The most widely circulated expressions in Egypt today regard the “remnants of the regime”, “NDP gangs” and “Hosni Mubarak's tails”, especially when discussing a counterrevolution that aims to discredit the January 25 Revolution, downplay its gains and misrepresent those who have engaged in it, and also every time protests by a specific group erupt, acts of bullying spread or national unity is threatened. Expressions such as these will remain in circulation as long as people find that the corruption of political life under Mubarak has been dealt with in the logic of “forgive and forget”, and that the investigations being conducted by the various prosecutors regarding acts of corruption included only four ministers and a very small number of officials, in comparison to what Egyptians knew of the cancerous spread of corruption that had ruined the country in every way for more than thirty years. They will also persist as long as the case regarding the firing of live bullets on protesters and the acts of killing and bullying that took place against those gathered in Tahrir Square on that bloody Wednesday, February 2, includes only former Interior Minister Habib El-Adly, a small number of his aides and two former MPs, without any of the top heads from the National Democratic Party (NDP) and Mubarak's regime, whom Egyptians believe to have corrupted political life, unlawfully profited from public funds, perpetrated crimes of theft and organized robbery, and spread corruption among the people, then later tried to stifle the revolution by attacking protesters in Tahrir Square, making use of the baltagiya (thugs), whom they used to employ at every election and at every protest, great or small. Certainly, all those whose interests were harmed by the revolution, the regime change and the failure to “ride” the wave of the revolution, or those who were exposed while switching stances, changing their discourse and turning from one extreme to the other, as well as all those who continued to commit crimes of corruption in their various forms throughout Mubarak's rule and suddenly found themselves weaponless, and all those who engaged in fraud and deception and violated the will of the people, are all now trying to resort to new weapons in order to avoid being held to account and punished. The matter seems plain and clear, and does not fool the revolutionaries and members of the people in the state media, those in charge of which are the same people who kept deceiving the Mubarak regime, cheating it and taking advantage of it, promoting major figures of the NDP and its governments, being imposed on people, engaging in lies and speaking what they did not think in order to keep their positions, and with them those who, if matters calm down and life returns to normal, would see their scandals fill the air, and who are well aware that they will be trading their palaces and villas for jail cells and prisons. All of them are resisting, struggling and behaving obstinately, as they have no choice but to spread chaos in order to keep people busy and the eyes of the law away from them. Amid the momentum of the revolution which is not settling down, the wealthy fear that they will turn into a banned group in the new era, after they filled the world with their screams and their uproar, scaring and terrorizing people from the “banned group”, the matter reaching such an extent that the arms of the former regime unconsciously and unwillingly carried out instructions to use the expression “banned group” to refer to the Muslim Brotherhood, which the people discovered not to be so dangerous. And it was comical when our friend the “anchor” and “journalist” or politician would analyze, theorize and warn about the “banned group”, and people would know he meant the Muslim Brotherhood. Today they host on Egyptian television shows the leaders and major figures of the Brotherhood, welcoming them with smiles and greetings, and perhaps even admiration! As for the NDP, calls to dissolve it are spreading like wildfire, turning it into a banned party, despite warnings against its major figures turning to secret activity, and fears that some of its members could commit crimes against major figures of the revolution, against revolutionaries and perhaps against the people who revolted, to exact revenge on everyone. Certainly the corrupt from among the leaders, cadres and major figures of the NDP do not care whether the party continues to exist or disappears. In fact, even if does remain, they would leave it because it has lost its cover, the President who sponsored it has left power, and the regime that used to protect it and protect them has fallen. Thus the wealthy from among the corrupt under Mubarak realize that they are in any case “banned”. In the face of the joy of Egyptians, they seek to spread violence and bullying. In the face of the people's relief that corruption has stopped, they seek to stop every productive activity. And in the face of hope for a better life, they warn of the further spread of poverty. Now that what was banned has become allowed, by virtue of the revolution and the blood spilled by its martyrs, the tails, remnants and gangs are resisting, without realizing that times have changed, and that the strength of the revolution exceeds what they hold… their wealth.
