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Know when to run

There are a few times in a person’s lifetime that they come across someone who is truly despicable. Sometimes this repulsion is a universal feeling of disrespect, distrust, disdain and discontent. Such is the case for the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. After 30 years of dictatorship rule, the Egyptian people have had enough.

There are a few times in a person’s lifetime that they come across someone who is truly despicable. Sometimes this repulsion is a universal feeling of disrespect, distrust, disdain and discontent. Such is the case for the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. After 30 years of dictatorship rule, the Egyptian people have had enough.

They have been engaged in a peaceful demonstration that has at times turned violent, mostly at the hands of Mubarak supporters. The dictator does not wish to go out without a fight and without punishing the minions for daring to defy him. It is so sad, yet so enlightening and uplifting.

It is a tough situation made more somber by the beatings and deaths by the supposed Mubarak supporters. I wonder if they are supporters or following orders? The Nazis followed orders too. It is this power struggle that weighs heavily on everyone.

Mubarak has tried hard to stop word of his corruption and dictorial rule from leaking past the Egyptian borders. He shouldn’t have to stop word from leaking out if he is doing nothing wrong. His actions show us that he is not only doing much wrong, but that he would prefer not to stop.

This is where the media has become a window for the world. Mubarak has tried his best to stop any information from becoming news. Facebook, Twitter, the internet, satellites and technology have all had a powerful impact on the union of the suppressed. It is a good example of social media gone right, but it is not the whole story by any means.

Journalists have been travelling the Earth for decades carrying a camera. When the attempts to stop the internet information highway failed, Mubarak changed tactics - intimidate the media into leaving. Numerous journalists and camera crews have been attacked. The Czech media have pulled out. Two Canadian journalists were detained by the Egyptian military and when released attacked by an angry mob. A Swedish journalist was stabbed in the back, equipment has been seized, a news building was burned, websites have been hacked into, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International staff have been missing since detained by the military...”not a single media outlet in Egypt has escaped the violence,” said Jean-Francois Juillard of Reporters Without Borders.

These blatant attempts at oppression only fuel the truth. Mubarak needs to go and never be replaced. “I love my country. It’s my government I’m afraid of,” states the t-shirt of one educated protester who said, “We want the next president to be chosen by the people. We are going to keep protesting peacefully until our demands are met.”

It doesn’t matter how many ways a government or group or an individual try to stifle the masses, eventually democracy will find its way to the surface. Once a poison has been identified nobody wants to drink it anymore. Like a person in any group that won’t leave after they have worn out their welcome, sometimes you have to “know when to walk away...know when to run.”