CONFESSIONS OF A SANDMONKEYSANDMONKEY TALKS TO ATLAS

I met with Sandmonkey (at an undisclosed location) and commiserated. He is as charming and clever as you might expect from the "writer of an extremely cynical, snarky, pro-US, secular, libertarian, disgruntled sandmonkey." Fabulous. But his words of premonitory warning gave me great pause. He has scorn for the "new Democrats" that sold out reformers and activists and destroyed fledging movements of democracy.

Upon learning of his blog departure, I was heartbroken. Look, the blogosphere and the fighters for liberty and democracy lost a warrior when Sandmonkey backed away from the keyboard, signed off on his blog and wrote his last post here.

One of the chief reasons is the fact that there has been too much heat around me lately. I no longer believe that my anonymity is kept, especially with State Security agents lurking around my street and asking questions about me since that day. I ignore that, the same way I ignored all the clicking noises that my phones started to exhibit all of a sudden, or  the law suit filed by Judge Mourad on my friends, and instead grew bolder and more reckless at a time where everybody else started being more cautious. It took me a while to take note of the fear that has been gripping our little blogsphere and comprehend what it really means.

Listen to our conversation here:
Download Sandmonkey43007.mp3

Here are some excerpts. On reform:

SANDMONKEY: "Any kind of democratic reform in the country [Egypt] for the past 3 years has been rolled back specifically because there is no more pressure coming from Washington anymore."

ATLAS: Why? What happened to the pressure in Washington?

SANDMONKEY: You know what happened to the pressure in Washington. The Democrats won the Congress. There is no more pressure coming from Bush because he is not able to push people anymore to do those things. He is not able to push the Egyptian government anymore because the American public is suddenly not interested in reforming the Middle  East because of what's going on in the Iraq. So suddenly the Egyptian government is not afraid of the American pressure. They are doing whatever they want to do. They are beating up demonstrators, they are cracking down on activists, they are changing the constitution, and eroding civil liberties once and for all and they are using proxies to take down bloggers.

On personal security:

SANDMONKEY: Security people began to ask more and more questions about me. I ignored it. But I don't think about stuff like that. You can die any day. Is that going to stop you from living? No.  So they can crack down and and they can get me any day. There is no point in worrying about that. But when are on my doorstep, and coming down on me and you see people in Egypt getting arrested left and right  for no reason and being charged with the most ridiculous charges..... the majority of the Egyptian blogosphere is becoming silent. People that were vocal before are censoring themselves big time.

ATLAS: Who are they arresting and for what?

SANDMONKEY: They're arresting activists. People they don't like. They are threatening to arrest any  journalists with the new terrorism law who might voice any opinion that contradicts with the government. They are calling anybody the defends that is deemed a terrorist as a terrorist collaborator and should be thrown in jail. And the thing is there is no definition of "terrorist." Anybody can be a terrorist. They actually stated that trying to pressure the government is a form of terrorism. Anybody that talks bad about the government ...........lawsuits left and right for "defaming Egypt's reputations."

On the Democrats embracing Muslim Brotherhood:

Atlas: Where you shocked when Hoyer met with the Muslim Brotherhood?

SANDMONKEY: Let me tell you something. I was in Turkey a couple of weeks ago and I met a couple of Syrian activists. They one thing they told me that was really funny about the Pelosi visit. After Pelosi came to Syria two things happened. People on Syrian TV were saying, "We forced the Americans to knock on the Damascus gate!" Sort of like an admission that we messed things up in Iraq so much that America had to come and beg for their help.

But the day after Pelosi's visits there were immediate arrests of Syrian activists. That was the fruit she yielded. "Oh the Americans came over and they said they have a different foreign policy  and they're more interested in placating Bashar's ego." And he went out and got [arrested] everyone he wanted because he knew he had an ally in Washington that wouldn't pressure him as much.

ATLAS: Isn't that disgusting?

SANDMONKEY: Yeah, but what are you going to do?

ATLAS: We have to educate the American people. You think the American people know this?

SANDMONKEY: No, but do they even care at this point? I don't think they are interested in the discussion any more. There are people that have made up their mind, they think we need to placate the dictators because America is wrong and everyone else is always right. That's how they operate.

SANDMONKEY: What they are doing is completely irresponsible.

ATLAS: THe world is watching.........

SANDMONKEY: Of course the world is watching and the world is gloating.
Everyone wanted Bush to lose the 2004 elections. If he had lost  2004 we would not have had our push for democracy in 2005. The moment Bush won again that's when Mubarak said maybe we should have democracy because Bush didn't go away. And had Bush gone awaythere wouldn't be democracy right now ...... like there wouldn't be two years of freedom and fresh air that we were able to breathe and that' we've had.
After 2006 [elections] the change went in the opposite agenda.

ATLAS: As an Egyptian who understands democracy, life,  liberty the pursuit of happiness....and who  admires America. Looking at America, I want to know what you see.

SANDMONKEY: I'm seeing a country in great danger. Simply speaking, I don't think the people get what's at stake anymore. I don't think they see where they are heading.

There's more on compromise, diplomacy, Rumsfeld, Bolton,  truth, Israel, the second amendment, the Bedouins, America's founding forefathers ........Listen to the interview. Every word.

UPDATE:  Check out WaPo's: NO RESULTS FROM DAMASCUS hat tip ejo

UPDATE: More of Pelosi's fruit:Repression getting worse in Syria: opposition figures AFP  Six leading opposition figures jailed in Syria warned on Tuesday that the "repressive climate" in their country was worsening and called for the release of all political prisoners.

Comments

[pastorius]

Great interview, Pamela. Thanks!

[x_dhimmi (Deb in OH)]

Most excellent interview, Atlas! Many, many thanks! You know, if being an American is more the heritage of an idea than the heritage of bloodline, then Sandmonkey is more American than many people who reside on American soil. Can we give him honorary citizenship? It's good to hear him speak; he continues to be in my prayers (as do you, Pamela).

[jay k.]

talk about a bunch of self-serving tripe. straw-men quotes, hyperbole, exageration. all the typical extremist crap.

[EJO]

Dear Pamela;
Another fine job done by P.G.O.
And I agree with Deb in OH. Sandmonkey sounds more like an American patriot than Nancy Pelosi, and her confederates. He should come to America to live. Where he can Blog in peace.
Sincerely;
EJO

[joeblough]

1 - Compliments to Pam for a journalistic coup.

2 - I'd be pleased as punch to have SandMonkey here as an American citizen. We need more like him here. On the other hand, our need for friends like him overseas grows more pressing with each passing day.

3 - The US is developing an impressive and undeniable track record of:

• Abandoning its friends
• Going back on its word
• Bailing out in the middle of a fight
• Betraying its declared principles in favor of short term gains

In short, acting like a cheap, dumb, sneaky whore.

I think this speaks to the character of the people we have in gov't, most specifically in our congress.

And I fear that that means something about the voting public, although I hesitate to guess what that might be.

But if you were a pro-humanity pro-rights foreigner like our friend SandMonkey here, what would you think?

These people are making a laughing stock of me -- and you.

I would like to know, in what sense do the people in DC represent me? And if not me, then who or what do they represent? They are taking tax money out of my pocket!

[agom5555]

Thanks Pam,
I really enjoyed that. Good interview. He has a very funny sense of humour.
Al

[agom5555]

Thanks Pam,
I really enjoyed that. Good interview. He has a very funny sense of humour.
Al

[Yankinwaoz]

I've followed SM for a long time and am a big fan. This development breaks my heart. I seriously wish that some US company would sponsor a visa for him to move back to Boston before he ends up in prison or dead in Egypt.

[Robohobo]

The road the US is headed down is a wrong one. The party of Cut'N'Run do not know what is at stake here. This is not a fight we chose, it was chosen for us. That Sandmonkey is silenced, that Ayaan Hirsi Ali was driven from her home and silenced.....

Who is next? What institutions are next?

We may have some dark days ahead unless the sleepy US wakes.

The Hobo

[USpace]

Great snag for an interview Pam, excellent job! Sandmonkey sounds very cool and smart. God bless him and keep him safe, we will hear from him again. Mubarak, you are human trash!

.
absurd thought -
God of the Universe hates
infidel bloggers

getting truth out makes him mad
keep the people in the dark
.

[Bigfoot]

The aftermath of Pelosi's ill-advised trip to Damascus should be a stark lesson to those who harbor the fantasy that dictators and fanatical muslims (the two categories not being mutually exclusive) can be placated into pursuing peace, if we could just "talk things out" or "reach an understanding". It's about time we realized that Arab/muslim world has generally regarded attempts to negotiate, not as good-faith gestures of peace, but as admissions of weakness. But then, this is a lesson we should have learned from watching Arab treatment of Israel decades ago.

[Rosemary]

I am so angry and heartbroken I could just scream and cry. Nice job you did, AS.

PS. Do you think it would be safe if he guest-posted on our sites? Hmm...that would be wonderful.

[Pamela Geller Oshry]

The Arabs have reached an understanding alright, they are just waiting for our final surrender.

We appease - surrender in installments

[Pamela Geller Oshry]

Rosemary, The offer is open to him at any time. He knows this.........

[Rosemary]

Thank you, Pam. It is so frustrating. I do not understand people who do not believe we are in a global war for our very lives. Let them have their 'rights' and all that jazz. Do they really believe I do not treasure them as well? What good are they when we are all living under shari'a law?

[Bruce Wechsler]

i'm listening now 15 minutes into it. Great job Pamela. Pastorius is right on...being an American is more the heritage of an idea than the heritage of bloodline, and SM oozes it from his pores more than many born here. Bless him, bless you.

[Solomon2]

I'm not surprised. SM did what he could, but many of the so-called pro-democracy advocates really accept the legitimacy of the Mubarak government in the depth of their hearts. The people I marched with at the Egyptian Embassy six weeks ago complain, but won't take the personal responsibility and initiative necessary to oust the Mubarak gang and replace it with a transitional government. It would be so easy, but they won't take the risk to themselves and their families! Like they aren't on a blacklist already?

And then they produce their ultimate rejoinder: "The U.S. supports Mubarak." In a pig's eye! Rice tells them, personally, that the U.S. wants better, and when she's gone they say she must be lying. These ex-pats won't admit that they aren't trying hard enough. Babies!