“No longer tainted as a former general who ousted Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mr. Sisi was finally recognized by the international community as a respected statesman and regional leader, Egyptian commentators say. Mr. Sisi even “changed the way presidents make speeches at the United Nations,” the talk show host Amr Adeeb proclaimed, showing a video clip of Mr. Sisi ending his speech late last month by chanting his nationalist campaign slogan. “Long Live Egypt!” Mr. Sisi said to what Egyptian viewers saw as raucous applause from the assembled world leaders. “A thing of genius,” Mr. Adeeb declared, suggesting the assembly had consecrated a marriage. “Abdel Fattah el-Sisi was the groom of the United Nations, and Egypt was the bride.”……………..”
Gosh, what a gushing article in the New York Times. Cute and breathtaking: you’d think the Times writer (David D. Kirkpatrick) was a teenage girl and Al Sisi was Justin Bieber or One Direction.
Rarely do I see so much bullshit packed into one article in a major reputable American newspaper. This ‘Professor Fahmy’ of the American University at Cairo he mentions here is apparently typical of many academics in the stagnant Egypt of the past four decades. Perhaps most of them, he is a “kisser”, and don’t ask “kisser of what”. It doesn’t matter as long as it is in power. They did it to Mubarak and his cronies for decades, and now they are joining the cult of Kim Jong Al Sisi.
The man was “elected” with the usual Arab 97+% of the vote, under the guns of army tanks. Only the sort-of-president of Yemen Hadi Al Zombie outvoted him with 99.8% of the vote in 2012, but that was through a Qatari-Saudi-UAE organized transfer of power. Al Sisi had one hapless opponent, almost acting as a shill, and the voter turnout was reported by critics to have ranged between single digits or at best in the low twenties.
As for comparing Al Sisi to Nasser, it is equivalent to comparing Pope Alexander Borgia to St. Peter. Like comparing some Saudi prince or king to one of the early Caliphs. Like comparing Ted Cruz to Abraham Lincoln or Thomas Jefferson. Like comparing Sarah Palin, with or without the proverbial lipstick, to Jeanne d’Arc. Like comparing one of these cheap N Y Times or Amazon bestseller thriller novelists to Steinbeck or Stendhal. I can go on, apparently……..
Had he ever been in a war, in any capacity, they’d probably compare him to Bonaparte (Ante-Waterloo) and Eisenhower and Zhukov. I forgot Julius Caesar who ruled Egypt for six centuries after his death.
End of this rant……….
Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum