Back in the seventies, just after Richard Nixon left office, Dr. Seuss did a Parody of his story, "Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now!" which was published in his friend, Art Buchwald's column( http://www.washingtonpost.com/... ) in the Washington Post.
http://www.britethorn.com
It was entitled, "Richard M. Nixon Will You Please Go Now!" and I've never forgotten it. Seuss was great at pointing out some of the great truths in life which stare each of us in the face every day -- but which many of us forever fail to see. From Horton Hears a Who: "A person's a person no matter how small." From Green Eggs and Ham we learn to try new things, "I like green eggs and ham! I do! I like them, Sam-I-am!" And from "Marvin K Mooney," comes the message to know when to leave -- which is something that Hosni Mubarak appeared never to have learned.
He held on tightly to his power, and only when the books chronicling his downfall are written and published will we get some inkling of how and why he finally recognized the truth in the streets outside his palace doors. It was long, long past his time to go -- but now how many other pairs of dictators eyes will be trained on Egypt, watching and perhaps learning from the example of Mubarak. Already in states like Jordan, changes are being made to reflect the new reality in Middle Eastern streets. Democracy is being measured out in small doses, and perhaps that will be enough. But elsewhere, cell phones may suddenly set fire to a new Twitter storm and then who will be next?
The new Egyptian government, which will arise from the ashes left behind by Mubarak, will likely not be a replacement for his rubber stamp to American wishes. And in the long run, this may turn out to be a good thing. With Egypt no longer beholden to America, it could be that Israel will grow less sure of its security and finally face the harsh truths of the 21st Century, and the reality of the ever growing non-Jewish population explosion within its own borders. Then maybe a real, lasting peace will be reached with the Palestinians.
And perhaps the Oil economies of the region will finally begin to prepare their citizen -- men and women -- for the coming Oi-less World, in which people will be cherished as their greatest natural resource.
One can hope.
It's a new day in the Middle East and the world, and as for Hosni Mubarak, Dr. Suess said it best:
"And today the great Yertle, that Marvelous he,
Is King of the Mud. That is all he can see.
And the turtles, of course... all the turtles are free
As turtles and, maybe, all creatures should be"