Mubarak is like an ex boyfriend

I've spoken to many Egyptians who are nostalgic for the time of Mubarak. To me, this is unbelievable. Things are not perfect now, but there's an increased level of openness in the political sphere. Security has gotten worse, but that's only because before Egypt was suffocated by the overwhelming dragnet of the Interior Ministry.

I had lunch with a friend today, who had a story that perfectly encapsulated this. His friend was sharing the rosy memories some Egyptians were having of the Mubarak era.  "I don't buy it," she said.

Mubarak is like an ex-boyfriend, she said. Right now you're with a boyfriend who's a bit of a douche, who doesn't call, who doesn't give you attention. You start to miss your old boyfriend. You remember the good things he did--he bought you flowers, he cooked you dinner. You block from your mind how he cheated on you, how he stole from you, how he played you for a fool (how he brutally repressed dissent, how he created an unsustainable system of subsidies that bled the country dry, how he sold the your children's future for his short-term gain...)

But you know what? He sucked too and you are lying to yourself to think otherwise.