Thomas Jefferson is Smiling...

...and authoritarian governments everywhere are freaking out. Revolution is a messy business. A storm has begun: in Ivory Coast, Tunisia, Algeria, Lebanon, and today in Egypt. The Internet, social media, flashmobs, etc. have come of age as mechanisms for self-determination. Information can no longer be bottled up and used as a weapon to suppress populations. Some of these riots may be contained for a while, but the genie is out of the bottle.

Freedom is not something that can be given. Freedom is something people take, and people are as free as they want to be. - James Baldwin

Liberty will not descend to a people, a people must raise themselves to liberty; it is a blessing that must be earned before it can be enjoyed. - Charles Colton

The highest manifestation of life consists in this: that a being governs its own actions. A thing which is always subject to the direction of another is somewhat of a dead thing. - St. Thomas Aquinas

Freedom lies in being bold. - Robert Frost

Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed - the Declaration of Independence

Our military, and other instruments of national power, have no role to play in these events. Time to sit back and watch.

The opinions and views expressed in this post are those of the author alone and are presented in his personal capacity. They do not necessarily represent the views of U.S. Department of Defense, the US Navy, or any other agency.