American analogy to the events in Egypt, part 2 - between Mubarak and the election

From February 2011 through June 30, 2012, Tantawi was technically in charge. But during his tenure, there was a lot of national chaos and strife. Here is where I will start the analogy to America to give you some perspective on what was happening in terms that are familiar to you...

During the period of military rule, there was a lot of strife and increased violence between average Americans and the very small but very radical and violent groups known as the KKK and the White Supremacists (these are the only groups with which Americans would be familiar who are as bigoted, biased, exclusionary, and violent as the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafis).


The great majority of people in America wanted a secular state with a strict separation between religion and politics. The population in America at this time was:

1. about 88% Christian (about 86% being very moderate, in favor of the separation of religion and politics, and who had no problem with the minority Muslim community in the country while only 2% was part of the radical groups mentioned above);
2. 10% Muslim (who desperately wanted the separation of religion and politics because they had been the target of discriminatory laws against their faith and violent attacks for decades); and
3. 2% of the population was made up of various smaller groups. Also largely in favor of secular governance and also subjected to decades of discriminatory laws and targets of violent attacks.
   

In contrast, the violent radicals wanted a country based on their beliefs. They offered up the Grand Dragon as their candidate for president but he was denied the right to run because of his felony record. They looked for a patsy to put up in his stead and they come up with (hmm, who is a well-known dimwit in American politics?... Oh! I know!!) Dan Quayle. Dan Quayle became their official candidate even though he can't tie his own shoes. It was clear to everyone that if Quayle won the Grand Dragon would be making all the decisions from behind the scenes and Quayle would just be paraded out as the face in front of the cameras. (Or is it spelled cameraes?)

Seeing an unstable situation in the country, the Secretary of Defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff (appointed as interim leaders by the previous president when he resigned) wanted to relinquish power as soon as possible and were desperate to get elections done immediately so they could do so.

Taking advantage of the frustration the people had with the military rule, the radical groups imposed themselves on the electoral process and demanded early elections because the average citizens did not have any organized political parties (imagine no DNP or RNP - just small, ill-formed and ill-funded groups) that could put up a viable candidate or run a viable campaign.

The radical groups also issued public threats against the Muslim minority saying that they will be killed and their houses, businesses, and mosques will be burned to the ground if they try to vote in the election and prevent the radical candidate from winning. In addition to threats, there is a lot of actual violence against the minority during this period as well.

On Election Day, radicals posted armed thugs outside voting centers who threatened people if they did not vote for their candidate. Their members forced their way in to voting centers to proctor the voting process so they could hide abuses like stuffing the ballot boxes and intimidating or turning away voters who were not part of their groups. Many voters arrived at the polls to find out that their names were already marked as having voted before they arrived and were told they would not be given a ballot to allow them to vote. In many smaller cities, armed thugs from the KKK patrolled the streets threatening to kill any Muslims who came out to vote - naturally, all stayed home in fear for their lives.

On June 30th 2012, it was announced that Quayle won the election with 51.7% of the vote and was sworn in as president of the United States.

Next up, details of Quayle's 1-year term as President....