Rachel Maddow Compares Egypt To Post-Soviet Russia In Revolution Recap

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by Frances Martel | 12:33 pm, February 12th, 2011

» 32 comments

With the Egyptian revolt that is slowly but surely toppling president Hosni Mubarak nearing its end, some in the media are beginning to evaluate the big picture of what this hopefully near-complete historical event means, and how it ranks near similar occasions. Rachel Maddow attempted to describe the magnitude of the revolts as a “Brokaw moment,” and took the opportunity to look back at the similarly dramatic falls of some of history’s sturdiest regimes.

Maddow was unapologetically gleeful about the democratic potential of the Egypt, though kept some wiggle room for what’s to come for the country. To put the moments of the past few weeks into context, she aired fascinating historical footage of Tom Brokaw delivering the news of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Ferdinand Marcos‘ flight from the Philippines, the Romanian revolution that overthrew Nikolae Ceausescu, and, in brief, a host of other revolutions from below (George W. Bush fans may note that absent from the clips of more recent celebrations of the end of dictatorships? The moving footage of Iraqis toppling the gigantic statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad in 2003).

In light of this change, Maddow attempted to curb her enthusiasm, calling the revolts “as worrying as they are inspiring,” though modifying that as “on some days.” She explained that the reason so many governments attempt to avoid change at all costs is because “stability is the devil you know and change is the devil you don’t; Unstable is a synonym for dangerous.” That said, she once again returned to the comparison between the Egyptian revolts and the fall of the Berlin Wall, and attempts to put that day in 1989 in context. Specifically, she argues that, as rosy as the fall of the Berlin Wall may seem in retrospect, “post-Soviet Russia is one of the most corrupt nations in the world, ranked worse than Haiti, ranked worse than Zimbabwe, ranked worse than Pakistan.” While this may be true, and modern-day Russia certainly has its issues, the implication that Soviet Russia was somehow less corrupt or treated its people better than the current regime is, at very best, problematic.

Maddow’s revolution recap via MSNBC below:

Berlin Wall, Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, msnbc, Philippines, Rachel Maddow, Romania, Russia, Tom Brokaw

The Real Royal King

I’m not sure I follow the logic. This seems more like the 1917 Revolution and the pre-Boshevik rise to power. We are in a transition, not completely certain where we are going. After the Fall of the East, we had a good sense of the broader outlines.
WCinWI

Rachel always wears gray or black. Can she add some color to her wardrobe if we’re gonna be inundated with her clips? Sheesh.
tatboy

As this is an area with a loooooong history of instability I would avoid (if i were Rachel) being seen as giddy about this right now. Nobody knows whether this is going to go sideways of not, but if I were laying money on the table I know where I would put it.
NORBIT

C’mon Rachel, let’s not have you and your progressive friends lamenting over past defeats in the Soviet Union.

It happened a long time ago, it’s over, so let’s try to move on.
lol
ktward

“[Maddow's] implication that Soviet Russia was somehow less corrupt or treated its people better than the current regime is, at very best, problematic.”

Indeed. Which explains why that was, not at all, her implication.
Maddow implied that, if anything, Russia’s post-Soviet regime isn’t demonstrably better than its Communist predecessor. This, of course, illustrates the larger point in that Egypt may not end up under any demonstrably better governance than under Mubarak.
http://gordonbloyershow.com gordonbloyershow

When Maddow leaves MSNBC, it will be an event that compares to blowing over a house of cards. The end is near. The crowds are now gathering in the streets outside her bunker.
TfT

Just like her equally liberal and historically inept brother at MSNBC (aka the spitter), she refuses to acknowledge the freedom”s the Iraqi’s now enjoy.

Oh so typical of the idiotic left wing loons in this country who refuse to recognize the purple finger, the women’s rights, etc. that were brought to the folks of Iraq.

Oh welll, like CNN, as long as MSNBC and the idiot left wing loons who propagandize there, folks will turn them off and tune them out. Either report the truth and facts,or fold your tent and go home.
AngelPeters

gordonbloyershow said:
When Maddow leaves MSNBC, it will be an event that compares to blowing over a house of cards. The end is near. The crowds are now gathering in the streets outside her bunker.

Considering her #s are one of the highest at MSNBC, it will be awhile. You do know these facts don’t you? She was a big part of MSNBC coverage of the revolution in Egypt the past few weeks. Not just her show. Not sure where your POV is based on other than you dislike of anyone liberal.
ktward

TfT:
Either report the truth and facts,or fold your tent and go home.

I’ll bet you’re a Fox News watcher, eh?
lol.
david r

tatboy said:
As this is an area with a loooooong history of instability I would avoid (if i were Rachel) being seen as giddy about this right now. Nobody knows whether this is going to go sideways of not, but if I were laying money on the table I know where I would put it.

Well said. And what’s this b.s. about “yes, Arabs can!”? This was nothing more than force prevails as always in the Arab world. Now look for anarchy, despite Little Bo Peep gushing about “the PEEP-PUL! the PEEP-PUL!”
eingriff

It’s more like the time of the Russian and Cuban revolutions, when communists took over popular uprisings.

This time a oriental despotic world-view in religious dress will take over, with communist acquiescence, the communist strategy being to let Islam destroy Western Civilization, whereupon the communists will deal with Islam as it sees fit.
http://www.sarainitalyblog.blogspot.com/ sarainitaly

“as worrying as they are inspiring,” She explained that the reason so many governments attempt to avoid change at all costs is because “stability is the devil you know and change is the devil you don’t; Unstable is a synonym for dangerous.”

she’s such a fear monger.
BarneyFranken

Of all the revolutions she compares Egpyt to, 1979 Iran is conspicuous in its absence, dont you think?

And was Rachel making the argument at the end there that the collapse of the Soviet Union wasn’t “all good change?”

We have enough perspective on post USSR Russia to say with certainty that the collapse of their system was a good thing. Its absurd to even ask this as a hypothetical.

Russia may be ranked as a corrupt country now, but to equate it to how dangerous the Soviets were to the entire world is preposterous.
http://www.libertarianism.com/ Jack Burns

Well I’m so happy for you and your moment Maddow, but guess what. They still hate your guts….

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=08c_1296837688&p=1
lazzzlo

What really surprises me is that Egypt is the bad guy.

They weren’t until now.

They existed just like this until the story changed.
Obeezy

Well, we all know ole Rache is an expert on foreign affairs. Her reporting on all things foreign is impeccable. Why just the ohter day she lamented on how the leberal model is changing countrys all over the world. Good thing shes on our side..
Socialist

TfT said:
she refuses to acknowledge the freedom’’s the Iraqi’s now enjoy.

Yes they enjoy freedom now, but how long wil it be before their government becomes corrupt again and gets taken over by another repressive regime?
OxyCon

I guess the revolution in Egypt would be just like the fall of the Berlin Wall if only Egypt had been cut in half for the last fifty years with one half of the country cut off from the other half the entire time by a giant wall, and with the end result of the revolution was the reunification of the country even though the fall of the Berlin wall wasn’t even a revolution at all.

Somebody get me a Rhodes Scholarship!
Glackin

Ms. Martel missed the point. Maddow was talking about nonviolent revolutions, 1st Amendment solutions.
ktward

lazzzlo:
What really surprises me is that Egypt is the bad guy.

Nonsense. Mubarak’s regime is the “bad guy”. Egypt is its people. They’ve spoken.
OxyCon

lazzzlo said:
What really surprises me is that Egypt is the bad guy.

They weren’t until now.

They existed just like this until the story changed.

That’s because most conservatives wanted the status quo to preserve stability in the Middle East, so naturally the Leftist asshats had to oppose that. Besides, with Mubarak falling, the asshats could claim that Obama made it all happen with his Cairo speech, so it was a win-win for the asshats.
JamesA1102

sarainitaly said:
she’s such a fear monger.

Sara (who loves America so much that she lives in a foreign country where she benefits from government healthcare) is the last person to accuse anyone of being a fear monger.
GordonBlowerShow

gordonbloyershow said:
When Maddow leaves MSNBC, it will be an event that compares to blowing over a house of cards. The end is near. The crowds are now gathering in the streets outside her bunker.

You tell that stoopid lesbo, big fella! She thinks she’s fooling us with her “roads Skolar” uppity smarts, and calm delivery. Underneath you can tell that she’s just aching to meet a real man like us in the parking lot at the TGIFridays for a pork sandwhich ! (By that I mean some sexual intercourse!) Stupid libs! ROFL!
bitterclinger

Maybe when liberals like the loony toon MadCow stop wetting themselves over the Egyptian revolution…. they will realize that Egypt and possibly the entire ME will slowly be turning towards radical Islamists to run their governments. But hey…. why should we worry about THAT when there are parties to go to???

LIBERALISM IS A MENTAL DISORDER
OxyCon

OxyCon said:
I guess the revolution in Egypt would be just like the fall of the Berlin Wall if only Egypt had been cut in half for the last fifty years with one half of the country cut off from the other half the entire time by a giant wall, and with the end result of the revolution was the reunification of the country even though the fall of the Berlin wall wasn’t even a revolution at all.

Somebody get me a Rhodes Scholarship!

Oh, and I forgot that little part about how the Germans were thanking America when the Berlin Wall came down compared to how so many of the Egyptian protesters were saying things like “Down with America” and “Death to America”, which is another reason why the Leftist Asshats felt so much in common with them.
ktward

The ignorance on this thread is truly painful. Ciao.
Alz

gordonbloyershow said:
When Maddow leaves MSNBC, it will be an event that compares to blowing over a house of cards. The end is near. The crowds are now gathering in the streets outside her bunker.

I think her 15 minutes are up. Maybe she can be a sidekick to Randi Rhodes or Olbermann.
http://www.armwood.com armwood

The Real Royal King said:
I’m not sure I follow the logic. This seems more like the 1917 Revolution and the pre-Boshevik rise to power. We are in a transition, not completely certain where we are going. After the Fall of the East, we had a good sense of the broader outlines.

Which 1917 revolution? Russia had a Spring revolution and then an October revolution that year.
http://www.armwood.com armwood

BarneyFranken said:
Of all the revolutions she compares Egpyt to, 1979 Iran is conspicuous in its absence, dont you think?

And was Rachel making the argument at the end there that the collapse of the Soviet Union wasn’t “all good change?”

We have enough perspective on post USSR Russia to say with certainty that the collapse of their system was a good thing. Its absurd to even ask this as a hypothetical.

Russia may be ranked as a corrupt country now, but to equate it to how dangerous the Soviets were to the entire world is preposterous.

Why would she compare the Iranian revolution. That was a totally different beast. That as a religious based movement. Maybe you were to young or just unaware of what happened there. She was right.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Joseph-Glackin/100000892011713 Joseph Glackin

Sarainitaly thinks Maddow is a fearmonger? What does she call Glenn Blech? or Sean the Manatee? If you want fear, the Faux News guys are the one for you.
http://www.facebook.com/people/David-Mangan/100000213524770 David Mangan

The funniest part of the immediate aftermath of Mubarak’s [second] announcement was that as I switched among the three channels covering the fast-breaking events, CNN & Fox had REAL EGYPTIAN ARABS with cred talking about the consequences while MessNBC kept switching from Tingles Matthews, who gave Obama the credit, to Brian Williams, who gave Obama’s speech the credit, to other American commentators. Seemed no Gyppo’s wanted to be seen on MSLSD…!

CNN had Hala Golani and Fox had Amr Moussa right away, two actual Egyptians. Madcow is a joke when she talks about a Brokaw moment. When I was a Saigon warrior, Tommy was famous for hanging out in the Caravelle Hotel cadging stories from other journalists just in from the boonies.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Richard-McGinnis/100000472625231 Richard McGinnis

“Maddow was unapologetically gleeful about the democratic potential of the Egypt, though kept some wiggle room for what’s to come for the country.”

Thumbs up ^….