Egypt lost Egypt eons ago

On one hand, it was great to see a malevolent despot forced from office today by a mostly-peaceful demonstration of common Egyptians.

On the other hand, who knows what we'll get in the chasm left by Hosni Mubarak.

The galvanizing issue in the Arab world is the overwhelming disdain for Israel. It unites them like no other issue.

Unfortunately, the U.S. is intricately tied up in the affairs of Israel. The Arab street hatred of America stems from our unequivocal support for Israel.

But, the Arab countries have oil, while Israel does not.

Oil trumps religion, or at least it should.

What the Middle East has demonstrated over the past few decades is that countries ruled by theocracy, be it Islam, Judaism or Christianity, are doomed to catastrophic failure. Yes, that means Israel, too.

The last thing we need is theocratic rule in Egypt. Of course, it would be Islamic, which is great if you're a man, but dreadful if you're a woman. Therein lies the main problem with Islam: It relegates more than half of its population to second-class status or worse. For this reason alone, Islam will have a tough time surviving this century. Blessed be.

Ironically, we have the Constitutionally-challenged Christianists in this country who believe that America is a Christian nation and should be ruled by Christians. That's the last thing we need, for Christ's sake.

But, as always, there is talk of "who lost Egypt."

I say the Egyptians lost their way decades and decades ago.

Egypt is a mess of a country and it has itself to blame. Not us and not Israel.

Here's hoping that Egypt becomes a free and democratic state without the shackles of Islam wrapped around its ankles.

Only then will it rise from its pathetic past into a nation of progress.