"...Not majority rule but just rule;" a lost concept in modern day democracy

"...not majority rule but just rule: All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will, to be rightful, must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal laws must protect, and to violate would be oppression." 

- Thomas Jefferson

Billions of petrodollars flood into Egypt post military coup, so who needs democracy anyway?

I was never a Muhammed Morsi fan but to uproot a democratic institution without following the normal and proper conventions of a government is just ludicrous, and it goes to show that the Egyptian military is an institution beholden NOT to the people as they Egyptian people might think, but in reality to a 'foreign' entity. The sooner the people realize this, the better they can control the outcome. The Egyptian army has always protected itself at any cost and will do the bidding of others as its strings are pulled to and fro. No matter what else occurs in Egypt in terms of a government, the military will always be there as a watchdog ready to obey it`s master`s orders. And of course, lets not forget it`s military financing and budget...that it`s wholly dependent on. Finally, what can one say about the Persian Gulf nations...no self identity whatsoever. They who hate and abhor democracy, pumped into Egypt a staggering $12 billion all in a single month, chump change when compared to what was 'given' to Cairo post-Mubarak.

Its funny in retrospect when you think to President Obama`s 2009 Cairo speech, where he declared, “No system of government can or should be imposed upon one nation by another,..."

Our wise Founding Father George Washington`s farewell address sums up accurately our current state of affairs concerning our diplomatic and military commitment to virtually the entire world. “Nothing is more essential,” Washington said, “than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular nations, and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded.”

“The nation which indulges towards another a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in some degree a slave,” he added. “It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest.” What ominous words from our founding father, who sadly is ridiculed by our government officials as being 'un-American.'

Egyptian army’s financial coup: 12 billion petrodollars from Saudi, UAE, Kuwaiti fans
DEBKAfile
July 10, 2013

In a dazzling display of monetary muscle, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates poured $8 billion in a single day into the coffers of Egypt’s army rulers in cash, grants, loans without interest and gifts of gas, a dizzying life-saving infusion into its tottering economy. Forking out sums on this scale in a single day – or even month - is beyond the capacity of almost every world power – even the US and Russia - in this age of economic distress. The Arab oil colossuses managed to dwarf Iran’s pretensions to the standing of regional power.
Tuesday, July 9, just six days after the Egyptian army overthrew the Muslim Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi, a UAE delegation of foreign and energy ministers and national security adviser landed in Cairo. They came carrying the gifts of $1 billion as a grant and $2 billion in long-term credit.

In well-orchestrated moves, Saudi Arabia then stepped forward with a $5 billion package, of which a lump sum of $2 billion was drafted to Egypt’s state bank that day, followed by another $2 billion as a gift of Saudi gas, and a further $1 billion for propping up the sagging Egyptian currency.

The delivery by two Arab governments to a third of financial assistance on this scale and on a single day is unheard of in the Middle East, or, indeed, anywhere else.

As they celebrate Ramadan, 84 million Egyptians can start looking forward to a square meal at the end of their month of fasting.

This river of largesse was the outcome of a development first revealed by DEBKAfile last week: The Egyptian military high command was not working alone when its operations headquarters put together the July 3 takeover of power from the Muslim Brotherhood; it was coordinated closely down to the last detail with the palaces of the Saudi and UAE rulers and the operations rooms of their intelligence services.

The last DEBKA Weekly issue 594 (July 5) carried details of the military-intelligence mechanism at work between the three governments.

The coming issue, out next Friday, July 12, offers further revelations of how this mechanism is designed to shore up Egypt’s post-coup regime and restore the strife-torn country, the most populous in the Arab world, to its traditional eminence. Cairo is assigned a lead role in a Sunni Muslim bloc stretching from the Gulf to Cairo (with room for quiet collaboration with Israel) to withstand the challenges posed by the alliance of Russia, Iran, Syria and the Lebanese Hizballah.

The petrodollar shower for Egypt did not end with the $8 billion from Saudi Arabia and the UAE: Kuwait has pledged another $5 billion - later amended to $4 billion - in a secret communication to Riyadh. It will be released after the sheikhdom's parliamentary elections on July 27, and so raise total Gulf Arab bounty to Egypt to the staggering total of $12 billion.
Friendly assistance on this scale tends to diminish the relevance of Washington’s dilemmas over the continuation of its $1.3 billion aid package to Egypt after a military coup, of which $700 million is due this year.

The suggestion that US aid may be used to hasten Egypt’s “swift return to a democratically elected civilian government” loses its force when Saudi Arabia and the UAE have both guaranteed to make up any shortfalls in US aid to Egypt.

On June 26, Syrian Deputy Prime Minister Kadri Jamil boasted that Moscow, Beijing and Tehran were contributing half a billion dollars per month to Syria’s war chest. “It’s not so bad to have Russia, China and Iran on your side,” he gloated.

Egypt can now boast to have far outstripped Syria in foreign support - $12 billion in a single month, compared with a mere $6 billion in a year.

We celebrate the Fourth of July, but do we ask WHY we salute the red, white and blue and WHERE it came from?

Why the U.S. Flag is Red, White and Blue
By Nicole Greenstein
TIME
July 04, 2013

credit: AmericanFlagFoundation

Every Fourth of July, we flaunt Uncle Sam hats, wave our flag, and watch fireworks shoot sparks into the night sky. But many never even stop to ask the question, “Why does America salute the red, white and blue?”

On June 14, 1777 in Philadelphia, the Marine Committee of the Second Continental Congress adopted a resolution that read the following: “Resolved, that the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field representing a new constellation.”

And with these words, the Stars and Stripes were born. Yet the resolution never said a word about the significance behind the choice of red, white and blue. And for good reason. The three colors did not have any official meaning when the flag was adopted in 1777.

The colors and their significance still trace back to the birth of the country, and had very specific meanings in the creation of the Great Seal a year earlier. On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress passed a resolution authorizing a committee to develop a seal for the country. The committee was instructed to draw up a seal that reflected the Founding Fathers’ beliefs and values, as well as the sovereignty of the new nation. Red, white and blue were chosen, and the Great Seal was officially adopted on June 20, 1782.

Heraldic devices such as seals have specific meanings for each element and color, and the U.S. Seal was no exception. Charles Thomson, Secretary of the Continental Congress, explained the significance to Congress when he presented the seal. “The colors,” Thomson said at the time, “are those used in the flag of the United States of America. White signifies purity and innocence. Red, hardiness & valour, and Blue… signifies vigilance, perseverance & justice.”

Mike Buss, a flag expert with the American Legion, says that the most obvious reason for the flag’s colors is that they were simply taken from our mother country’s flag — the Union Jack of England. “Our heritage does come from Great Britain, and that was some of the thought process that went about in coming up with our flag,” Buss says of the American flag’s red, white and blue. “They come from the three colors that the Founding Fathers had served under or had been exposed to.”

Over the years people have altered Thomson’s original interpretation. Some now say that red represents the blood spilled by the patriots and those who fight to protect our country. President Reagan even put his own spin on the matter when he proclaimed 1986 the Year of the Flag. “The colors of our flag signify the qualities of the human spirit we Americans cherish,” Reagan said. “Red for courage and readiness to sacrifice; white for pure intentions and high ideals; and blue for vigilance and justice.”

The significance behind the flag’s design is more commonly known than that of its colors. The 50 stars stand for America’s 50 states, while the 13 red and white stripes represent the 13 colonies. But there’s also a lesser-known interpretation for the Stars and Stripes. The House of Representatives’ 1977 book about the flag states: “The star is a symbol of the heavens and the divine goal to which man has aspired from time immemorial; the stripe is symbolic of the rays of light emanating from the sun.”

Although most Americans today aren’t aware of the specific symbolism behind the flag’s red, white and blue, flag expert Buss is not concerned. Instead, he believes the flag’s power to evoke patriotism and pride after all these years is most important.

“For us veterans, the flag represents why we served,” Buss says. “We were there because the flag represented our freedoms — freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion.”

What Americans ought to know about the Fourth of July but REALLY don`t...

Independence Day, or the Fourth of July, celebrates the adoption by the Continental Congress of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Now on the 237th birthday of the United States, what`s shocking is that most 'Americans' don`t fully know the significance of the Fourth of July, its history, relevance and simply don't know WHY we celebrate the 4th of July or what country we declared independence from. Surprising huh?...

Firstly, the Declaration of Independence wasn’t signed on July 4, 1776...

The Declaration of Independence is the nation's most cherished symbol of liberty and Thomas Jefferson's most enduring monument, since it was he who first wrote a draft of the document between June 11 and June 28, 1776 and was submitted when the Second Continental Congress met. 

    On July 1, 1776, the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia, and on the following 
    day 12 of the 13 colonies voted in favor of Richard Henry Lee’s motion for independence. 
    The delegates then spent the next two days debating and revising the language of a 
    statement drafted by Thomas Jefferson.

    On July 4, Congress officially adopted the Declaration of Independence, and as a result the 
    date is celebrated as Independence Day. Nearly a month would go by, however, before the 
    actual signing of the document took place. First, New York’s delegates didn’t officially give 
    their support until July 9 because their home assembly hadn’t yet authorized them to vote in 
    favor of independence. Next, it took two weeks for the Declaration to be “engrossed”—
    written on parchment in a clear hand. Most of the delegates signed on August 2, but several
    —Elbridge Gerry, Oliver Wolcott, Lewis Morris, Thomas McKean and Matthew Thornton—
    signed on a later date. (Two others, John Dickinson and Robert R. Livingston, never signed 
    at all.) The signed parchment copy now resides at the National Archives in the Rotunda for 
    the Charters of Freedom, alongside the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Thomas Jefferson's draft of the Declaration of Independence, included eighty-six changes made later by John Adams (1735-1826), Benjamin Franklin 1706-1790), other members of the committee appointed to draft the document, and by Congress. The "original Rough draught" of the Declaration of Independence, one of the great milestones in American history, shows the evolution of the text from the initial composition draft by Jefferson to the final text adopted by Congress on the morning of July 4, 1776

WATCH: Americans Don't Know WHY We Celebrate the 4th of July or WHAT COUNTRY We Declared Independence From! [Mark Dice]