council. It all has to do with the Muslim Brotherhood. They want to take over everything.”
There’s a couple of lessons for the American GOP, here… but before I mention then let’s understand that the positions held by Morsi and his opposition are not totally analogous to our own political situation. Let me be clear; Morsi is an animal that should be led out and shot. Publicly.
That said, it seems that at a very basic level, concessions made to your political opposition does not mean that your opposition is going to start liking you. Here in the states, that means that concessions to Obama and company, and this includes the press, is not going to make them like the GOP more. Does anyone remember 41’s no new taxes pledge, which he broke in a concession to the Democrats, who then used the increased taxes as a tool to defeat Bush. Secondly, take a cue, GOP from the opposition in Cairo… grow a spine and they’ll listen. No more concessions to Democrats. None. Indeed, there’s no reason to even be civil to them, anymore, anymore than they’ve been treating US with respect. Stand up and be counted as conservatives and stop apologizing and stop trying to lean to the mythical center. It’s that attitude that’s cost you the last several elections.